[Reader-list] Mughal-E-Azam- Restoration (posting 3)

[Abhishek Sharma]

Dear All,
 
Sorry for the delay in sending my third posting. I had to wait to get some technical details.
This one is about restoration of the classic (MEA), which was carried out at Iris interactive, Chennai. I have again tried to sound less techy. But you are most welcome to get back with any questions or comments.
 
The Report is as follows:
 
 

“Films are an exaggerated form of reality”

 

Indian Film Industry’s thirst to give quality in movies has been the motto right from the day the first movie was launched. Within eight months of taking Paris by storm, the touring agents of Lumiere brothers' Cinematographer landed on the shores of India. On July 7, 1896, The Times of India carried an advertisement heralding the arrival of "the marvel of the century" and "wonder of the world". That was an important day in the social and cultural history of the Indian people.

 

We are racing against time to save the heritage of these films we all love.

 

Mughal_E_Azam is one such movie which is a milestone in the Indian Cinema. This legendry movie has been taken up for restoration and colorization by Sterling Investment in Collaboration with the Indian Academy of Arts and Animation  & Iris Interactive.

 

 

IRIS Interactive

 

IRIS interactive is a state of art facility located in Chennai, India. Its 10,000 Sqft animation and 3,600 Sqft motion capture and blue shoot studio is home to fully customizable, tether less creative environment. It is designed to fulfill all the animation, VFX and  performance capture requirements of any productions, whether it be film, television, video games, sports analysis etc. In films it has not only expertise in special effects and visual effects but also in the fields of film restoration.

 

 

 

 

RESTORATION

 

The need for film restoration arises for the following reasons

 

A lot does depends upon how old the film is, and how it has been stored. It is also difficult to tell if some types of film have even been used !


If there are images on the film, they may have deteriorated, especially on color film: 

 

   Colour dyes weaken over time causing faded images
   Heat and radiation can fog films causing colour shift
   The emulsion can become brittle and crack, causing marks on the film
   Contrast tends to be reduced
   With very old films, the gelatin and silver compounds can degrade, causing cloud like marks over the film. 
   If dampness has got affected the film, the emulsion may have become stuck to the film or paper, which may cause damage.
   Chemical vapors and static also affect films which have been stored incorrectly.

 


However, Iris uses highly specialist chemicals which can help counteract and reverse the deterioration



The digital restoration process begins with a Specialist who digitizes the images from the damaged film. They use a wet gate scanner Oxberry Cinescan 6400. This scanner transfers each film frame into digital format.  Each project is then inspected and evaluated by team head, who is incharge of the project determine the appropriate course of action.

The next phase includes the detection of cuts and scratches parallel to the direction of film transport, which are the first defects to be removed. In each shot or scene a reference frame is chosen for the brightness correction.

 

Based on the evaluation of frames the following rectifications is done 

 

   Scene Touch-Up 
   Scratch Removal 
   Tear Repair 
   Grain Reduction/Enhancement 
   Dirt/Dust Removal 
   Color Balancing 
   Dye Fade Correction 
   Frame Re-Registration 
   Stabilization 
   Mis-Cut Negative Salvage

 

Effective image restoration process requires the usage of the right tools and necessary customized plug-in which would be used along with industry leading digital content software.  The process goes through a lot of skillful manual labor in the areas identified above wherever it is absolutely necessary.  During the course of this project the technology and the process has undergone three generation changes which has solved problems which once seemed beyond our grasp.  

The restoration process can be very tedious and time consuming. In some cases a shot or the frames can be restored in just a matter of minutes and in some cases it may take as long as several days. There are several factors that can determine the length of time it takes to restore a frame or a shot. These factors include, the size of the frame, whether the frame is black and white or color, the amount and type of damage and how much of the original frame is still intact. Simply put, the quality of the restoration depends on the condition of the original. To begin the restoration process, a digital copy of the original is made. Once the frames are scanned the other aspects of the frames such as color balance, hues and saturation are balanced and the above mentioned rectifications are carried out.

After the restoration is over the frames are converted from the normal English tone to the Sepia Tone which helps in the colorization process.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

 

The full details and picture images of Restoration are also available with me and they will form a part of the final report. Hope you are enjoying this journey with me. 

 

Till my next report, Good Bye!

 

 

Regards,

 

ABHISHEK SHARMA

Mumbai

 

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