FEATURE
HITCHCOCK 9 BFI
Type of restoration 2K restoration with film out/DCP deliverables Duration Several months Facility Deluxe 142 Interviewee Mark Bonnici, head of restoration
Main systems/software used Arriscan, Nucoda Film Master, Diamant, MTI, Pixel Farm PFClean and Phoenix
Tell us about the project Mark Bonnici Deluxe collaborated with the BFI to restore Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest works (1925 to 1929), affectionately known as ‘The Hitchcock 9’. Sky supported the restora- tion project, so as well as special screening events at the BFI Southbank, films such as The Lodger, Downhill, Bon Voyage and Aven- ture Malagache will be broadcast in HD on Sky Movies in October.
What was your main role in the process? MB I am head of restoration, so I have respon- sibility for managing the department. I liaised between the BFI and the Deluxe team, and controlled the project pace and deadlines.
What were the key challenges? MB The titles we received for scanning were
Original
delivered as 35mm nitrate film and were in a very fragile state, suffering from years of wear and tear with instances of shrinkage, flare and distortion. The celluloid had degraded and parts of the film were either lost or unusable. Some of the source material was very dirty and unstable, with a number of severely damaged and broken frames, while other sections had prominent scratches run- ning throughout.
What was the workflow? MB Using the restoration of The Pleasure Gar- den as an example, more than 17,500 feet of fragile nitrate film was delicately scanned on the BFI’s Arriscan, creating 10-bit log 2K DPX files. These files were then ingested into our SAN (Storage Area Network). In this case, up to five prints were scanned per reel. The reels were conformed in the Film Master and pieced together to create the story under the steward- ship of the BFI. Once the conform was completed, a ProRes
file was created at the film’s native run speed of 20fps (the re-time was done in the Phoenix). Under the BFI’s guidance, original tint and
tones were replicated for grading each scene in the Film Master. At the same time, the digital restoration team commenced stabilisa- tion and automated dirt removal, which was carried out on the Phoenix before the pain- staking task of frame-by-frame manual despotting was undertaken using the MTI, Diamant and PFClean.
Original Original
Restored
‘Materials suffered from areas of serious mould, which required frame-by-frame image
reconstruction’ Mark Bonnici
On films where the original celluloid had
deteriorated too far, we seamlessly replaced it with copy material. Other materials suf- fered from areas of serious mould, which obscured parts of the image and required frame-by-frame image reconstruction using information from surrounding frames – a meticulous manual process. A variety of techniques, including manual
Restored Restored
drawings, were used to reconstruct the dam- aged sections. After a final review screening with the BFI, a fully restored 35mm digital negative was recorded to film. Show prints of the new restorations were made, along with a 2K data archive of all scans and restored files, a digital cinema package and TV masters.
What are the key skills involved in restoration? MB The restoration process is a hugely com- plex and technically demanding undertaking. It is essential to team cutting-edge technolo- gies, techniques and bespoke restoration soft- ware with the very best people.
26 | Broadcast TECH | July/August 2012
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
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