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The Original Trilogy restored from 35mm prints (a WIP)

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Happy Star Wars day!

I figured I should start a thread for my 35mm restorations, as the others are all over the place and have gotten too rambly to follow.

This thread will contain all the info and feedback for the restorations of:
Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi from 35mm prints.

Star Wars Sample: https://we.tl/VEyCxemjLh

Empire Sample: https://we.tl/verwNofxYa

Jedi Sample: https://we.tl/YjCgGTEZUG

A big thanks to everyone that has helped with these so far, and if anyone wants to suggest a name for the projects, please do so!

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To kick things off, here is a little nostalgic gift for May the fourth:
http://tinyurl.com/maythe4thpoita

It only for Windows, I’ll have a Mac version up in an hour or so.

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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Thanks Poita. Great to have you posting here a little more, even if some things aren’t going great for you, after losing the participation of another fantastic member today.

Always happy to see this project mentioned.

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Thanks Poita, It was really great to hear this recording, and to see you posting a bit more. Thanks for this!

I must have missed something though. What other valuable member did we recently loose?

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Here is a test of the deflicker script I have been working on, no other repair done to the scan, other than deflicker filtering.
The source is the Spanish LPP of Star Wars

https://we.tl/VEyCxemjLh

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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poita said:

Here is a test of the deflicker script I have been working on, no other repair done to the scan, other than deflicker filtering.
The source is the Spanish LPP of Star Wars

https://we.tl/VEyCxemjLh

MAN that looks nice. You didn’t do any scratch or dirt cleanup on this? That’s incredible!

“You don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?” - Juror 8
“Silence, Earthling! My name is Darth Vader. I am an extra-terrestrial from the planet Vulcan!” - Calvin “Marty” Klein

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The deflicker does remove some noise as a side effect, but no, I didn’t do anything other than a levels adjustment and the deflicker algorithm I am working on.

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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Nice to see you posting more 😃 I hope things are getting better in your personal life.

I look forward to seeing updates.

As for names, I suggest - Star Wars 35mm: The Poita No Return
Haha

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poita said:
A big thanks to everyone that has helped with these so far, and if anyone wants to suggest a name for the projects, please do so!

I think it would be fine just as “Original Trilogy 35MM Restoration”. Maybe add “by Poita”. It doesn’t need to be flashy, just descriptive.

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Doesn’t need my name in it, just something so that people know which they are talking about in a shorthand kind of way.
I don’t want a title like “Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let’s Find Out!”

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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Hello everyone,
I’m a long time lurker, first time poster and grateful beneficiary of this community’s efforts, just wanting to express a heartfelt thank you to all involved in the heroic work being done to preserve The Trilogy.

Poita, I’m thrilled that you are spearheading a new set of restorations; the sample you have just posted looks marvelous. A huge thank you to you for your ongoing efforts.

A couple of questions:
Is a Grindhouse release on the cards? And may I ask from what source(s) are you restoring Empire?

Cheers!

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Wow this looks excellent. And this Spanish LPP…I’ve heard that term before. Is that what Mike Verta also happens to be using (along with a bunch of other prints)?

Also, is it just Star Wars that looks this good, or do your prints for TESB and ROTJ also look amazing?

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Ok for possible names. Why not go simple and just call it Star Wars: Restored.

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theMaestro said:

Wow this looks excellent. And this Spanish LPP…I’ve heard that term before. Is that what Mike Verta also happens to be using (along with a bunch of other prints)?

Also, is it just Star Wars that looks this good, or do your prints for TESB and ROTJ also look amazing?

The Spanish LPP is the same print used for The Silver Screen Edition, the owner of the print was nice enough to also loan it to me to scan.

All the ESB prints are faded, but I should be able to recover enough colour for it to look good, and the Jedi prints are the worst actually, as they are horrendously dark and need a ton of work.
I’ll have a few samples up soon, I am still rebuilding my workstation and finishing off THX is my first priority, so things will be quiet for a while, but I thought I may as well start a thread to get the information all in one place.

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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Thanks so much, Poita! For keeping in touch, for sharing the read along, for the sample… It’s all fantastic.

What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.

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Darth Lucas said:

Ok for possible names. Why not go simple and just call it Star Wars: Restored.

I agree that something simple is best. i will sleep on it and see if i come up with something better, but this is a good start.

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Star Wars: FTLFT was suggested. I’ll leave the acronym to your collective imaginations.

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!

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. i am feeling a bit slow on the draw with that acronym. is it an inside joke or something?

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poita said:

The deflicker does remove some noise as a side effect, but no, I didn’t do anything other than a levels adjustment and the deflicker algorithm I am working on.

It looks great! Is it a wet-gate transfer? Really impressive given that it hasn’t been through cleanup yet.

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No, not a wetgate transfer, and this scene was in good shape, most of the rest of it is not unfortunately. The deflicker does do a lot of work, but it won’t help with emulsion lines and various forms of damage. It also does a level of stabilisation and removes some dirt and flecks as a welcome side effect.

No time scale, my personal life is kind of in tatters at the moment, and I lost an awful lot of gear, and my income, so progress will be slow. I will post as I get things done, so any posts to the effect of “is anything happening” will probably go unanswered. If it gets abandoned for any reason, I will also post that here.

I am not ‘delivering’ it as such in any format, the restoration will be done at 4K Academy resolution for archival purposes, it will probably clock in at around 16TB or so in size for the final work, per movie. From that any other format could be derived I guess.

Donations welcome: paypal.me/poit
bitcoin:13QDjXjt7w7BFiQc4Q7wpRGPtYKYchnm8x
Help get The Original Trilogy preserved!