THX 1138 "preservations" + the 'THX 1138 Italian Cut' project (Released) — Page 94

Was planning on having another sample up today, but spent the day attempting (and sadly failing) to repair the washing machine instead. Might have something up later in the week.

Adjusted for inflation, $125 in 1968 would equal to $855 today. Not a bad weekly salary for an assistant.

The $2,500 director’s fee on THX is about $17,000 today. Not terrible money but I’m not sure how much they’re paid today.

They unfortunately again are not much use. THX was specifically timed after it was shot, to convey emotions suitable to the scenes. For instance, there is an intentional green tint in some scenes, meant to emphasize the un-natural conditions and make the skintones look a little off. The sex scene was warmed so that the skintones would ‘pop’ against the almost monochrome backgrounds etc.

The print we have is an IB Tech, it is battered but has zero signs of fading. It is how the print would have looked when projected in 1971. If you watch the version I worked on, the colour on it is accurate to the print.

You or anyone else can make a version with a different colour grade, one that they like or feel improves on the theatrical release, but the colour in the sample is 95% matched to the print.

We aren’t used to the variation within a print these days, but when everything was done with chemicals and lighting, that sort of inconsistency was normal. Telecine transfers for home video tended to be warmed up and exposed to stay within the NTSC or PAL legal levels and often looked totally different to the Theatrical release, so this will look very different to the LD and VHS etc. versions as far as the grade goes.
I’ll be matching to the print, but the pre-grade files will be stored in ACES at 16bpp for anyone that wants to make their own grade to suit their own tastes as an exercise.

I’d take the $2500 fee quite happily at the moment 😄

I think it’s made in the Czech Republic, actually…