Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
OK, now I am imagining a CGI reworking of the old Thunderbirds films. Can you picture a Cliff Richard Jnr. that is not a puppet?
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Good post Rick.
I remember seeing and years later buying, the BBC's original black and white Quatermass and the Pit.
It would be useless in colour, losing all the suspense and atmosphere - Hobbs Lane underground station where it happened - what a scary place that was.
It was a series, as I said, in black and white - I think it was broadcast around 1959/60 or there abouts and was quite scary - to me as a 10 to 12 year old.
I still have it somewhere and it has reminded me to take another look at it.
Roger
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Interesting post Rick and you make many good points.
Clearly there are films where this would be a tragedy (two of which, to be fair, I mentioned myself) but there are many more that would gain from this process. In that I would include The Longest Day and A Wonderful Life.
I also still think a CGI makeover of the Battle of Britain film would be beneficial in the way I suggest not affecting the performances or the script but just to correct jarring notes regarding the types/marks of aircraft depicted.
Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
I saw some clips of some of the colourised Laurel and Hardy films a while ago and they were awful, horrible colours that just looked so dreadfully false, they added nothing whatsoever and were just distracting. But then they were done a long time ago and technology has moved on enormously. Have a look at this for comparison, a colourised episode of Fireball XL5 completed recently by those splendid chaps at NetworkDVD:
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The colours are fantastic, it is hard to believe that they have been created from scratch - it really makes one yearn to see the rest treated in the same way. Similarly a few of the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who episodes only survive in black and white which is a shame. Recently the Restoration Team restored episode 3 of Planet of the Daleks to colour and it looks extremely good and I defy anyone to spot the difference. Sadly I doubt if we'll ever see The Mind of Evil (largely filmed at Dover Castle) restored in this maner as the costs involved would not cover the comparatively small numbers of sales. Still, never say never...
There is an new technique whereby colour can acually be recovered from black and white film prints taken from video recordings. Sometimes such prints contain 'chromadots', tiny particles of colour that are preserved which can be used to retrieve the colour signal to restore the image. Results depend on the quality of the print and the results, if stable, can look excellent. I suppose the difference here is that the colour is being restored to an approximation of the original rather than created and shoehorned in.
If one was to insert CGI into the Battle of Britain one would have to ensure it was carefully done, matching filmstocks and style. To see stunningly created aircraft zipping about might clash with the style of the rest of the film, there being a risk of it being jarring viewing. It could look good though if done tastefully; such consideration was given to the recently remastered Star Trek original series. The effects were completely re-done in such a way as to blend in with the tone and style of the old show, thus enhancing rather than simply flashy for the sake of it. For example: The Doomsday Machine:
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I can't imagine going back to watch the original after seeing these enhanced episodes.
However, King Kong? Dambusters? It's A Wonderful Life? Ice Cold In Alex? Psycho? No, by all means clean up the prints but don't touch colourisation with a bargepole.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Phil mentions Ice Cold in Alex there. Here is a still from the very famous bar scene near the end of the movie..
Love it!
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
I am sure I read somewhere that they used real lager and filmed that scene in one take, about a dozen times. Poor John Mills having to down a drink in one, over and over again.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
I heard that too Chris - how fab! It's a great scene.
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
I do know (a family friend was in it) that the scenes in the pub in Straw Dogs had all the background extras drinking real beer, the producers had a deal with the landlord. Those are definitely the films to get work on.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
email: dover7@msn.com