Intensive release of 4K repaired version of domestic films arouses heated discussion
What is polished is the classic and the warmth is the soul
2021-11-07 19:20:45Source: Xi’an News Network
Recently, the intensive uploading of a number of domestic classic films that have once again revealed their new looks after 4K restoration has aroused collective concern in the industry and the public. Restore damaged and blurred old images to their original appearance, color black and white films to make them glow, and make up for the shortcomings of the original films with new technology… In the eyes of many viewers, the films that have been restored and re-released make the public feel the classic “temperature” , Leaving the memory of the years. The reporter learned from the interview that behind them is the ingenuity of the film restorers to “repair the old as the old”.
Following the 4K restoration version of “The Radio Waves That Never Fade” was screened nationwide in October, sparking a wave of red movie viewing, it was produced by Shanghai Art Film Studio on November 5, directed by Wang Shuchen, Qian Yunda, Ding Jianhua, Bi Ke, etc. The dubbed Chinese classic animation “Tanshu Qi Tan” is a 4K repaired version, which returns after 38 years of “born”. The Douban score is as high as 9.2. The popularity of the film is not inferior to many new movies and even Hollywood blockbusters.
Considered by many audiences as “the magical work in childhood memory”, “The Book of Heaven” is an animated feature film produced by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio in 1983. As my country’s original national style animation film masterpiece, it integrates woodblock New Year pictures, sculptures, folk toys, and opera facial makeup into the film, designing distinctive characters. In addition, whether it is art or music, it is full of charm. .
Although it is a film that has passed the “mid-year-old”, the re-returned “Book of Heaven” is still very attractive. On November 7th, the reporter saw a large number of “post-70s” and “80s” in a movie theater in Xi’an. “After” parents brought their children to watch the movie. On Weibo, netizens commented, “It is the best memory of our generation’s childhood years. I didn’t expect my children would love it too.”
When 4K restoration films appear more and more frequently on the big screen, for ordinary viewers, from the re-appearing “Yellow Earth” and “The Horse Thief”, to “A Westward Journey”, to the current “Never Gone” Radio Waves and Bizarre Books…Perhaps their most important significance is to make up for regrets and share the memories of the times. For example, when “The Electric Wave That Never Dies” was released in Xi’an, reporters saw many three generations of grandparents “group watching movies”. Old people often felt that the black and white movies that had been watched dozens of times became so clear and the colors were real. Rejoicing, the children understand the past and receive spiritual baptism under the guidance of their parents.
For professional filmmakers, with the continuous iteration and update of 4K restoration, the treasure of Chinese classic images has been reopened. The reporter learned that in 2014, the Shanghai International Film Festival pioneered the “4K Restoration” unit, and “4K Restoration” entered the domestic public’s field of vision. Since then, professional organizations such as the China Film Archive and China Film Digital Base have successively initiated 4K restoration plans. Video platforms such as iQiyi and Youku have also joined the restoration team in recent years. In the following time, including “Haha Mirror Hundreds of cartoons including Flower Margin and Shuke and Beta will also be restored.
Whether it is to let the red classic movies surpass nostalgia and become the fashion of viewing movies in the new era, or to let the classic charm not be covered by the years and dust in the “memory killing”, and pass on from generation to generation. The 4K repaired movies that bring memories that make netizens call “tear eyes” are inseparable from the “magic hands” of the film restorer, allowing fans to feel the classic “temperature”. According to Li Tao, director of the production department of the China Film Archive, generally speaking, the process of film restoration has three steps: physical restoration, digital restoration and artistic restoration. Physical repair mainly refers to cleaning and repairing motion pictures. Digital restoration refers to the use of the latest digital technology to digitize the film, complete the preliminary restoration and preservation, scan the film into the computer to complete the digital conversion; repair the scratches, noise, and flicker in the picture; repair the sound, and synthesize it with the picture. In addition, the restoration of the film is not only based on technology, but more importantly is to perform artistic restoration, so that the restored film fits the original film to the greatest extent, which requires the overall style and details of the film to be controlled.
While helping classic films to change into a “new look”, “repair the old as the old” can be said to be a guideline followed by film restorers. The producer of the repaired version of “Tianshu Qi Tan” stated that the repair team has performed denoising, de-scratching, color enhancement, and over-score processing on the film. During the process, it has been tested and repeatedly optimized, which has greatly improved While the clarity of the picture, the original brushstrokes of the animation and the graininess of the movie decades ago are retained to the utmost extent.
The same ingenuity has also been repeatedly mentioned by the restoration team of “The Radio Waves That Never Die”. When restoring the color version to the color version, in order to determine the color of the military uniform worn by the protagonist Li Xia played by Sun Daolin in the film, the restorers consulted a lot of history. Information, and also went to the military museum to see related military uniforms and cultural relics. “Film restoration is the same concept as the restoration of cultural relics in the Forbidden City. It is impossible to make old or to innovate. It is a kind of accurate restoration. No matter what color, there is a basis. Each of our film restorations is based on a classic Restoration and protection.” The person in charge of the project restoration team told reporters.
Picture courtesy of Sun Huan, a media reporter from Xi’an Press
.