Hey everyone. Version 2 is out! I have to say, I definitely like how this version turned out. I feel there may be something I’ll want to change for a version three, but for now I’m going to be taking a break from A New Hope. I’ve spent a lot of time on ANH and want to move onto the other films.
An interesting idea. I’ll give it some thought. That’ll involve removing music from the mix, which may be difficult considering the music is slightly mixed to the center channel.
It goes without saying the Special Editions are a hot mess of issues. Some of the additions are neat, while others are needless additions at best. It also goes without saying that many people over the years have constructed their own ideas of how the special editions could have been handled. About two years ago, I decided to make my own fan edit of A New Hope, mainly focusing on revamping the sound mix. But as time went on, I felt the need to make changes outside of the sound mix and branch off into the color timing and editing. So, after putting the project on the back burner, I’m proud to present my plans for the GAAT (George’s Alternate Altered Trilogy).
To set things straight, this project serves as a “what-if” alternative to the 2004/2011 master. George Lucas wanted to commemorate the finality of the Prequel trilogy by re-releasing the Original Trilogy on DVD, which as many know is seen as one of the worst releases the original trilogy. The color timing by far is the biggest problem alongside the additional material inserted into the film. My approach to fixing these issues is to remove the more annoying SE changes such as Greedo shooting first and CGI Jabba, while providing a more modern sound mix using SFX from the later projects Skywalker Sound contributed to. I also took the time to alter the color timing, but still maintained it’s overall look. George, after all, wanted these releases to resemble the look of the prequel films, and while I’m fine with something like that, I don’t remember the prequels looking like they were color matched to a bag of sour skittles.
To summarize, the point of this project is to say, “what-if the mastering wasn’t rushed and someone looked at what George was pushing for and said, 'I see what you’re doing, but you’re going too far in a few places.”
Here’s what I have with each film so far. This is includes what’s already set in place and what I plan to do. Currently, I only have ANH nearly done. It should be pointed out that when I began the edit of ANH, I only had the 2004 DVDs at my disposal, so the soundmix may inherit some of the “swapped audio channel” problems. Frankly, I never noticed it myself. I Haven’t touch the other two yet, but I have an idea of what I want to do with them. Since I now own the 2011 blu rays, All footage will be sourced from that.
A New Hope (WIP):
-Reduction of saturation in footage, increase in exposure of footage.
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2004 mix.
-During the Tantive IV scene, Leia’s blaster sounds like a Naboo pistol from The Phantom Menace.
-The Rocks in front of R2 are gone.
-When Luke and Ben are confronted by Stormtroopers, the creature that walks in front of the camera is removed.
-Han Shoots First.
-Jabba is removed entirely.
-The Obi Wan vs Vader duel is re-edited using color matched footage from “Scene 38 Reimagined” along with my own custom soundmix. Widescreen matte and grain is added to the footage to help it blend in with the blu ray footage.
-The music during the Death Star attack is no longer drowned out. I did my best to raise the volume.
-Just after red leader tries firing at the Death Star exhaust port, he longer says “negative” twice in a row.
Empire Strikes Back (Haven’t begun yet):
-Reduction of saturation in footage, increase in exposure of footage
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2011 sound mix.
Return of the Jedi (WIP):
-Remixed Audio with additional SFX and adjustments in EQ layered over the 2011 sound mix.
-Additional Boba Fett Voice lines.
-Additional production footage inserted into the lightsaber duel on the Death Star II.
-Vader doesn’t shout “NOOOOOOOOO.”
-Sebastian Shaw is restored in the Endor Celebration.
What’s interesting is that, at least when talking about ANH, I wanted to have two different versions available for viewing. Both of them follow two different “What-if” scenarios.
-Version A:
This is the version that follows George’s goal of having a modern color timing that matches the look of the prequels while adjusting parameters to alleviate the visual problems present in the 2004/2011 release.
-Version B:
-This version does the same thing many people have suggested where instead of making a brand new master, Lucasfilm simply updated the 1997 color timing. For this, I’ll be using my 1997 regrade project that I recently finished. Link here if you’re interested: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/anh-1997-inspired-regrade-with-se-soundmix-version-1-released/id/80173
So far, I only plan on having multiple versions for ANH. I’m debating whether to do the same for the other two films.
Sources:
-ANH:
-2004 DVD
-2011 Blu Ray
-My ANH 1997 Inspired Regrade
-Harmy’s Despecialized
-Scene 38 Reimagined
-ESB
-Adywan’s 1080p 1997 ESB
-2011 Blu Ray
-ROTJ
-2011 Blu Ray
-Production Footage
-Evolution of The Lightsaber Duel
-Harmy’s Despecialized
Things to fix with Version 2 of ANH:
-Alleviate some of the color matching problems.
-Replace Obi-Wan’s monster call with his original Krayt Dragon call.
-Remove the rocks in front of R2.
-ATTEMPT to fix the swapped audio channels in certain shots.
-Further tweaks to the sound mix.
Since I want to have the soundmix sound the best it can, I would really appreciate any and all constructive criticism on it.
Anyone know of a really good 1997 color reference for ESB? I’m putting a 1997 inspired color grade together and I’m using the disney blu ray as a source.
I need some second opinions. Same as before, I’m having trouble with coloring the Death Star Attack. Everything is color matched, but what I’m struggling with is the overall color pallet. Because there aren’t many scans of the Death Star Attack, this is a section I feel I might have to take some creative liberties with. Below is a link to some screenshots that show the different coloring approaches I’ve taken. I’ve included the unaltered footage from the 2020 blu ray but kept the increased exposure so you can see everything in similar detail. The other two approaches include one with cyan replacing the shades of purple and the other one has warmer midtones.
Example 1:
-Unaltered https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QjUXYNDR0ocMfgovOrFRUU1CThljYeZA/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan only https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oL-mfT5Qx23i_CLFHl680qEvybAFAB-K/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan with Warmer Midtones https://drive.google.com/file/d/12GHPy2rsQ951dhIQF4l7jCNj643aupJa/view?usp=sharing
Example 2:
-Unaltered https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hZR5mrK0Z1QreWiyo2tr5olVMd__9XUo/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan only https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v3bvFSE7aqPaPvYTZj-LwdeAlKEnxOyd/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan with Warmer Midtones https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M1lAtrhsGWJ8-2-7gSG-vBxYlxCRXXeZ/view?usp=sharing
Example 3:
-Unaltered https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pfvXLhnLm7TD-bL8KKj9Z4Ym8NvmwTTq/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan only https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OS7e3saaAY0F6SnCn7H7YvdhKzGF-rH2/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan with Warmer Midtones https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sxVEIPw1LttGB6vAQatPNn1mw9pmzsw8/view?usp=sharing
Example 4:
-Unaltered https://drive.google.com/file/d/116ekRUDIEzDtGpzfT-rSLlqoAxxmLmEs/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan only https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XxXVhMcTEO3CUajtZ92TJvDJG9Ssngd2/view?usp=sharing
-Cyan with Warmer Midtones https://drive.google.com/file/d/17b_qIR6FJMR0C6tZ-q7iEDJ-8HKsqmLZ/view?usp=sharing
Version 1 is complete. I’ve edited the original post detail what I am going to improve and fix going forward with version 2. PM me if you are interested in viewing it.
Currently clearing space to render out Version 1. I’ll edit the original post on additional information.
Excellent! I’ll PM you a link in a sec.
Could you add my “ANH 1997 Inspired Regrade With SE Soundmix” to the list? Thank you.
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/ANH-1997-Inspired-Regrade-with-SE-Soundmix-WIP/id/80173
No worries.
Yeah, I can’t say how much of the green/teal shadows were in the original film, but from the various scans I’ve seen, they definitely show up. I was wondering if that was just from scanning problems, but I actually think they are part of the original grade, which I honestly kinda like. It has a neat look to it and helps break the image up from being entirely blue (or in the case of the default 2020 blu ray, purple for some reason).
Honestly, thanks for the feedback, my guy. Nice to know I have at least some interest in this project.
Hey! I know you posted this a few years ago, but I have something similar to what you’re looking for! It’s not exactly what you wanted, but it’s still an enhanced sound mix! The video quality isn’t quite blu ray quality since at the time I could only use up-scaled DVD footage, but it’s not the worst thing ever. I plan of revising it some time soon, so I’ll layer the blu ray footage on top of it.
Check out my post: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Nausicaa-of-The-Valley-of-The-Wind-with-Redesigned-Sound-Mix/id/80202
Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind is without a doubt my favorite Studio Ghibli film and one of my top favorite animated films in general. But for as much as I love it, it definitely shows it’s age. One of the biggest indicators is it’s sound mix. Granted, this mainly is due to films during that era using what was available to them in terms of technology and what’s in their budget.
So, in order to further enhance the world of Nausicaa, I made a custom sound mix using more modern effects. There are bound to be many opinions out there as to how the film should sound. Due to this, I wanted to enhance the sound mix by simply adding effects rather than completely replacing the existing sound design. A good comparison to this approach is how one of the Superman Blu Rays simply took the already existing stereo mix and added more dynamic sounds to enhance the range of it’s sound design.
For the basis of the sound design, I felt that using effects from the vast library of Skywalker Sound would work for the film. I feel the texture of their effects works really well. This does of course include quite a few effects from Star Wars, but I made sure to mainly use sounds from vehicles that sound similar enough to real world aircraft. For example, because Nausicaa’s glider is jet powered, is smaller than most aircraft in the film and has an energy core that lights up, I felt using the sound of A-Wings from Star Wars would work perfectly for that. I could go all day talking about the specific sounds for each vehicle or aircraft and explaining why they fit them, but long story short, I feel I matched them well.
To still incorporate the distinct style of classic anime sound design, I also incorporated effects from other properties such as Samurai Jack, Dragon Ball Super and other miscellaneous sources. Below are both the video and audio sources for this edit.
Audio Sources:
-Skywalker Sound SFX (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ETC.)
-Samurai Jack
-Dragon Ball Super
Video Sources:
-Sacra Studios Naussicaa DVD
-Gkids Blu Ray (Soon to be used for revised cut)
I plan on making a revised cut using footage from the Gkids Blu Ray. When I originally made this edit, I used an up-scaled version of the DVD from the Sacra Studios Ghibli Collection. It’s not the best quality, but since I can now rip Blu Ray footage, I’ll layer the 1080p footage over it when I revise it. Can’t say when since I’m currently working on other projects and don’t have the hard drive space. I’ll edit this post later on when the revised cut comes out. I’m also contemplating including a up-converted 5.1 mix as an optional bonus.
For anyone who is interest, go ahead and leave a reply and I’ll PM you a link to view it. Hope you all enjoy it.
Ah okay. It is kinda impressive to have some kind of similarities. I’d say my regrade is definitely brighter than the 2011 version. I guess so long as I can avoid the glaring problems of the 2011 version, I’m satisfied.
I’ll figure it out.
Sure. Be my guest. Also, in regards to the footage looking like it’s from the 2011 blu ray, was that in reference to the Death Star Attack or one of the other clips?
In these two samples, we have the Tantive IV boarding scene and Luke purchasing R2 and C-3PO.
Tantive IV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VcKC066d2dpQfoBK-1oXoHtSnv7VoJiS/view?usp=sharing
Luke buying R2 and C-3PO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19IKscSdF839wHs2C2MXZUk8H4urRnxZ1/view?usp=sharing
Here are two video samples of the regrade. They include the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader as well as the Death Star Attack. Aside from the saturation and exposure boost, I also changed the color temperature ever so slightly and gave the shadows a slight tint of Teal so that the mid-tones and highlights are preserved.
When it comes to the Death Star Attack…dear god. While I stated I wasn’t confident in calling this project a recreation, I knew without a shred of doubt the Death Star Attack wasn’t even close. For whatever reason the Death Star attack, which has always ranged between being mainly grey or blue depending on the release, was colored with an overwhelming amount of purple. Though it took me several tries, I was able to change the purple into more of a cyan shade using HSL secondary tools and slightly adding cyan into the highlights.
Obi-Wan vs Vader Duel: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HlThUZmAgc5yXYsussrypC1yrczLtID/view?usp=sharing
Death Star Attack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ls2VcJxeufTKTTCaflGErgC_AkIPYEaC/view?usp=sharing
Wow. big difference from what I see. Currently, I’m working on a regrade of the 2020 ANH Bluray. If I wanted to apply the corrections that you mentioned to fix what you were talking about, how would I do that? I’m using Premiere currently to do all of it.
Howdy everybody. For those of you who have been following this project, you won’t need to wait much longer for version 3. For those of you just tuning in, let me give you the run down.
This, ladies and gentleman, is a (somewhat) shot by shot regrade of the 2020 bluray of A New Hope with the goal to be as close in spirit as the 1997 Special Edition Theatrical Cut. Sources for accomplishing the accuracy of this cut are minimal and unreliable at best. While this project may not be the definitive project (that will likely be 4K97IV or 4K77 v2), it’s a pretty close approximation of what it could have looked like for a home release on DVD or Blu Ray. How close you may ask? Here’s how.
Based on word of mouth from audiences and George Lucas himself, the theatrical cut of A New Hope Special Edition had a color timing that used an old Technicolor film print as a color reference. While enthusiasts have stated the 97 cut has it’s differences from the old print, such as being slightly cooler in color temperature, the similarities outweigh them.
With that information in mind, I decided to scrap what I made up until version two of my regrade and color match the blu ray to the most accurate source currently available, 4K77. Specifically, Sanjuro’s color grade of 4K77. I went with his grade as the main source for two reason. One was because his color grade is noticeably colder than the main color grade done by Williarob, a detail that is relevant to the 97 cut. The other reason is because Williarob’s grade is meant to resemble what the film looked like in theaters, whereas Sanjuro’s grade is a retooled “what if” color grade of the Technicolor print if it was set for home release. In other words, it doesn’t have the super high contrast look most 35mm scans tend to have and the colors are more neutral.
I’m also treating this regrade as a semi reconstruction/full reconstruction of the special edition alterations exclusive to the 97 cut. Because certain alterations did NOT look to good for 1997 cgi, I have used updated versions of them, such as the updated Jabba from the 2004/2011 cut. Of course, not all of the alterations bug me so small things like the extended detention block hallway are still in. For those who perhaps like seeing the changes exclusive to the 97 cut, I am offering an alternate version that accommodates them. Here’s a list of what each version has:
Semi-Authentic:
-Updated Jabba
-Extended Detention Block Hallway
-Updated Lightsabers
Full-Authentic:
-Film grain is applied to 2020 blu ray footage
-Original 97 Jabba
-Detention Block hallway is restored to original length
-Original Lightsaber effects during Obi Wan vs Vader duel
On the audio side of things, I’ll be including all kinds of goodies.
Audio Tracks (Semi Authentic):
-My Dolby TrueHD mixdown of the 1997 Cinema DTS Audio
-Schorman’s synced 2011 DTS track
-Schorman’s synced 2020 7.1 track
Audio Tracks (Full Authentic):
-My Dolby TrueHD mixdown of the 1997 Cinema DTS Audio
-1997 Laserdisc AC3 5.1 track
-1997 Laserdisc Stereo PCM track
More info will be updated as time goes on. Listed below are some samples.
Section of the Death Star Attack: https://youtu.be/5Wnvj2kCZjg
Death Star Meeting Room: https://youtu.be/KnOhJHBC2jI
Jabba Conversation: https://youtu.be/a4dJL7it0MI
Original Post as of Version 2:
Howdy. This is the first big project I’ve contributed here, so patience is appreciated.
This is a 1997 Special Edition Regrade of A New Hope. I debated calling it a recreation, but I can’t in good confidence say it’s 100% accurate. However, I can say it’s an “approximate” recreation of what it looked like going off scans that are available of the 1997 version. I say this because I mainly used footage from the 2020 Disney 1080p Blu Ray bundled in the UHD release, which from what I understand has a color timing very similar to the 1997 release.
By default, the 2020 Blu ray is too de-saturated and the overall picture is too dim. Certainly a better effort than the 2004/2011 releases, but it’s strange how a dim picture is a reoccurring problem. In terms of the alterations I made, I gave the footage a 20-30% saturation boost and increased the exposure. To capture even more of the 1997 spirit, I included the 1997 DTS Soundmix.
Sources:
-2020 Disney 1080p Blu Ray
-Poita’s 1997 35MM Scans for color reference
-DrDre’s Technicolor Color References
-Harmy’s Respecialized 97 for audio source and shot replacement for the rocks in front of R2 and the 97 timing of the Han and Greedo shootout.
With version 2 finished, I’m going to be taking a break from ANH for awhile and move onto the other movies. I will likely make a version 3 with more adjustments if I spot something off or if enough people offer some constructive criticism. Same as always, PM me if you are interested in viewing it.
Does anyone know how close the new Disney 4K Blu Rays are to the 1997 SE releases? I keep seeing people say the new ones look similar to how they were colored but I don’t know how accurate that is. It might just be because of the lack of Saturation I dont see it.
one way I get around the color saturation issues with the blu ray is that I have a 55 inch LG smart tv that allows me to apply various filters …so for the 2011 blu ray release , I just apply the “cinema” filter ,which automatically desaturates the image and gives it a more filmic look . For the 2019 release , I apply the "vivid " filter ,which helps boost the color a little bit .Now , if I hook my vcr up to that tv and pop in the 97 SE ,it strikes a nice balance , at the loss of hd of course ,but the colors look nice .
Interesting work around. I’ll keep that in mind next time I feel like watching them. I honestly find it funyy how it never seems we can get an entirely solid release of the OT. The 2011 blu ray is too dim and saturated, but then you have the reverse issue with the 2019 releases. It just sucks that fans have to resort to fixes like that in order to enjoy a movie.
I’ll have to take a look at that. I didn’t think the GOAT releases would have a project like that given it’s questionable quality. I wish at some point we can get a blu-ray release one of these centuries that is color matched to the Tech print. It’s coloring is crisp yet not overly saturated. It finds ways to liven up the image even in areas that seem borderline monochromatic.
Even the “digital” home video remasters deliberately departed from the theatrical colors to create a specific “aesthetic” to their look.
The 04 and 11SEs, I really don’t know what they we’re going for. Incompetence maybe?
The 1920SEs have gone for a muted and more desaturated look. Empire has a green/blue push introduced, whilst Jedi has a red push making everything look kinda brown. However in these releases there is pretty good shot to shot consistency so you can do a lot with a single color correction to the whole films to improve them.
Check out Jedi Destiny if you’re interested. We’re also working on Empire atm.
If memory serves me, George wanted the 2004/2011 releases to have a similar look to the prequels…which really doesn’t work on films from the late 70s and 80s. I think if the blacks weren’t crushed, highlights weren’t clipped and the overall saturation was brought down by 20%, they could’ve been better.
I REALLY don’t know how to feel about the 2019 releases. They just look so desaturated. The original cuts weren’t that saturated to begin with, but they still found ways to make the image vibrant. You aren’t wrong though, a bit of correction would definitely work considering the image is consistent in color. In fact, don’t the 2019 releases base the color timing on the 1997 releases? Obviously not one to one, but I compared certain frames to 1997 scans and they match up with the exception of color temperature.
I’ll definitely check that out. Been looking at newer projects lately ever since I joined recently. I’m a kid in a candy store right now.
Of all the official releases of the OT, which ones do you like the most for their color grading? I often find when watching a release I havent seen before, the grading is what often has the biggest part in whether I like it or not. If for some reason you don’t like the entire set of films in one release, then pick for each individual film.
Going off of 35mm scans I’ve seen and certain aspects of the home releases on VHS and Laserdisc, my personal favorite is all three of the 1997 Special Editions. For as controversial as they may be (not to mention despised), I think they do a good job of giving the films an updated and vibrant color grade that still has the spirit of the original grading. Best of all, the blacks aren’t crushed into submission.
Very true. We’re fortunate to have enough people passionate about the films as well as knowing what to do with the surviving materials.