Can the image quality be helped?

[Scott Walker]

Hi all!

I have what seems to be a bootleg version of 2001 in Italian. I bought this knowing it could be bad but I wondered if anyone knew of a way to improve the image quality at all. I’m fine with the marks personally but you will see the colors are quite bad snd wondered if there were any way to improve this somehow. You will notice some of the red suit is good but the definition in the scenes can be washed out. Any help or ideas to improve it somehow would be very much appreciated.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/062D...27big#New_York

also, I don’t believe this version requires a scope but how does a film look if it does? I have a scope film coming which I’m aware of but what would I check for when looking at film?

[Steve Klare]

Hi Scott,

It looks like you have some red-fade. Basically the red was there all along, it's just the other colors have faded already and the red is left behind. In the long term the red goes to pink and then you're down to pretty much clear film.

Often placing a cyan filter in the light path helps inject some color back. This doesn't always work, and sometimes the loss of brightness isn't worth the effect it does have. That much being said, it works pretty well sometimes. I have a couple I will not watch without it.

There is a process being done called O.R.S. by a gentleman named Alberto which helps faded prints: it costs enough that you need to be really motivated. You can learn about it here using search. (That's all I know!)

If you show a 'scope film without an anamorphic lens, you'll notice things seem stretched vertically. People are oddly slim. What should be circular becomes slightly oval. If there is a car going around the corner on screen, first it would be too skinny, and then too stubby! My introduction to 'scope was a film with a lot of people on horseback: they looked about 30 feet tall!

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

From your screenshot I doubt placing color correction filter to the lens front would be any help.


(Image cropped & rotated for the sake of convenience.)

As the film loses its dye when faded. That means if cyan/yellow dye had gone - they're gone. Nothing left to be recovered. A suitable filter would make it look more pleasing to watch however.

BTW the image proportion seems normal to me. No scope lens needed I believe.

[Osi Osgood]

Boy, that print has had many a screening, or one terrible projector, once or twice. The O.R.S. treatment does do a lot to restore or to put it better, brings back out any colors still existing on the print, but in the case of this print, I personally feel that it would be a waste of time. The money you would spend for getting this treatment done, you could spend on another print with good color, and then resell this old one and make back some of your cash.

[Scott Walker]

Yes it’s how it came the other day. Is there anyway to even get this film full feature on super 8 normally? If so I’d love to do that!

[Osi Osgood]

It's not being printed these days, but I believe that you havetwo options. There was a Cineavision scope print of thisputout some years ago. I'm not sure, but there may have also been a regularscope print of the whole feature as well. I am pretty sure that there were both scope and flat/letterboxed copies of the trailer as well. Personally, I have always just wanted the last reel with all the " groovy" effects. By the way, Kempski put out an outstanding scope feature of "2010" on super 8 that easily rivals the DVD! I believe that it was reprinted by Derann as well!

[Barry Attwood]

There was a scope Cineavision F/L release, and a Ken Films full frame F/L release as well, but I've not come across a print of either for many years now.

[Lee Mannering]

Hi Scott. Italian prints have always interested me as you will get titles we have never seen in the UK. Thankfully usually very low prices as usually pink or scratched but the titles are the draw for fun and sometimes worth buying just for the 600ft reels.

They come with Italian sound but can be re recorded of course. The magnetic stripe is usually very good but mainly single track worth noting.

The film title range is vast and oft missed due to translation. Best one I have is a full length Magnificent Seven and it would be fair to say they churned them out!

Also have the Italian version of The Exorcist full length which was quite unique back then

They seemed to use whatever film stock was to hand and more is un marked to ident it

[Oliver Feld]

Scott
Try to clean up Your feature to make the lines and scratches disappear. You get great results with Filmguard. This won’t change the reddish tint, but most of the lines are dirt and if You remove it, You can enjoy „2001“ a little more.

[Phil Moors]

Somewhere a skip is waiting . .

[Douglas Meltzer]

Phil,

Unfortunately I don't understand your post. I'm sure it has to do with me being on this side of the pond.

[Phil Moors]

No Doug, it is no way any reference to yourself or anyone else. It is a modification of an old Laurel and Hardy line from Dirty Work, where Stan and ollie create a mess in the living room of the house and the butler comes in and says ‘somewhere an electric chair is waiting’ I just meant that the print is beyond hope and I would bin it or skip it as they say in the uk.

I don’t understand where you think this is anyway a reference to you being in the US?

[Brian Fretwell]

Perhaps Doug means due to skips being called something else there it doesn't register. Perhaps "Somewhere there is a dumpster waiting" would be more relevant there.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Phil,

No, I didn't take it as a reference to me! As Brian suspected, I didn't know what a "skip" referred to, figuring it was a term used in the UK but not (to my knowledge) in the US. I like the L&H reference.

Scott,

As Oliver suggested you can try "Wet Gate" projection (filling in the black lines by lubricating with FilmGuard), however aside from Steve's suggestion of a cyan filter, there's not much that can be done. This doesn't mean you can't still enjoy your print!

[Scott Walker]

Thanks everyone! Yeah the print purchase was a risk but I might try and see what can be done with it, always worth a go to try and make it better. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Best


scott