So it's Mishima! Thank you so much! I was not aware of how many edits were made to piece together the final track used for the Episode III Spectacular. Again, thank you for the effort you put into recreating it, J2E!
J2E said:
Yeap, Van Helsing was a large portion along with Iron Will, Courage Under Fire, Virus, and Mishima.
Thank you very much for recreating the Celebration III Spectacular, J2E.
It was such a powerful experience to sit in that panel back nearly ten years ago, surrounded by SW fans, getting to take in minutes of never before seen footage.
I found it interesting that in the cam shot material, there's an edit as Yoda beheads Gree and one of his grunts. At the viewing I was at, the shot was shown in its entirety. Ever since I've been wonder if they took it out at subsequent viewings because of children attending, or if the cam footage skipped during that part.
Anyway, what I am most curious about is which track is used during the opening seventeen seconds. I love that score, but even after years of trying to find out and asking around I have not come up with an answer. I watched Iron Will and listened to the Van Helsing score for this very reason, but never recalled hearing it in either.
They look truly excellent! Saturation and color-timing-wise very much in tune with the shots from the Making of Star Wars: Special Edition Interview between Leonard Maltin and George Lucas.
Only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb are the awfully dubbed trailer voices. I know they only had a mixdown available, so they had to do this, but good lord, Yoda and Vader are as far removed from sounding like their initial German dubbings as possible.
Ah, right. I thought it was part of the seat illuminated by lighting.
I love it! The only thing I noticed was that the explosions during the space battle / trench run still have that darn over-saturated orange look to them. That's something that looked way more natural on the 1997 SE release. But who care, the beautiful SE Death Star explosion and the Rebel tactical table matte painting are back to their former glory!
This might now become my favourite version of ANH to watch. Team Blu's SE restoration being a close second. The only things I prefer about the Blu-Ray now is the DTS-HD audio and the upgraded CGI Jabba.
towne32 said:
There is the shot when they're first pulling into the city, specific to the SE, where there are exact duplicate stormtroopers on both sides, making the exact same motions. I like the shot (for SE purposes), but the identically moving stormtroopers make it look like a 90's video game. Again, probably not an easy fix by any means.
Yeah. I love the shot and have never noticed the flipped Stormtrooper footage for the better part of a decade, yet once I read that online I could no longer unsee it. Same for Luke's "ghostly image" standing in an archway of the Lars Homestead, which I read about on here. That was *really* shoddy quality control.
Also, kk650, could you please elaborate on the error in this shot. I fail to spot it (maybe that's a blessing). ;)
kk650 said:
For those interested, here's one of the more obvious examples of the type of error i'm talking about on the Star wars blu-ray that i've been removing. I'm amazed this one made it onto the blu-ray:
Looks like it could be a messed up clone brush or something like that when they were cleaning up the print that they left in by mistake.
brimforge said:
another nice example how a fake cgi setting can look as good as one of the old movies ;-)
Dude, it is a set. xD
Anyway, it was an interesting clip, but I find these settings sometimes stir away from the main focus of bringing a harmonic, naturalistic celluloid feel to your fan edit. Instead it draws too much attention to itself and takes it to a territory where the look makes it feel unnatural because of how it dominates the scene.
The comparison that was made to a photo from a news paper article isn't that far off.
It appears like a grainy, low-quality print on a muddy paper stock you have to squint your eyes at to recognize things more clearly (an exaggeration in comparison to your clip, but I hope you know know what I mean). Perhaps a magazine-quality scan describes it more accurately. For example:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/7b0398244895559
You were on a great way of creating a fine continuation of a 90's-quality celluloid look with the mild film grain, the warm skin tones, the harsher black & white levels and the lens distortions and 3D mapping.
Why don't you offer both the more subtle yet harmonic 90s celluloid version (theatrical release TPM as reference) and use your current settings on a separate "50's / 60's OT precursor" aged-celluloid reconstruction look?
Team Blu, my first venture into MySpleen territory. :)
Why they released both isolated sound effects and score tracks on THX 1138 and yet on neither the official DVDs and Blu-Ray for the SW Saga is beyond my comprehension.
I'm really looking forward to the SE Blu-Rays.
One of my biggest gripes about the 2004 DVD / CS Blu-Ray were the nearly completely desaturated / sometimes overly-saturated explosions during the Battle of Yavin.
In the 1997 version the explosions had that wonderful golden color (especially during the trench run).
Or what about all those blue highlights that started popping up with the 2004 transfer during that scene. Most prominently the black table edges of the Rebel's tactical table turning blue.
Not to mention, the explosion of the Death Star has never looked more magical than it did in ANH's SE. The recoloring of the "light dot" debris from white to blue was a great idea to set it apart from the star field. It's an awe-inspiring visual. Jump forward to 2004 and the explosion fades into a lifeless desaturation. :(
Raiders is full of anamorphic lens blurs.
I just remembered another one in TPM, this time seen mainly on the top of the screen: As Obi Wan and Qui-Gon launch their surprise attack from the bridge onto the Battle Droid squad that's taking the imprisoned Queen and company to the holding camps.
I am not sure why it's there either, but I for one really like the look of it. You gotta commend ILM for blending CGI / model elements into shots featuring that distortion. Must have been a pain in the butt at the time.
Would be great if you could add these distortions to shots in AOTC and ROTS. I don't recall any of these shots in OT, but there are probably a boatload of them, as is the case with lots of 70's and 80's films. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a prime example full of these distortions, almost to the point of being overbearing.
Hello there emanswfan,
Been lurking this forum for a long time, this thread probably being my most visited. I'm really glad you took on this mammoth project.
I was wondering, are you going to be adding the blurred lens distortion that was present at the very bottom of the frame in some of the wider shots in the OT/ TPM (master shots in Watto's Shop to name one) to AOTC and ROTS?
Not the best resolution, but you can see it best on Anakin's pants in this shot.
At the top of my head, the shot of the heroes bowing in front of Boss Nass at the Gungan sacred place would be another example of the distortion I'm talking about. Somewhat reminiscent of a tilt-shift lens effect.
Hello there, kk650!
I just joined today after having been a long time lurker of the SW Preservations forum.
Truly, posters like you and You_Too have put in a lot of effort to bring out the Saga's beautiful cinematography the way I remembered seeing it on the big screen.
People underestimate the importance of film grain in movies that rely on special effects. It's the finishing touch that glues everything together and creates the subconscious sense that what the audience is being presented was captured through a lens.
Can't wait to watch them in motion, judging by screenshots, I'm in for a great ride.
Great color timing, natural grain, no DNR- just all around gorgeous!