Star Wars Prequels 35mm 4K Filmized Editions by Emanswfan (a WIP)

Wow, that first post is old.  I’d organize everything new here, but I feel a bit too lazy to do that right now.  If you read through this thread you’ll see a lot progressed over the course of this project, for the much better.

Original First Post:

It’s about time these films get some new treatment, and so I have started work on new “filmized” editions of Episodes I, II, and III.   Using the OT blurays as sources for grain structure/detail analyzation (although the grain will match closest to ANH), and Harmy’s Despecialized OT as colour correction refferences,  I will match the three films’ looks to the OT.  I hope these new editions will be great for faneditors working on PT edits (such as myself) or if you’re some nutcase who actually can stand watching any of the Prequels.

The colour correction is being acheived via After effects, speedgrade, and Magic Bullet Suite.  I will be releasing these in uncut 1080p m4v’s with bitrates around 31 mbps.  All will be released the same day (hopefully within only several months), and that point I’ll allow PM’s for links.

Previews will start to come within a few weeks.

Pics or it isn't happening.

Seriously though, awesome idea.

DominicCobb said:

Pics or it isn't happening.

 

Seriously though, awesome idea.

I'll start working on it, as soon as I can clear enough space on my hard drive to fit all the films.  Maybe I'll put some proof of concepts from Ep II since I already have that ripped.

Hey, welcome on board. 

What would be optimal is having the actual 35mm prints for these.  It's been talked about in some of the other preservation threads.  I've got a TPM trailer that I need to get sent out for scanning so we can get a better idea of the theatrical color scheme for it.

With the DTS audio available for these theatrical releases it could prove to be quite a nice set of creations for the fans.

Cheers

Jetrell Fo said:

What would be optimal is having the actual 35mm prints for these.  It's been talked about in some of the other preservation threads.  I've got a TPM trailer that I need to get sent out for scanning so we can get a better idea of the theatrical color scheme for it.

While that is partially true, something digital tranfered to 35mm will still appear as if it was shot digital.  I need to recreate recreate higher dynamic range and chromatic abberation to the picture.  In addition, the colour pallete used in the prequels is not nearly like original trilogy, so that needs revision.  The detail will also need to be reduced in the films, as Harmy has shown that wonderful image 720p, 1080p comparison image from ANH.  I might try to add slight flicker and such to give the image an older look.  I'm planning to get an image that looks identical to the transfers of the originals from the bluray, minus the messed up colour correction.

Jetrell Fo said:

With the DTS audio available for these theatrical releases it could prove to be quite a nice set of creations for the fans.

Yes, these will be released with 6.1 DTS-MA tracks like the blurays.  I may age the audio a bit.  I'll probably add some warping, old tube compression, slight clipping from time to time, and some EQ to make the audio match the theatrical sound of ANH.  I'll also try to make the audio sound more on-set, as too many times voices sound dubbed.

First attempt at color correction (no grain or aging added).  Note that this was worked off the avc-hd rip I have from my bluray set, which is why I have yet to yeild more highlight and shadow detail.  I attempted to give it a slightly more technicolor look, although that would requires additional work not shown here.  Sorry, the image was incorrectly resized (right click to see full images)

Original:

Color Corrected:

Looks much better now! Are you going to use Magic Bullet Misfire or another "simulate-film" plug-in?

I totaly just subscribed to this.  I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Another colour correction test.  I stripped nearly all the colour out of this one. I removed the horrible pink haze and gave it a slight warmness to convince an old broken down look, like in the OT.  I also added some slight detail in certain areas. Mind the JPG artifacts again.

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/2946

This looks great and I wish you luck !

There's a reason that TPM is my favorite prequel. I find all of them deeply flawed movies but despite the vastly different vehicle and costume designs, TPM actually looks like the originals; it has a texture, it feels real and tanible.

AOTC and ROTS feel like plastic. I hope you can improve this, especially when adding film grain!

Color correction seems great so far, too. The last screenshot is striking!

Geonosis:            (I appologize for after effects rendering error, I keep getting the mainconcept logo?!)

I'm digging these colors.

Loving your work emanswfan, keep it up.

Just thought I'd pipe in.

darth_ender said:

I'm digging these colors.

Me too, they're looking much more natural and less "cartoony" than t he originals.  I'd like to see if you can do something to the naboo battle scenes to make the grass look less like a cartoon.

Brooks said:

Me too, they're looking much more natural and less "cartoony" than t he originals.  I'd like to see if you can do something to the naboo battle scenes to make the grass look less like a cartoon.

Naboo will look much better.  The lake and sky in the "i don't like sand" II scene will be absolutely beautiful.  I'm giving that scene a more tealish, technicolor appearence.  All Naboo scenes' colours will vary a little, since Naboo should be much more like Earth.

The Naboo battle scenes, I'm thinking might look more like Endor.

Another note, I should say is that the above images don't involve the curve adjustments or added grain to give it a more filmic texture.

Hal 9000 said:

Are you planning to give all of the prequel footage this treatment, for potential use in fan edits? (As opposed to cutting the film, then only working on the bits you keep.)

All the uncut bluray versions and all dvd deleted scenes (upscaled to 1080p, but does look better with the added grain), along with a few bluray deleted scenes, ones that weren't missing major fx atleast.

So it's sort of going to be released in s system of folders containing each movie and subsequent deleted scenes.

And, yes the purpose is mainly for fan editors looking for a better look to the PT.  I'll be using this for my edits, but will not be cutting anything.

Speeder Chase on Coruscant: