Complete Comparison of Special Edition Visual Changes — Page 40

ATMachine said:

It seems to me (viewing the 2004 version of ANH on an HDTV) that Leia's hologram recording was changed twice, once in 1997 (when the blue tint was added) and again in 2004. Specifically, it seems the hologram's vertical scanlines got a LOT fatter in the 2004 version, whereas the 1997 Leia hologram (judging by pictures you guys have posted) had very thin, very hard-to-see vertical scanlines.

Am I just hallucinating? I'd love to have somebody verify this for me--I don't yet have all the digital copies of the various releases. Thank you!

It's true that the horizontal bars that was present on the original Leia hologram went missing when they re-comped it in '97, but it could just have been the variations in resolution and detail between video releases that made you think anything was changed between '97 and '04, the fine detail such as scanlines on holograms and binocular shots can differ wildly between releases sometimes and have confused us in the past. Just take a look at this binocular shot in Empire for example:

'85 LD

'89 LD

GOUT

'97 SE broadcast

2004 DVD

Had I only checked the '89 LD against the '04 DVD I would have thought something was altered.

I noticed that these two are mislabeled as '97 alterations.

The bogwing pterodactyl-like creatures in these particular scenes were re-comped for the DVD.

msycamore said:

The bogwing pterodactyl-like creatures in these particular scenes were re-comped for the DVD.

More re-framings, all close-ups of Ben are zoomed-in in the '97 SE.

Top: GOUT Bottom: '97 SE Broadcast

There are 8 shots in total. Just like the re-framing in the wampa cave, they were all reverted back to the original framings in 2004. Talk about tinkering...

if you grab the others, I'll put them up as is.

doubleofive said:

if you grab the others, I'll put them up as is.

Will try to grab them for you.

We wondered a few pages back if the laser bolts in the blockade runner shootout were re-composited, at least some of them were. It appears to me that all of them were re-composited in this last shot just before Vader boards the ship, these three frames are the most obvious due to the different positions of the elements:

Top: GOUT Bottom: 2004 DVD

Top: GOUT Bottom: 2004 DVD

Top: GOUT Bottom: 2004 DVD

I'm now pretty sure more of them were redone, but I don't think I have the patience to go through it to be honest, I have been called "the comparison-freak" by none in the past, but even I have my limitations. ;) This was done in '97 btw.

On comparison 13 of Star Wars, the description says: "This first shot of R2 and 3PO has been reframed, possibly due to a tear in the negative. (1997 Change)"

In the other thread dedicated to the tears that appeared on the release prints and on some home video releases, Tservo pointed out that the camera shake in the original film was a combination of a real camera shake and optical effect, and he is absolutely correct about that, for the Special Edition they most likely went back to the original production footage, either to avoid additional grain caused by the opticals or maybe due to CRI-stock fading.

There are also at least two other shots with an optical camera shake, they appear on shots of Solo and Luke in the Falcon when they're preparing for the incoming TIE's, oddly enough both were repositioned one frame later in the '97SE, much like the dissolves between Luke and Vader in ESB. This difference was easier for me to describe than it would've been with screenshots.

none said:

This catch seems to add weight that everything was recomp'd.

none said:

As there are laser bolt fire frames before and after these modified ones, which don't seem revised (?) why change these three?  Guess it's more dramatic having the bolts near the rebels heads...  Some occurances of laser bolt fire being changed for the SE have coincided with another type of revision either in the same shot or neighboring scene.  This catch seems to add weight that everything was recomp'd.

Yeah, it might. There are more than just these three I posted in that particular shot that are re-comped, probably all of them, these were just the most obvious ones, that's why I decided to post just these three frames.

I was a little sceptical about it before, because all the timings and positions of the elements seems to match the originals so precisely, whereas in all other cases of re-comped shots in the trilogy, you'll immediately see the difference if you studying it, this may all have to do that the positioning and timings had to match the on-set footage in this case with all the blanks that is fired.

More '97 alterations, these three cockpit shots were treated with camera shake, it's all very subtle so a comparison won't do.

The original footage didn't have camera shake, instead they shook the cockpit.

Interesting, so we have Tom Christopher, the Lucasfilm editor in charge of the restoration say that 748 shots were redone on the first film and Lucas says 375 were replaced, that would perhaps make the 373 shots not mentioned by Lucas enhancements? or vice versa? Speculation...

I haven't updated this page since a day or two after I posted it:

http://savestarwars.com/specialeditionchanges.html

Since I haven't been keeping up with this thread, I've lost track of the extra changes found since I posted it. Have you guys been keeping a running tally like I was here or do I have to re-read a few pages and update my numbers and spreadsheet manually? Sorry to make a "do this work for me because I'm too lazy to just do it myself" type of post. I'm fine doing it myself, but if you guys already did that would be better. :p

Ah, sorry about that, it was perhaps you Treadwell who pointed it out.

Zombie, maybe none have kept track of it all. And by none I mean the member none. ;)

Pretty effing confusing...

005, since you included this shot: 

You should probably include these two as well, as they were also shortened to accommodate the CGI shot between them:

Furthermore, the second shot seems to have been altered in 2004, where in the older versions, the stormtrooper passing near the camera seems to have been affected by some composition error where something was scribbled over one of the composite elements. Check it out, there's clearly a sign saying something like B FFET 23 over his path:

It's also present in Puggo Grande (as seen on the left) and the 97 SE but it was fixed in 2004.

Wow, that's awesome!