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Posted by blackburst@aol.com on 01/25/07 14:29
On Jan 25, 3:19 am, Zello Yello <Qua...@the.Sun> wrote:
> How Are Old Black-and-White Movies Colorized today?
>
> And Especially before there were computers...
Before computers, it was nearly impossible. There are some very early
experiments with actually painting each frame.
Somebody can go into more detail,but here's a quickie.
The colorist digitizes the films footage into a nonlinerar editor and
chops it up into scenes.
The colorist probably first colors the non-moving areas: backgrounds,
etc. In the early days, this was just one color per object, but today
it can be done with more nuance and gradation.
Then come the moving objects. The colorist defines the edges of the
object and teaches the computer to track it across the screen. Then a
color is assigned to it. Any anomalies in the tracking must be
corrected manually.
These processes are repeated for all objects in the scene. Then, on to
the next scene.
Ultimately, all these scenes are again rejoined by hundreds of edits.
The quality of the source material is important. And it is helpful if
the colorist has some color still pictures from the filming to help
decide what color each object will be.
Early colorizing was very disappointing. I have a VHS of a colorized "A
Star Is Born", and it is just atrocious. Yet, I think the colorizing on
the Black & White video of the Beatles "All You Need Is Love" (a
5-minute clip, for which the colorist had many color reference stills)
is astounding.
Some people are viscerally opposed to colorization. In a case where a
commercial decision is made to colorize a b/w film (or video), not in
keeping with the intent of the original producers/directors, solely for
the purpose of increasing marketability, I'm against it. But in a case
when the b/w original was made that way due to budget constraints,
where the producer/director would have loved to make it in color, I
don't have a problem with it.
Some classics shouldn't be touched. Citizen Kane is often mentioned.
Last Picture Show. A Hard Day's Night. But I wouldn't mind seeing
certain short fims or TV shows colorized: Three Stooges, classic 39
Honeymooners, etc.
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