American Cinematographer - June 2012 - 64k

Restored
BEFORE
AFTER
often to revive the original
look. This means researching
past technologies as well
as the intentions of the
filmmakers — instead of
making improvements or
enhancements in addition to
the original image, although
it is possible with today’s
technology.”
The digitally restored
master was recorded to
KODAK VISION3 Color Digital
Intermediate Film 2254, and
printed on KODAK VISION
Color Print Film 2383.
A Diary of Chuji’s Travels
is a silent, tinted black-andwhite
print. Made in 1927 and
considered one of the best
fi lms of the pre-war period in
Japan, this three-part epic had
been lost for a long time, but
in 1991 a large part of it was
found by chance in Hiroshima.
“Our fi rst tinted fi lm
restoration project with NFC
was in 2008, and we have
completed about 17 tinted
short fi lms to date including
animation, documentary,
short fi lm and toy fi lm,”
says Yoshihiro Matsuo,
IMAGICA West Corp. fi lm
processing specialist. “The
digital restoration project of
A Diary of Chuji’s Travels is a
sole-project of NFC, but we
had an opportunity to work on
the title. NFC’s intention was to
restore tinted print fi lms.”
Surviving materials were
tinted nitrate positive fi lms
which were stored in NFC’s
storage. The materials were
seriously damaged, and dyes
were mostly faded.
Not many Japanese fi lms
from the 1920s and 1930s
survived, but archival groups
fi nd one from time to time.
Tinted print fi lms fell into
disuse as talking pictures
became more popular because
tinting would degrade the
quality of the soundtrack.
The restoration process
involved reinforcing and
manually cleaning the surviving
materials. A digitally-restored
black-and-white dupe negative
was then made, and printed on
KODAK Black-and-White Print
Film 2302 for tinting. “Working
with badly-damaged nitrate
fi lms was extremely diffi cult,
but we had another challenge
after printing, which was
tinting,” notes Matsuo.
“As tinted fi lms from
that era are generally quite
faded, we closely studied the
surviving materials, especially
around the perforation area
where more dyes remained
than image areas. We also
researched past restored
titles for references and then
decided how much tint was
appropriate for Chuji. We
discovered that three different
dyes were used for tinting,
depending on scenes, and we
tinted the fi lm accordingly.
We had never tinted a
feature-length title, so in
order to stabilize colors and
density, we needed to modify
our specially designed tinting
processor.”
The question then arose,
should it be tinted in black
and white or restored using
the fi lm color process? “We
decided to tint in black and
white as we felt that this best
replicates the original state of
the fi lm,” says Matsuo. “Also
in black and white, the print
image consists of silver so the
black is cleaner and more pure.
In the color fi lm process, it is
like making a color photo copy,
so discrepancies in color occur.
You cannot achieve uniform
color in an original print.”
They were able to not only
bring back the original look of
the fi lm but also restore the
past motion picture techniques
from scratch. “If the original
title is made on fi lm, I believe
we should preserve on fi lm
because being faithful to
nuance in the original media
is the essential factor in
preservation and restoration,”
says. Matsuo. “The texture of
black-and-white fi lm, and the
aesthetic impression from the
combination of dyes and silver
are only replicable on fi lm.
“I feel tremendous
responsibility with my work,”
adds Matsuo. “We learned
about tinting techniques of 100
years ago through this project,
and now it is ready to pass
down to the next generation. I
feel I am standing in between
the past and the future, and that
makes me feel very proud.”
Photos:
Across top: Scenes from Gate of Hell before
and after restoration (Photo ©1953 Kadokawa
Pictures.
Bottom: L-R Kazuki MIURA, archiving specialist
at IMAGICA Corp, Norimasa ISHIDA, technical
advisor at IMAGICA Corp.
Right: A restored and dyed positive from A
Diary of Chuji’s Travels. (Photo courtesy of
National Film Center, The National Museum of
Modern Art, Tokyo)

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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