Swazzy

I’ll be yelled at for this, but for me it would have to be…

Because it would be an intriguing, unprecedented twist, and it also doesn’t “ruin” your perspective of other OT events like plaugieus being introduced would for many (additionally, when your other top contenders are ‘the surviving evil half of the chosen one’ and ‘Palpatine, making Jedi’s ending truly and utterly pointless’).

The idea that Tarkin wasn’t just a higher ranking general but rather an ancient evil that’s being has outlived even the emperor could be great if handled carefully (I’m sure it’d fall under ‘EU bullshit’ for most though, understandably). It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen an average political figure reveal his puffy inflated monster face.

But that’s just if Snoke has to be a pre established character. Truthfully I’d rather him just be “some guy”, because snoke would probably be better off as a new, original character of his own. But lord knows that’s too easy to be the case.

Only what if snoke is Tarkin, but Tarkin was plaugieus the whole time. Oh God, I’ve gone too far. I’ve gone too far in a few places…

Quick preview of some preliminary color correction:

iTunes

'99 Broadcast

Correction

Background: The first episode of SpongeBob Squarepants was finalized in 1997. Following the green lighting of the series and the completion of the remainder of Season One, the episode made its debut following the 1999 Kids’ Choice Awards, presented in the format identical to the '97 nickelodeon pitch.

In all subsequent airings and home releases, the pilot was re dubbed ‘Help Wanted’, and paired with two additional episodes ‘Reef Blower’ and ‘Tea at the Treedome’. As such, the original end credits sequence was replaced with one that credits all three episodes. The original opening sequence was replaced with the typical intro placed at the beginning we’re familiar with today, and where the title once was is edited out by use of a generic bubble transition. Additionally, a sound cue of a harpsichord playing along with seagulls squawking over a black screen just before the episode fades in, was also removed. The pilot has never re aired or re released in its original format.

Considering it is of some historical value, I’ll be doing a small reconstruction using the 1080p iTunes release of ‘Help Wanted’, and whatever sources of the original pilot are available. I plan to have two audio tracks, one reconstruction using multiple sources, and one of the VHS audio as seen above synced to the final product.

I’d think that would be the case, considering THX was conceived for ROTJ itself, but it never shows up in any of the various preservations. According to Wikipedia, the logo debuted with Jedi’s theatrical run. If this is the case, shouldn’t it be included in efforts such as Harmy’s reconstruction and considered as much of a part of the movie as the Fox fanfare? I think it’d be a nice touch and set the time period nicely.

Duracell, I have some bad news…

https://youtu.be/vd_8-NCN5CU

Do you think you could add TFA to the lot by using Adam Relf’s artwork?

I just found the line they used to have Alec Guinness say Rey’s name

“Come here, little one! Don’t be afREYd.”

[And here it is in TFA @57]LINK REMOVED

I find it so amusing how they pulled this off. It’s such a fanedit-y thing to do.

So as it turns out, they managed to have Alec Guinness and Ewan share Obi Wan’s lines in the ‘vision’ sequence:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/20/jj-abrams-reveals-obi-wan-and-yoda-are-star-wars-force-awakens

(Had to change his comment because I don’t know how to read articles)

Ben Kenobi had more lines than Luke Skywalker in this movie. Just…think about that.

While I’m not really confident on saturation levels, I think the View-Master is a handy source to get just the right contrast out of the BD footage. I did this a while ago, but looking back it strikingly fits right in with the 35mm frame from the eBay listing:

View-Master:

BD:

Correction + slight grain :

Given my input and output were both fairly low resolution, I’d be interested to see what kind of results I could get out of the actual BD instead of just an online reference image

I think it’s better to start fresh in this instance. Two pre movie threads and one definitive post movie thread just seems easier, as opposed to starting the real discussion 200 pages in.

Can we talk about the Banjo-Kazooie series and how it needs to make a comeback sooner or later? The Smash Direct’s on Tuesday and if they don’t get in, well then I’ll pretty much lose all interest in this hobby.

The problem is more people than not are at least content with the existence of the prequels. A reboot would be terribly difficult to market, and may make a great deal of people upset who thought at least episode III was fine. It’s far less confusing and easier to pop out a spin off every other year. Disney does what they think will make them the most money in the most feasible manner, and the OT and its imagery is ten times the money-maker the prequel-era will ever be.

What I could see them doing are a series of movies based on Obi-Wan’s time in exile in between III and IV. I mean, you’ve got twenty years of stories to tell there, and if you really wanted, you could sprinkle in flashbacks to the prequel era with Haden and Ewan, and lift their characters up higher to what they were suppose to be (for example, show a scene where Anakin looks at his lightsaber admirably and boasts that one day his children will take it up and carry on the Skywalker legacy, or something like that). That would at least aid the cause to “fix” the damage caused by the PT.

Considering remaking the prequels would fall under the category of “things that would make Disney a fresh ton of money”, I would say yes, eventually they will. But I can’t imagine them ever doing something that seemingly controversial in a long, long time, not for another good 20 years. The prequel era is something that I think Disney will shy away from indefinitely at this point because of how much of a risk it is, returning to the spot that the creator of Star Wars himself failed miserably in.

Also, you’ve got to factor in George’s “Vision”, and how there was probably something in the contract that prevented it from being tampered with. If Disney’s having a tough time releasing the OUT, you can bet they won’t be altering the backstory anytime soon.

While I can see them retrying the backstory, I can’t see them doing it the same way, Episodes I, II, and III in theaters, again. In 1999 it made sense; not so much in a future era that would grow up with the sequel trilogy. Looking back, this whole Star Wars nonsense would be increasingly confusing for a newcomer. What was once a a straight 1 to 6 Saga would become twelve main movies, six of which are alternate trilogies, and then add a zillion spin offs riddled over all of that. Well, I shouldn’t say ‘would become’ because that’s already the direction we’re headed.

Fantastic! Thanks for making this. For the scenes you captured, it looks like my projected regrade wasn’t too far off. This leads me to believe that the View-Master is a trustworthy color reference, but it’s a lot less saturated compared to the colors of the LD.

Here are a few basic attempts at a regrade I whipped up, assuming the View-Master colors were 100% accurate:

Which, obviously they aren’t, but this is just a proof of concept I suppose. For an actual grade, I’d probably use a 35mm sourced LaserDisc like SilverWook suggested.

Just how different did Toy Story and Pixar’s other earlier films look on 35mm? I’d assume a great deal, but it’s been ages since I’ve seen Toy Story in theaters.

My hunch is based off of a comparison between the 2009 BD, and a 1995 View-Master. Obviously these colors aren’t as trustworthy as an actual 35mm print, but despite some obvious weird tints and a general cooler grade than what I’d assume should be, the filmic presentation just seems…“right”, for lack of a better word. The striking difference in contrast, the way the grain complements the computer imagery, I just can’t remember if it was always this way in theaters.

I’d love to fiddle around and make a theatrical regrade for TS, just for the fun of it, maybe even restore the original Disney logo to boot. But first I’d like to know if I ain’t wasting my time, you know. What do you remember? Are there any good/better theatrical references ?

Harmy said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3dW4H96j3I&ab_channel=PetrHarmy

Another little video. This time, I had a bit of fun with it 😃

The buildup to Anakin’s eyebrows was intense. Your efforts never cease to amaze me, Harmy.

I managed to get tickets for 8PM on the 17th, so as long as the theater is at least decent I can’t complain.

Supmandude said:

I’m 99% sure they just put a filter on it for the trailer. I remember the trailers having the look present in your pictures, but the movie to my knowledge always looked how it does on the Blu-Ray.

See, that’s the conclusion I came to recently, going over the sources I have. Or at least, it would be, if not for the 35mm print of the trailer I own looking nothing like the scan on Paramount’s YouTube channel. Just to compare, here’s what this frame of the ‘morning routine’ sequence looks like in the YouTube trailer:

I took that frame, and in Photoshop I matched it near perfectly to the same frame on my own 35mm reel. After doing this, it was evident that Paramount’s upload had a glaring blue tint that made the frame murkier and more off-colored than it should be. Here’s what it looks like on an actual film reel, though:

Now, compare this to the Blu-ray:

Even after the correction, the colors are nothing alike. And this is from the final trailer, which was cut together only a few months before the film’s release.

Now I’m no expert on the subject (“in fact I’m not an expert on anything”), but if the digital render we have now on the blu-ray was transferred straight to film for the theatrical release, it would look much the same in color, but lacking in saturation, and duller/“dirtier” than it should appear. This is not the case.

Despite this, preview screens for one telesync from 2004 that I’ve seen prove that the blu-ray colors might not have been conceptualized only after the film’s theatrical run, and were present in some cases. So I theorize that, two separate color timings were created to accommodate for both 35mm screens and digital screens. Keep in mind, this is 2004 we’re talking about; digital theaters were very scarce and severely outnumbered, meaning a lot more people than not saw the 35mm version:

I can’t say for sure which grading came first, though; but if the goal here is to re-create what the film looked like on a 35mm print, I’d say there’s still an objective at hand. I’m fairly convinced it’s the version I saw in theaters in 2004, and the version I haven’t seen since.

Also, SBMania is a fantastic forum. I feel like I made an account there at some point, but in the mean time you could link this post, and see what they think.

I put the title of the telesync there for future reference, but most sites I try to download from have dead links. Rest assured, I’ll still be looking. They can’t all be gone.

SilverWook said:

Repeat to yourself, it’s just a video game, I should really just relax. 😉

Nah, it’s a pretty dumb one too. It’s just that I’ve heard a great deal of criticism towards the title, but I never really knew why.

Fantastic work, Dre. How exactly did you use the CC tool to revert only the gamma and contrast back to the WOWOW?

The first one, I mean. The sequel is terrible, over dramatized fanfiction that breaks continuity inbetween TFU and ANH, but I digress.

To me it’s a more sensible and enjoyable adventure than anything in the PT. I don’t really care for the majority of the EU, but the fact that TFU was dissolved from the extended canon in favor of Star Wars Rebels irks me a bit.

Vader’s a menacing, double crossing villan as he should be, pulling the strings from the beginning. Starkiller’s got a great emotional conflict sans the boring factor/melodrama. Proxy’s probably one of my favorite EU characters, and the concept of him being programmed to both obey his master and kill him without feeling conflicted at all is really great to me. All the main characters feel more alive and fleshed-out than anyone in the PT, and we already knew who they were before going into those movies.

Yes, the DLC is terrible, yes the game consists almost entirely of just hitting guys with the lightsaber level after level, but the question remains. I’m not trying to justify my own opinion against the rest, I’m just genuinely curious. I’ve never seen more hatred centralized around a single piece of the EU. What went wrong?

EDIT: In Hindsight the way this is written makes me sound a lot more passionate about this than I really am. It’s a silly little game, I’m just wondering why people seem to lament it’s existence so often

http://www.paramount.com/movies/spongebob-squarepants-movie

Another great reference. Definitely a 35mm transfer and damning evidence that the movie was drastically re timed for home releases.

There isn’t a blue shift in this trailer, compared to the YouTube one, though the contrast nothing like the former. Still, the colors in this trailer are a lot more reminiscent of my print, so I think I’m getting just a bit closer here.

What’s interesting to note is that this trailer is a advertisement for the DVD & VHS releases, but looks nothing like them.

I’m left with alot of questions though. For instance, I’ve no clue what to refer to for the shot below; not only are the colors completely different in all three cases, but the visuals appear to be from three seperate stages of production:

Paramount Website:

Paramount Youtube:

Current (DVD):