American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64j

BEFORE
Gate of Hell and A Diary of Chuji’s Travels
AFTER
IMAGICA in Japan recently
restored several major titles,
including such classics as Gate
of Hell (Jigokumon) and A Diary
of Chuji’s Travels (Chuji tabi nikki:
Goyo hen).
Gate of Hell is the fi rst
Japanese feature fi lm shot on
EASTMAN Color Negative
Film 5248 / Tungsten EI25.
Directed by Teinsuke Kinugasa
in 1953, this movie was
awarded the Grand Prize in
Cannes in 1954 and also won
two Academy Awards®.
The restoration was a joint
project of Kadokawa Pictures
and the National Film Center
(NFC) of the National Museum
of Modern Art, Tokyo, who
conducted research and led
the project as fi lm archivists.
The intention was to faithfully
restore the original 1953 look
of EASTMAN Color Film.
“We found surviving
materials in three-color
separation black-and-white
master positives, color dupe
negatives, and a release
print of the fi lm,” explains
Norimasa Ishida, IMAGICA
Corp. technical advisor. “Sadly,
the original camera negative
fi lms were lost. We compared
the three materials and chose
the most information-rich
master for each scene. In
some scenes, only the release
print was available and in
those instances, we had to
later erase the English subtitle
with Reliance MediaWorks’
partnership and support.”
After the project planning,
the actual restoration process
took over six months. “The
most difficult part was the
re-registration of the RGB
separated images,” says
Kazuki Miura, IMAGICA
Corp. archiving specialist.
“The films were shrunk by
aging, and could not stabilize
with the pin registration of
today’s scanners.”
“One of our members came
up with the idea of customizing
the registration pins of the
scanner by physically curving
it for this project, and this
achieved fi ner alignment and
worked out well throughout
the rolls,” says Ishida.
“Several IMAGICA retirees
were brought back for the
projects as they were actually
involved with the original
postproduction. They helped
us to understand the early
color motion picture process.”
Originally, three-color-
separation black-and-white
master positives of Gate
of Hell were not made. For
domestic release, direct
print films were used. But
as the film started getting
acclaimed internationally,
the studio decided to create
dupe negatives for further
demand of the release print.
“That is why the three-colorseparation
black-and-white
master positives were very
carefully created,” notes
Miura. “In Japan, as the
quality of intermediate films
increased, three-colorseparation
black-and-white
master positives were no
longer made after a while.”
The next step was grading.
Kadokawa and NFC agreed
that color should be graded
to reproduce the look of
1950’s EASTMAN Color
Film. “Fortunately, legendary
front-line cinematographer
Fujio Morita (JSC) who was
a camera assistant on Gate of
Hell understood the intention
of art and color of the fi lm,
and was able to supervise the
grading to revive the vibrant
look,” says Ishida. “Kadokawa
and NFC were very happy and
excited to see the restored
EASTMAN Color Film.”
Miura explains that because
Japanese fi lms are not as
internationally viewed as
Hollywood content, it is not
widely known that Japanese
fi lms are being restored on a
regular basis. In addition to
NFC, major domestic studios
have also been investing in
their heritage titles over the
past seven to eight years.
“The aim of restoration
varies depending on the
country or archivist,” adds
Ishida. “In Japan, the aim is

American Cinematographer - June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2012

American Cinematographer - June 2012
Editor’s Note
Short Takes: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Production Slate: Moonrise Kingdom • Hemingway & Gellhorn
All Together Now
Beauty in Battle
Blood Relatives
Blast from the Past
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Sam Nicholson
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - American Cinematographer - June 2012
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 3
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Short Takes: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 12
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Production Slate: Moonrise Kingdom • Hemingway & Gellhorn
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - All Together Now
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 38a
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 38b
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 42
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Beauty in Battle
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Blood Relatives
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64a
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64b
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64c
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64d
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64e
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64f
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64g
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64h
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64i
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64j
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64k
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64l
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 68
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 69
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 72
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Blast from the Past
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 78
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 80
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 82
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 85
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 86
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 88
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 89
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 90
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 91
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 92
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 93
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 94
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 95
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 96
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 98
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 99
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 103
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 105
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 107
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Sam Nicholson
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2012 - Cover4
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