- Post
- #230933
- Topic
- The "original crawl" on the new DVD is NOT the original crawl! Screenshot inside!
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/230933/action/topic#230933
- Time
-1977: original crawl
-1981: new crawl, backdrop unknown
-1980's-1990's: 1981 crawl recomposited on a non-1977 starfield background
-1997: 1981 text composited on original starfield backdrop
-2006: 1977 crawl with original starfield (whether genuine or not)
I am almost absolutely positive that the EOD clip is from a film source. Not only are all the outtakes and vintage clips from that doc taken from film sources, the crawl in this doc has some subtle jitter as well as a little subtleties like fading, scratches and grain that you come to be familiar with from watching thousands of hours of film footage. It certainly looks like a twenty-five year old film source to me. Also, if they had not the original 1977 element it would not have been necessary to go through the trouble to re-created it, they simply could have omitted it; furthermore, since most of the footage from that doc is from archival 35mm footage dug up from the original negatives in the Lucasfilm archives it would stand to reason that they obtained the original crawl and trasfered it. So I don't think there is any credence whatsoever to the notion that this is artificial. I am certain it is genuine. Zion's 35mm copy is also identical to it.
So here we have established what the original crawl looked like. Regarding the colours being different, they are actually closer to the original colours than the video versions (naturally); the original crawls were more of a deep yellow-orange colour, while the videos were more of a bright golden-yellow colour (the DVD is unintentionally closer to the original colouring since the black levels are brought down).
The only thing missing is an original film source of the 1981 ANH crawl. They totally re-filmed the opening crawl with a new text element--would it stand to reason that they also used a new starfield background as well? If they used a new backdrop they would have had the unfortunate problem of blending the two together for the tilt-down, which would be accomplished through a dissolve--someone here seemed to recall this actually being the case. Seeing as it was so recent after Star Wars, some might think it possible that the original starfield backdrop was still available, though I think its a stronger possibility that it was a new backdrop--how many starfield backdrops are used in the film, like 60? They were just made by randomly punching holes in plexiglass (or something like that) and thus were not recorded in reference photos or blueprints and were almost certainly discarded after the shots were filmed in 1977. The only possibility is that the actual background plate was still available for compositing.
Then on home video a starfield backdrop different from the 1977 one appears. This could be due to many things. The first is that the telecine process gobbled up the original starfield, though this would mean that the other starfield shots in the film (ie every special effects shot) would also need to be re-created, which obviously did not happen. The second is that it is perhaps an alternate version of the 1981 crawl that was done using a different starfield. Another is that is simply is the 1981 crawl, which used a different backdrop. Another is that, for some unknown technical reason, it was felt that the crawl should be re-done and another version made using a newly-created starfield and re-compositing the 1981 text over it.
Then in 1997, the crawl returns to the original 1977 starfield, only with the 1981 text. This may be due to many factors. In the making of the special edition, all the original elements and outtakes were unearthed--perhaps the original starfield was discovered and a new version of the crawl (or perhaps the 1981 text itself) composited over it. The other possibility is that the 1981 crawl was found and used, meaning that the 1981 crawl used the original starfield backdrop. This however rules out the possibility that the home video crawl was re-created due to technical reasons (i.e. jitter, damage, starfield exposure). However, this may also illiminate another possibility about the home video crawl--it was merely a standard-definition video re-creation, and thus could not possibly be used for theatrical exhibition. Thus, this would mean the 1997 crawl is either the original 1981 element or a new version made in 35mm resolution from the original 1977 backdrop element. I would say either one of these is strongly possible.
My theory is this: We know that many of the special effects shots were totally re-composited for the SE. They scanned in the original 35mm bluescreen elements and backdrops and digitall re-composited them, eliminating dupe grain and matte lines. I would say that the opening shot--the opening crawl which then tilts down to Tatooine to reveal the Tantive IV and stardestroyer--would have been in fairly poor condition and very scratched and grainy because of the title composition and all the editing done to this clip over the years. Therefore, in my mind, it is almost certain that the shot was re-composited. This would allow for the original starfield to be recovered, if not from an original background plate then simply from the original composite negative, and the ships and crawl to be totally re-composited; it would make sense, seeing as it was the SE, to simply make a high-quality digital re-creation of the crawl, free of jitter or grain, that could be composited seamlessly into the original scene.
Whatever the case, it was carried over into the 2004 DVD, meaning that both the 1997 and 2004 versions are likely re-created crawls. If they had the ability to do this for the SE it be easy as cake to simply alter the text to remove the Episode listing to re-created the original crawl. A true judgement is really dependant on seeing the whole dvd crawl when it comes out. Would be interesting to compare the original 1977 35mm tilt-down to Tattoine with the 1980's and 1990's home video alternate-starfields and the 1997/2004 DVD.
Here is the clincher regarding the 2006 DVD though: the original crawl is already available. It was seen on EOD. If the DVD crawl is the original it would certainly be the EOD footage, which it clearly is not. Therefore it must be some kind of re-creation. My guess is that they are using the same source elements that were used for the 1997 SE, which is the original starfield backdrop but with newly created text. Thus, this is really like an OOT-SE and not really the OOT.
Was just saying that the situation isn't as convoluted as LFL representatives make it seem.