White Christmas: The Real Story Behind the New Restoration

[00:00:00] Welcome to the audio only version of the Perf Damage podcast.

[00:00:04] We highly recommend checking out our YouTube channel for the full experience where you'll see visuals and details that we might not fully explain here.

[00:00:12] Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the episode.

[00:00:16] Welcome back to Perf Damage.

[00:00:17] Welcome.

[00:00:18] This is the show where we examine the forgotten histories of Hollywood.

[00:00:22] And sometimes talk about restoration stories, which is what we are doing today.

[00:00:28] What restoration story are we talking about today, Charlotte?

[00:00:31] Today, we are going to talk about the restoration of White Christmas.

[00:00:35] One that I oversaw at the end of last year, spilling over into the beginning of this year.

[00:00:42] And we're just talking about it now because the...

[00:00:45] Disc is about to come out.

[00:00:46] Disc is about to come out.

[00:00:47] Yeah.

[00:00:48] So, I know what you're saying.

[00:00:50] They talk about White Christmas a whole lot.

[00:00:52] Yeah.

[00:00:52] If you are a subscriber to this channel, you may have heard about White Christmas once or twice before.

[00:00:58] What more could we have to say?

[00:01:00] Well, we're not going to do did you knows.

[00:01:02] We're staying away from those this time.

[00:01:04] I feel like we have them covered in the other two episodes on White Christmas.

[00:01:08] Yes.

[00:01:08] So, we're going to focus, laser focus, on the restoration this time.

[00:01:14] We'll talk about what sources were used, what problems we ran into, and all kinds of fun stuff.

[00:01:21] Maybe you'll learn some stuff.

[00:01:23] Maybe you won't.

[00:01:25] I don't know.

[00:01:26] Well, either way, if you want to know more about White Christmas, stay tuned.

[00:01:41] Hey, movie lovers.

[00:01:42] I'm Adam.

[00:01:43] And I'm Charlotte.

[00:01:44] And welcome to Perf Damage.

[00:01:47] We're a movie-obsessed husband and wife team who work in the film industry.

[00:01:51] I oversee film restoration at the oldest studio in Hollywood.

[00:01:55] And I bring the inside track from film development and production.

[00:01:58] And we love to explore the hidden tales of movies past and present.

[00:02:03] So, join us for a cinematic journey like no other.

[00:02:07] From classic gems to examining the art of the double feature, this is Perf Damage.

[00:02:15] Popcorn pop, wine at the ready.

[00:02:19] Let's press play.

[00:02:28] So, before we get into the nitty gritty.

[00:02:31] Yeah.

[00:02:32] You told me a story about what people would say to you.

[00:02:37] So, first question I get asked anytime I see people, they want to know about what restorations are in the pipeline.

[00:02:42] Yeah, what's going on.

[00:02:43] And all last year, anytime I saw people, I'd say, hey, I'm working on White Christmas.

[00:02:48] Because, of course, I'm going to brag about that.

[00:02:50] That's like the coolest project ever.

[00:02:53] And I swear, every single person would just pause and say, why?

[00:03:02] Why do you need to do a new restoration of that?

[00:03:05] Well, because the last one was so good, right?

[00:03:08] The last transfer of the Blu-ray is amazing.

[00:03:10] Blu-ray is beautiful.

[00:03:12] Why do you need to do a new transfer?

[00:03:15] And, honestly, at the start of the restoration, you know, I didn't really have a whole lot of good zing moments for him right away.

[00:03:23] Because I agreed.

[00:03:25] Beautiful restoration that was done before it was from 2011.

[00:03:28] They had used the 35mm VistaVision IP.

[00:03:32] It looked great.

[00:03:34] So, part of me going into it was kind of like, can I do?

[00:03:38] Can I make this look better?

[00:03:39] Can I do any better than this?

[00:03:41] So, you know, I was a little trepidatious going in.

[00:03:43] But, you know, okay, what drives a decision to do a restoration?

[00:03:48] Well, technology.

[00:03:48] Because if you're asking that question, you know, obviously there's some reason to do it, right?

[00:03:53] Well, first, we needed to scan the negative.

[00:03:56] The negative had not been scanned.

[00:03:58] We needed to scan it at 6K.

[00:04:00] Also, the anniversary was coming up.

[00:04:04] So, this year, we're in 2024 right now.

[00:04:06] The disc is about to come out.

[00:04:07] This is the 70th anniversary of White Christmas.

[00:04:11] Also, the 70th anniversary of VistaVision.

[00:04:14] You knew what I was going to say.

[00:04:15] Yeah, Charlotte's favorite thing to talk about.

[00:04:17] Buzzword.

[00:04:19] So, it was just the perfect time to do it.

[00:04:21] Technology has changed.

[00:04:24] It's changed a lot.

[00:04:25] And that's...

[00:04:25] You found out that's the big difference, honestly, between that and the...

[00:04:29] Well, and also the negative, being able to scan the negative.

[00:04:32] Yes.

[00:04:33] So, yeah.

[00:04:34] Like, I just answered my own question.

[00:04:36] All right.

[00:04:37] So, we're done here.

[00:04:37] I was like, hey, my next question was going to be, what is your source on this?

[00:04:42] Yeah.

[00:04:42] But we've already talked about that.

[00:04:43] Yeah.

[00:04:43] So, the source is the 35mm VistaVision original camera negative.

[00:04:48] And we were lucky that we didn't need to use any other elements in this.

[00:04:53] So, we had the negative inspected.

[00:04:56] That's how you start with these things.

[00:04:57] Part of the process.

[00:04:58] You pull the negative from storage.

[00:05:00] It's kept in a frozen vault.

[00:05:02] And then it acclimates.

[00:05:03] It acclimates slowly.

[00:05:05] You bring it out slowly.

[00:05:06] How long does it take...

[00:05:08] Well, it's a process.

[00:05:09] It's a process.

[00:05:10] You pull it out of the frozen...

[00:05:12] Yeah.

[00:05:12] ...in stages.

[00:05:12] You slowly acclimate it to room temp.

[00:05:16] And we sent it over.

[00:05:17] It's at ProTech.

[00:05:18] It's where we do our inspections.

[00:05:20] And a couple of the inspectors looked at the negative there.

[00:05:23] And they warned that it looked like it had some amount of color fade, which is a problem

[00:05:30] that we're finding with some of the VistaVision negatives from the mid-50s.

[00:05:33] And I was really concerned that we were going to have to look at additional sources to bring

[00:05:39] back the color.

[00:05:40] Fortunately, we didn't have to.

[00:05:42] You did not.

[00:05:43] We didn't have to.

[00:05:44] Yeah.

[00:05:44] It's really hard at the inspection stage to tell...

[00:05:47] Just how much.

[00:05:48] Just how severe the color stage is.

[00:05:51] Right.

[00:05:51] You don't really know until you scan it, until you get it into the color bay and you're

[00:05:56] looking at it, how bad it's going to be.

[00:05:58] There had been some color fades, so they weren't wrong.

[00:06:01] Actually, the negative, despite the little bit of fade that it had, was in really good

[00:06:07] condition, right?

[00:06:08] Yeah, it showed you the raw scan.

[00:06:08] Yeah.

[00:06:09] I was shocked at how good it looked.

[00:06:10] Yeah.

[00:06:11] And it scanned up beautifully.

[00:06:12] And we did all the work at Picture Shop.

[00:06:15] I worked with the colorist Mike Underwood, who's retiring later this year.

[00:06:20] Is it your fault?

[00:06:21] Did you do it?

[00:06:22] Is it my fault?

[00:06:23] Is it not my fault?

[00:06:25] Who's to say?

[00:06:27] I don't know.

[00:06:27] Did White Christmas push him over the edge?

[00:06:30] Yeah.

[00:06:30] I don't know, Mike.

[00:06:30] Mike was like, I was going to hold off for another five years, but you know, Charlotte,

[00:06:35] yeah, she's causing me to do it.

[00:06:37] He pulled the trigger.

[00:06:38] I may have.

[00:06:39] I may have not.

[00:06:40] I don't know.

[00:06:42] Who's to say?

[00:06:44] Anyway, so yeah, so you used the negative.

[00:06:47] That's your source on this.

[00:06:48] You didn't need a second source.

[00:06:52] I'm a magician.

[00:06:53] You're Mr. Jazz.

[00:06:55] Every time.

[00:06:56] The research aspect.

[00:06:57] You talked about how important research is beforehand.

[00:07:00] What were your references that you used for the final color on this film?

[00:07:05] For this one, one of the first things that I looked at was the 2011 transfer, which was released on Blu-ray.

[00:07:13] I also wanted to look at a couple prints because I believe that looking at prints is really important.

[00:07:18] Plus, in the research that I had done, I couldn't find any evidence that a print had been looked at for the 2011 version.

[00:07:27] And the film starts with a lot of nighttime scenes.

[00:07:32] The very opening of the film, they're, you know, it's nighttime and Bing is singing.

[00:07:37] It's Christmas Eve.

[00:07:38] And they're on a sound stage and it's really brightly lit in the last transfer.

[00:07:42] And I just wanted to see a print just to see how brightly lit it was.

[00:07:46] I assumed it was probably pretty well lit, but a print would give me a better idea of, you know, kind of how brightly lit that probably was.

[00:07:55] Right, because we talked before that prints are, none of the, you know, Michael Curtiz is no longer with us.

[00:08:01] No, no.

[00:08:02] Loyal Griggs is no longer with us.

[00:08:04] Loyal Griggs is not here, who is the director of photography on this film.

[00:08:07] Unfortunately, those are, that's the closest you're going to get.

[00:08:10] A print that was made.

[00:08:12] A vintage print.

[00:08:13] Yes, during that time.

[00:08:14] Yeah, if you can find a good one.

[00:08:16] That hasn't faded.

[00:08:17] Correct.

[00:08:18] It can be a very good clue.

[00:08:21] Guide.

[00:08:21] Or guide.

[00:08:23] You know, you're not following it exactly.

[00:08:25] It's just a very good indicator.

[00:08:27] It's like good notes that give you a good idea.

[00:08:30] So we had four prints in the archive that I was able to pull and look at.

[00:08:35] First ones that I pulled was a 1973 print.

[00:08:38] It was kind of too far away from what I wanted.

[00:08:42] Yeah, like what we were saying, we want to get it as close as you can to the origin of the film.

[00:08:45] Okay, well, we got that one.

[00:08:47] Good to know.

[00:08:47] Yep.

[00:08:48] So the next one, we found a 1968 print.

[00:08:51] Okay, getting a little closer, but it had vinegar syndrome and the color was not so great.

[00:08:56] All right.

[00:08:57] Well, but there were still two other prints.

[00:08:58] So the last two prints that we had, both turned out they were from 1954, which happens to be the year White Christmas was released.

[00:09:09] So we had two prints from the release year.

[00:09:12] One was a German print with German audio.

[00:09:16] Oh, interesting.

[00:09:17] The other was an English print.

[00:09:20] So the English...

[00:09:21] And that's kind of like the Holy Grail, right?

[00:09:22] Like you found the year of origin, like that's...

[00:09:25] Yeah, and both, the color was pretty decent.

[00:09:29] I mean, the one thing you don't want when you get a print, you put it up on the bench and you start winding through.

[00:09:34] The one thing you don't want to see is the color magenta.

[00:09:38] You just don't want it to...

[00:09:39] You start winding through and you just say, don't be pink, don't be pink.

[00:09:43] And they weren't.

[00:09:44] They weren't.

[00:09:45] They had this nice color to them.

[00:09:47] Now they're a little dark.

[00:09:48] Well, it's a print.

[00:09:49] You kind of expect that with a print.

[00:09:51] A print is so far away from the negative that it will be more contrasty.

[00:09:55] Yeah.

[00:09:56] So we had two pretty good prints that we could use as a reference.

[00:10:00] So I had both of them scanned just so I had something I could compare.

[00:10:06] What it showed was that the nighttime scenes there were all pretty brightly lit because, again, they were shot on a soundstage.

[00:10:13] So it gave a good guide that, okay, we don't need to bring this down and make this look darker.

[00:10:19] So both prints were a really good guide for that kind of stuff.

[00:10:24] What specific problems did you encounter with this restoration?

[00:10:29] And give us some specifics on those scenes, you know, something that would kind of specify.

[00:10:34] Well, this has some of the problems that are common with Fist Division.

[00:10:39] There was a lot of flickering in the negative.

[00:10:43] Right.

[00:10:43] Yep.

[00:10:44] I think we mentioned that in the last one.

[00:10:46] We did in To Catch a Thief.

[00:10:47] But this one had a lot of it.

[00:10:49] And you can actually see that in the old transfer.

[00:10:52] Pretty constant throughout, you said, right?

[00:10:54] Yeah.

[00:10:55] And you can see it.

[00:10:56] You can see it really well.

[00:10:57] And there's a party scene where if you're looking around the top of the frame, you know, you can see it.

[00:11:04] It almost looks like a candlelight sometimes just flickering a little bit.

[00:11:09] Right.

[00:11:09] You can see it throughout the film.

[00:11:11] If you're just looking, you just notice that it just looks like the light is kind of flickering.

[00:11:16] And it's one of those things that once you see it, you can't stop seeing it in different scenes throughout the film.

[00:11:23] Right.

[00:11:23] We were able to fix some of that stuff just because technology has improved so much since the last transfer was done.

[00:11:29] And now we're able to handle that stuff a little bit easier.

[00:11:33] They might not have been able to do it before.

[00:11:35] 2011.

[00:11:35] That's a long time ago.

[00:11:37] Yeah.

[00:11:37] So.

[00:11:38] Do you think that HDR brings that out more?

[00:11:40] Is it more evident because of.

[00:11:43] The brightness.

[00:11:44] Yeah.

[00:11:44] The brightness level.

[00:11:45] Yeah.

[00:11:45] So it might have been exacerbated.

[00:11:46] Yeah.

[00:11:47] By that.

[00:11:48] That's quite possible.

[00:11:49] Okay.

[00:11:49] This had some stabilization issues also, right?

[00:11:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:11:53] Yeah.

[00:11:53] Throughout the just being random spots of the film, there were different areas where the image was kind of shaky.

[00:12:00] And that could have been caused either in the camera or a number of reasons why the film might have been a little shaky or could have been in the opticals.

[00:12:09] There was one in particular that happened in an optical.

[00:12:13] Yeah.

[00:12:13] During the blue skies.

[00:12:15] Yeah.

[00:12:15] That I was showing you that.

[00:12:17] Yeah.

[00:12:17] That was in, you know, in the negative.

[00:12:19] It's very, very shaky.

[00:12:21] And that was something that was.

[00:12:23] Probably camera.

[00:12:24] Very difficult to fix.

[00:12:27] But because picture shop is amazing.

[00:12:31] We were able to actually stabilize it this time.

[00:12:34] So there's a shot.

[00:12:35] I'll put up the before here so that you can see it.

[00:12:38] And it's very shaky.

[00:12:39] If you watch the clouds in the background, you can see how much the image is just shaking and moving around.

[00:12:45] But in the new transfer, we were able to stabilize that.

[00:12:49] And now it is as smooth as silk.

[00:12:51] So when you're working on a restoration, you're not just sitting there passively watching a film.

[00:12:57] This is the kind of stuff you're looking for.

[00:12:58] You're looking to see, is the image stable?

[00:13:01] Is the color in the image, if you're working on a color film, is it stable?

[00:13:05] Is it breathing?

[00:13:06] There's a thing called color breathing sometimes where, you know, like if you have a white shirt,

[00:13:11] is it going kind of white and yellow and white and yellow that, you know, that blue sometimes that can happen if there's,

[00:13:18] you know, some kind of color fade that's happening in the negative.

[00:13:21] And we call it color breathing.

[00:13:22] And sometimes that can be really difficult to fix.

[00:13:24] And it's very subtle.

[00:13:26] Do you see any vignetting from the camera on the edges that maybe you need to fix a little bit by zooming in a little bit?

[00:13:33] Because you shouldn't see the vignetting from the lens.

[00:13:36] Right.

[00:13:36] Or sometimes you can frame it out because there's a little extra on the bottom that you can just move the image down a little bit, right?

[00:13:42] Yeah.

[00:13:42] Just little things like that.

[00:13:44] Those are the kinds of things you're constantly, your eyes are darting around the frame.

[00:13:47] And it's actually kind of exhausting.

[00:13:51] Yeah.

[00:13:52] You're not just sitting there watching a film.

[00:13:54] That's why I prefer to review stuff in the morning when my eyes are most fresh and not tired from staring at a computer screen.

[00:14:01] Yeah.

[00:14:01] I often ask you how you can watch a movie over and over again.

[00:14:04] You're like, I'm not watching the movie.

[00:14:05] I'm not just watching.

[00:14:06] I'm watching the frame.

[00:14:07] I'm not watching the actual film.

[00:14:08] Yeah.

[00:14:08] And you really, it's best to get the more eyes you can get on something, especially for a restoration, the better.

[00:14:15] Because, you know, I might be looking over here or I might remember that we had fixed some kind of warping thing over here.

[00:14:22] So I'm looking for that.

[00:14:23] And then I might miss something that was over there.

[00:14:26] So the more eyes you can get on something, the better always.

[00:14:30] Which is how I get to tag along to some of these.

[00:14:34] Like, great.

[00:14:34] Adam's here again.

[00:14:36] Oh, no.

[00:14:37] In the last transfer, there was a shot in here.

[00:14:41] It was a day for night shot.

[00:14:43] Oh, yeah.

[00:14:44] Yeah.

[00:14:44] That became an issue on their original release, but they ended up fixing it.

[00:14:48] Can we talk about that shot?

[00:14:49] Yeah.

[00:14:50] So let me start by saying what a day for night is.

[00:14:53] So sometimes on a film, they would shoot a thing called day for night, which is exactly like it sounds.

[00:14:59] They would shoot something during the day, which they would then print down to make it look like night.

[00:15:05] So.

[00:15:06] By printing down, you mean like.

[00:15:08] Make it darker.

[00:15:09] Darker.

[00:15:09] So during the, you know, printing of the print stage.

[00:15:13] So to do this, they would, to make something look like night, they would leave a porch light on in the shot.

[00:15:20] So yes, they were shooting it during the day, but the porch light would be on.

[00:15:24] So by the time that they printed it to make it look darker, that porch light was on.

[00:15:28] So it looked like night or headlights on a car were on.

[00:15:32] So when we're watching something, especially if a film doesn't have a print that we can review,

[00:15:40] like some of our older Republic films that don't have a print or don't have any kind of reference,

[00:15:47] you have to really keep your eyes open for visual and sometimes audible cues for things like that.

[00:15:54] So if you're watching something, because when you've got just the negative, sometimes you have to realize,

[00:16:01] oh, this is supposed to be made darker to make it look like night.

[00:16:06] So again, sometimes it's a visual thing.

[00:16:09] So it's a light on at a house or the lights are on, you know, in the background or car lights are coming on.

[00:16:15] Sometimes it's an audible thing.

[00:16:16] So it's, oh, there's crickets now.

[00:16:19] We need to, this is supposed to be nighttime.

[00:16:21] Or, oh, did someone just say good evening?

[00:16:25] This is supposed to be nighttime.

[00:16:26] Oh, dialogue too.

[00:16:27] So it's that kind of thing.

[00:16:29] So it's, it's all this kind of stuff that you're looking for.

[00:16:31] So there is a shot in White Christmas that has this.

[00:16:37] Right after they finished singing the song Snow, it crossfades to a shot of a train,

[00:16:43] you know, coming towards the camera.

[00:16:45] And the train has the light on in the front.

[00:16:49] In the negative, this shot was shot during the day.

[00:16:52] That shot then fades.

[00:16:54] It cross dissolves into a shot of another train.

[00:16:57] The same train coming towards the camera again, also during the day.

[00:17:02] And it kind of doesn't make sense.

[00:17:03] If you think about it, you're thinking, wait, are we dissolving into later in the day?

[00:17:08] Are we going from morning to afternoon?

[00:17:12] Is that what we're doing here?

[00:17:14] But then when you go back, you realize, oh wait, the light's on.

[00:17:17] So we must be cross dissolving into night and then night into morning.

[00:17:23] The only clue you have when, if all you have is the negative to look at, the only clue.

[00:17:30] Was that light.

[00:17:31] Ripley is so interested in this day for night.

[00:17:33] She is.

[00:17:34] She's so excited about this.

[00:17:35] It's that little light on the front of the train.

[00:17:38] So it's really easy to miss stuff like this.

[00:17:41] But there were copious notes that had been left in the archive attached to this title.

[00:17:47] We call them title notes that had documented this.

[00:17:50] Hey, you know, it had the time code.

[00:17:52] It had where this had been fixed in previous transfers.

[00:17:57] So when I sent my notes to the colorist about, you know, the assembly notes, putting the negative together in this order, blah, blah, blah.

[00:18:03] This was a note that I sent to them.

[00:18:05] So we were aware of it at the start, which was great.

[00:18:07] Because, I mean, that's one of the great things about the archive and preservation and restoration are the notes that people leave you.

[00:18:15] Right.

[00:18:15] And that's a whole concept of archiving is that, like, you're not always going to be in this job.

[00:18:20] Right.

[00:18:20] So what you have to do.

[00:18:22] You're just custodians of this collection for this amount of time.

[00:18:26] And you do the best you can with it.

[00:18:27] And you leave the notes to the future people that you wish the past people had left for you.

[00:18:33] Right.

[00:18:34] Exactly.

[00:18:35] That's what we try to do.

[00:18:36] So you think, what do I wish, you know, I would have had going into this project?

[00:18:42] Right.

[00:18:42] So whoever has Star Trek The Motion Picture going forward, you're welcome.

[00:18:48] I did so much work.

[00:18:50] You have no idea.

[00:18:52] No.

[00:18:53] Yeah.

[00:18:53] I mean, that brings up preservation reports.

[00:18:56] Okay.

[00:18:56] Yeah.

[00:18:57] I mean, my predecessor was really great about getting the whole team just in the habit of documenting, documenting, documenting.

[00:19:07] Yeah.

[00:19:07] Laura Thornburg was amazing with, like, you know, the notes for future.

[00:19:13] Yeah.

[00:19:14] Because a lot about preservation is the documentation about what was done, what was used.

[00:19:19] And she really drilled that into everybody.

[00:19:21] All right.

[00:19:22] So speaking of trains, you found some original negative that, you know, you were able to replace in the film, right?

[00:19:29] Yeah.

[00:19:29] So there is one shot when they pull into the train station.

[00:19:34] There is a shot that had been removed originally and put into the stock footage library.

[00:19:42] So...

[00:19:43] Which was common practice back then, right?

[00:19:44] Yeah.

[00:19:45] Common practice.

[00:19:46] They would go through a film and look for shots that would fit a stock footage library.

[00:19:53] Hey, this is a generic shot of a car coming into a train station.

[00:19:57] We can sell that to a future film or another, you know, for somebody else to use.

[00:20:03] And this being the first VistaVision film, there were not a lot of VistaVision stock shots.

[00:20:08] Exactly.

[00:20:08] Yeah.

[00:20:08] So that shot had been removed from the negative of White Christmas.

[00:20:12] And in its place, they put a copy of it.

[00:20:15] So we had a second generation or third or whatever generation it was, dupe stock that had been put in place.

[00:20:22] And so in previous versions of this, you've always had a lower quality shot of this car.

[00:20:29] It's a quick three, four second shot of this car pulling into the train station.

[00:20:34] So we're scanning the negative.

[00:20:37] We, you know, we see that.

[00:20:38] And there is a guru in the archive, Chuck Woodfill.

[00:20:44] I swear he can find anything.

[00:20:46] So I said, hey, Chuck, do you think you could find this VistaVision shot of a car pulling into a train station?

[00:20:57] And not just any shot.

[00:20:59] Do you think you could find this exact same take?

[00:21:03] This exact same shot?

[00:21:05] And he freaking found it.

[00:21:07] He found it.

[00:21:08] He found it in the stock footage library.

[00:21:11] We scanned it.

[00:21:12] So we were able to put that back into the timeline.

[00:21:15] So we were able to replace that digitally.

[00:21:18] So now you have a beautiful original negative as it was originally shot.

[00:21:24] Three second shot, four second.

[00:21:26] You're welcome.

[00:21:27] It looks more beautiful than ever.

[00:21:30] Shot of a car pulling into the train station in Vermont with no snow on the ground.

[00:21:34] So, yeah, we got to do that.

[00:21:36] Nice.

[00:21:37] Hey, I wish it was a cooler story, cooler shot, but.

[00:21:40] Hey, anytime, anytime you can restore negative back to it, that is, that is a triumph, right?

[00:21:46] Yeah.

[00:21:47] Let's talk about how 4K brings out focus issues.

[00:21:54] That's a rather specific question.

[00:21:56] Well, look, I mean, I've noticed it in a lot of 4K transfers that you notice now that a lot of shots in, in professionally made films in Hollywood are, are, are maybe not.

[00:22:09] I'm not going to say out of focus.

[00:22:10] But some of them are actually, but, uh, but they're soft.

[00:22:15] I never realized until we were working on the 4K, UHD, HDR, how many shots in this film are slightly out of focus.

[00:22:25] I saw tons of memos back and forth between studio execs discussing the focus issues that were found on the film.

[00:22:35] There's one famous shot of Bing and Danny Kaye when they're doing the sister's number that goes in and out of focus.

[00:22:43] Right.

[00:22:43] That's the one that they kept in the film, the first take that they did because it was the better take of the number.

[00:22:50] One of the shots that's really out of focus is the menstrual number.

[00:22:55] That scene where they're all lined up, you know, and they're kind of doing their whole thing.

[00:23:00] That shot is out of focus.

[00:23:01] Well, you notice it because it's a long shot.

[00:23:03] Yeah.

[00:23:03] And you notice it.

[00:23:04] And I didn't really notice it until we were cue seeing the DCP.

[00:23:08] The bigger you make it, the more.

[00:23:10] Yeah.

[00:23:10] Projection will bring out.

[00:23:11] People are going to really notice that there are more shots out of focus in this film than you may have previously thought.

[00:23:18] That brings up the elephant in the room again.

[00:23:22] DNR.

[00:23:23] Well, you already know the answer to that.

[00:23:25] I do, but they don't.

[00:23:26] So this is for them.

[00:23:27] I think they do.

[00:23:28] It's the same thing as To Catch Thief, only less because I didn't do any noise reduction on this one because it didn't need it.

[00:23:35] It's also, it's VistaVision and it's going to look probably, possibly grainier than the last one.

[00:23:41] I mean, I haven't compared it because I haven't seen what the disc looks like.

[00:23:45] So I can't compare what the Blu-ray and the, you know, the UHD or whatever.

[00:23:50] We're still waiting on our disc to come in too.

[00:23:51] Man, I got to order my disc just like you do and wait for it to come from Amazon.

[00:23:55] Okay.

[00:23:56] So I'm still waiting on it.

[00:23:58] So, you know, I'll be curious to see how it looks.

[00:24:01] So no grain management at all on this film.

[00:24:04] Nope.

[00:24:04] Not applied.

[00:24:05] No, but I, but I have enjoyed, um, to just jump back to, to Catch a Thief, seeing all the, the theories on which shirt.

[00:24:12] Oh, which shot was the one.

[00:24:13] And I have not seen anyone guess which one it was yet.

[00:24:17] Not correctly.

[00:24:18] Huh?

[00:24:18] No, not correctly.

[00:24:19] Oh, wow.

[00:24:20] Even though they're like, I know what scene it is.

[00:24:22] It's this one.

[00:24:22] And I haven't seen it.

[00:24:24] I mean, I haven't, I keep off the forums cause you know, they're kind of nasty.

[00:24:28] Um, but I just can't, but I, I didn't see anybody guess it yet, which was kind of fun.

[00:24:34] So anyhow.

[00:24:36] Okay.

[00:24:36] Well, we haven't talked about audio and I did, I did want to bring up Perspecta audio because it was part of this division.

[00:24:43] Yeah, this was, this was released with a Perspecta track.

[00:24:45] And when we did the audio restoration, which we did, we did a new, uh, restored mono on this one.

[00:24:52] We did a new five, one pass on this.

[00:24:55] And then we also did a 3.0, um, Perspecta on this, which I don't think was included on the disc, the Perspecta.

[00:25:04] Um, if you want, if you guys want, if you want Perspecta, it is up to you.

[00:25:10] You have to ask Paramount for it.

[00:25:12] To tell marketing that you want it on the disc.

[00:25:14] It is up to you because we can tell them that we have it and we do.

[00:25:19] Um, but they need to hear from you that you want it.

[00:25:22] It is your responsibility as the consumer to tell them.

[00:25:27] Consumers have to say, Hey, this is something that we need on our discs.

[00:25:31] Yes.

[00:25:31] Yes.

[00:25:31] I have a lot of people contact me and say, Hey, can you pass this along to the people?

[00:25:36] They don't listen to me.

[00:25:38] They listen to you.

[00:25:39] Exactly.

[00:25:40] You have the power.

[00:25:41] I'm telling you.

[00:25:42] So if that's the kind of thing, the Perspecta tracks that you want on your disc, you tell them

[00:25:47] you want it because we got them.

[00:25:49] Yeah.

[00:25:49] We got them.

[00:25:50] They preserved it.

[00:25:52] It's just not out there for consumers.

[00:25:54] It's not, it's not that they don't want it out there.

[00:25:57] Yeah.

[00:25:57] And I mean, and that's another thing too.

[00:25:59] There's this, there's this perception, perspective perception that, you know, just because it's

[00:26:04] not out there, that means it doesn't exist.

[00:26:07] Right.

[00:26:07] Yeah.

[00:26:07] That's not how archives work.

[00:26:09] Yeah.

[00:26:10] Okay.

[00:26:10] No, we have it.

[00:26:11] We have it.

[00:26:12] It's just, it's just not out there.

[00:26:14] So just let them know that you want it.

[00:26:17] Start demanding it.

[00:26:18] Demand it.

[00:26:19] If they know people will pay for it, they're going to put it out there.

[00:26:22] They want that money.

[00:26:23] Okay.

[00:26:23] That's what it's all about.

[00:26:24] Honestly, you demand it.

[00:26:26] It's definitely financially linked.

[00:26:27] Okay.

[00:26:28] Yeah.

[00:26:28] So look, let's start wrapping this up.

[00:26:30] Yeah.

[00:26:30] I have the question that I asked last time.

[00:26:34] What would you have fixed in this film that you either couldn't fix or...

[00:26:41] It's the optical scene, dude.

[00:26:42] You know the answer.

[00:26:42] It's the same answer every film ever.

[00:26:45] It's the stupid optical scene.

[00:26:46] And it's the one, it's at the beginning-ish of the film.

[00:26:50] It's Derbingle and Danny Kaye.

[00:26:53] Yeah, it's the musical montage sequence.

[00:26:55] Yeah, the musical, yeah.

[00:26:55] The bro musical montage.

[00:26:57] That's it.

[00:26:57] Yeah.

[00:26:58] It looks awful.

[00:26:59] We're having a heat wave.

[00:27:00] Yeah, yeah.

[00:27:00] Where there's the stabilization thing that we were able to fix.

[00:27:03] No, that's the blue skies.

[00:27:04] Blue skies.

[00:27:06] But yeah, yeah.

[00:27:06] Yeah.

[00:27:06] That you're right.

[00:27:07] That was blue skies.

[00:27:07] But the heat wave is in that same montage.

[00:27:09] Same montage.

[00:27:10] But it looks so beautiful.

[00:27:12] It's the Vista negative.

[00:27:14] It looks great.

[00:27:14] They're in the tent.

[00:27:15] And all of a sudden, it cuts.

[00:27:17] And you're like, what the heck?

[00:27:18] It looks awful.

[00:27:20] That's when the optical started.

[00:27:21] Yeah, leading into that.

[00:27:22] Yeah.

[00:27:22] And this isn't just an optical.

[00:27:24] This is opticals on opticals.

[00:27:26] Because it's not only a montage that's cut together and they're fading in.

[00:27:31] It's so bad.

[00:27:32] But there's all these newspapers coming out.

[00:27:34] And so it's like an optical over an optical over an optical.

[00:27:37] Yeah, and if you remember from the To Catch a Thief one where we were kind of going back and forth.

[00:27:41] It's not like that where it keeps cutting back and forth.

[00:27:44] But this one, it's just the cut to the optical is so jarring.

[00:27:49] Yeah, it's jarring.

[00:27:49] You're like, what the heck?

[00:27:51] Yeah, I figured that was it.

[00:27:52] But you know.

[00:27:53] You know that's what it is every time.

[00:27:55] It is.

[00:27:56] It's usually what it is every time.

[00:28:07] Probably final question here.

[00:28:10] Probably.

[00:28:11] Well, unless I think of another one.

[00:28:15] Did you discover anything on your journey during this restoration?

[00:28:19] It's a journey.

[00:28:21] Hey, it took you almost a year to do this one.

[00:28:25] So, was there anything that you discovered that you thought was kind of cool or that you would like to share with people that, you know, isn't out there?

[00:28:37] You know, one thing that I was really, really hoping to find.

[00:28:41] There are all these stories that say that because this was the first VistaVision movie that they were shooting, that they also shot with a regular camera alongside the VistaVision camera.

[00:28:56] So a 35 millimeter.

[00:28:58] Yeah.

[00:28:58] So that they were shooting with the eight per fist division, but alongside that they were

[00:29:02] shooting with a 35 millimeter, the regular four perf camera alongside just in case.

[00:29:07] Well, and the, I think the rumor is that they didn't have confidence in Vista vision, right?

[00:29:12] Like they didn't know that it was going to work as a format.

[00:29:14] The first one.

[00:29:14] Right.

[00:29:15] So just in case they were shooting alongside.

[00:29:17] So they shot the movie with like twice, you know, at the same time.

[00:29:21] Right.

[00:29:22] So I was really hoping for some kind of proof of this in the archive.

[00:29:28] There's no like B negative.

[00:29:31] There's no extra copy of this.

[00:29:33] There's no any kind of indication that there was ever this secondary negative anywhere.

[00:29:39] So we went to the Herrick.

[00:29:41] We did some research.

[00:29:42] You went with me.

[00:29:44] Yep.

[00:29:44] I was actually the one looking at the camera reports.

[00:29:47] So you went through the camera reports and the payroll records.

[00:29:50] Yep.

[00:29:50] And?

[00:29:51] And I discovered that there was a 35 millimeter camera for one week on the shoot.

[00:29:57] It was not shooting the same thing.

[00:30:00] It was mainly just shooting dance choreography stuff.

[00:30:05] Had they shot an entire film on 35, on regular 35, you know, alongside with the Vista vision,

[00:30:13] they would have had to have two camera guys.

[00:30:16] They would have had to have two guys on payroll.

[00:30:17] Which they did not.

[00:30:18] And they didn't.

[00:30:19] Because I actually looked at all the payroll records.

[00:30:20] We didn't see two guys on payroll.

[00:30:22] Well, it just, I mean, when you think about a rumor like that, it just doesn't make sense.

[00:30:25] Like why would the company go through the cost?

[00:30:27] Like you're shooting a movie that's already more expensive than a regular movie.

[00:30:32] Already double the film.

[00:30:33] Yeah.

[00:30:33] It doesn't make sense.

[00:30:35] And, you know.

[00:30:35] This is the 50s.

[00:30:36] They were looking to save costs, not triple costs.

[00:30:40] Absolutely.

[00:30:41] All evidence is pointing to no.

[00:30:45] Yeah.

[00:30:45] On that one.

[00:30:46] Is that a cool story?

[00:30:47] I don't know.

[00:30:48] Maybe it's a lame story.

[00:30:49] I mean, it was something I think we presented in our other one and we have now found proof

[00:30:54] that it probably wasn't true.

[00:30:56] Yeah.

[00:30:57] You know.

[00:30:58] Why should you get the 4K?

[00:30:59] Why should you seek out this restoration of the film?

[00:31:03] Well, I think there's a lot of features for it, right?

[00:31:06] There's, this is the very first time that the film was ever scanned from its original negative.

[00:31:11] I feel like.

[00:31:13] What?

[00:31:14] No, that's where the words come up.

[00:31:16] Oh.

[00:31:19] It's the first time it's ever presented in its original aspect of 185.

[00:31:24] The last release was in 178.

[00:31:26] It confuses you so much.

[00:31:28] I don't understand what's happening.

[00:31:29] What is going on?

[00:31:31] It's all in the editing.

[00:31:33] What's editing?

[00:31:35] Yeah, I know.

[00:31:36] Yeah.

[00:31:36] I wish you would do some of it.

[00:31:40] In addition to that, on the audio end, we have a brand new 5.1 audio mix and a new

[00:31:48] restored mono transfer.

[00:31:50] Hopefully that made it on the disc.

[00:31:53] I'm pretty sure it did.

[00:31:56] So, I mean, those are all wonderful reasons, right?

[00:31:59] To see it.

[00:32:00] It is.

[00:32:00] And there's going to be a Fathom event where they're showing the DCP in theaters in December

[00:32:07] when?

[00:32:07] I don't know.

[00:32:08] Sometime.

[00:32:09] I'll put it up on the screen because I'll look it up later.

[00:32:10] I don't want to waste your time now.

[00:32:12] So, and we're definitely going to go check that out.

[00:32:15] Yes.

[00:32:15] If you're at the Burbank 16 on one of the nights.

[00:32:18] One of these nights.

[00:32:19] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:32:19] We'll be there.

[00:32:20] Yeah, we will definitely be there.

[00:32:21] Yeah.

[00:32:21] See us.

[00:32:22] Say hi.

[00:32:23] Absolutely.

[00:32:23] Let's watch it together with some popcorn and wine because we'll have wine.

[00:32:27] That's not a water bottle we've got.

[00:32:30] I hope that you love the new restoration.

[00:32:34] It was pure joy to work on it.

[00:32:36] Got to work on it over the summer and it was so much fun watching a Christmas movie in the

[00:32:43] summer.

[00:32:44] Over and over again.

[00:32:45] Yeah, and I've seen it.

[00:32:46] It is absolutely beautiful.

[00:32:47] It's stunning and it is a big jump over the Blu-ray.

[00:32:51] It really is.

[00:32:52] Yeah.

[00:32:52] It really is.

[00:32:53] I didn't think it was possible and I still think the last restoration looks beautiful.

[00:32:58] It looks beautiful and it's just, it just shows you with the advancements in technology,

[00:33:04] how you can make something beautiful shine even more.

[00:33:10] And that's what 4K is for.

[00:33:12] And before we go, I just, I just want to give a few shout outs because I always say a

[00:33:16] restoration is a collaboration of a lot of people.

[00:33:19] We had some amazing people work on this.

[00:33:21] It was not just me.

[00:33:22] Um, one of my coworkers, Graham Marshall followed the whole restoration with me.

[00:33:29] He was at every session.

[00:33:30] The colorist, Mike Underwood, who is retiring because I drove him absolutely nuts on this.

[00:33:37] Definitely her fault.

[00:33:37] The inspectors at ProTech, Joe and Lyle.

[00:33:44] They're amazing.

[00:33:45] Inspectors do not get enough credit for what they do.

[00:33:48] And they do a ton of work.

[00:33:51] They do.

[00:33:51] They do.

[00:33:51] Also, uh, at Deluxe Audio, Blake, who is a big fan of Ripley's and Ripley loves Blake.

[00:33:58] Um, Ripley actually went to some of the audio sessions to listen to the audio.

[00:34:02] So if you like it, that's why she's here.

[00:34:05] Yep.

[00:34:05] If you like it, thank her.

[00:34:06] Also Elizabeth Kirksey, who works at Paramount and oversees the audio restorations.

[00:34:10] She was at all of the sessions too.

[00:34:13] Andrea Callis, the most amazing boss ever.

[00:34:15] And Kathy Fry, just some really great people there.

[00:34:18] Those are the people I worked directly with on this.

[00:34:21] All right.

[00:34:22] Well, until next time, thanks for joining us here on Perf Damage.

[00:35:02] Thing that I'm trying to put across here is that stuff may look out of focus.

[00:35:07] That doesn't mean it's been like DNR'd, you know, like that's the whole point here, right?

[00:35:13] That doesn't mean it's been like that.