WW1 in colour.

[JR]

Hi all .
Did anyone see the One Show ? there was an article on a New Zealand director who has been doing colouring of those black and white films from the WW 1.
They were uncanny, changing from black and white into colour, certainly gave more depth to the faces. Apparently going to be at the cinemas soon and on BBC later.
What do you all think, at least the original are still intact, I think I prefer the bw.
John.

 

[Jakko]

“A New Zealand director”? You say that as if you’ve never heard of the Lord of the Rings movies

I’ve seen bits of it on a number of news shows on BBC, and I must say it looks better than most coloured-in footage I’ve seen in recent years. I’ll probably watch it when it comes on TV, but in general I tend to prefer the original black and white. Though for this they’ve also corrected speed, jerkiness, etc. which does sound like a welcome improvement.

 

[Tim Marlow]

That director also owns Wingnut wings kits, so he’s got WW1 previous....and if you haven’t seen it, you must look at the Chunuk Bair diorama....
https://arteis.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/the-very-best-photos-of-the-chunuk-bair-diorama/
He got that put together as well....
Cheers
Tim

 

[Dave W]

Peter Jackson has done an incredible job colourising those old films. I’ve seen a few clips and it really brings the people to life .The colour makes them look more real to me. Looking forward to the whole film.

 

[rtfoe]

Seen clips of it and I must say that Peter Jackson and his team have done a wonderful job in the colorisation and smoothening of the motion as film was hand cranked in those days so speed wasn't constant. I can now watch it without the Charlie Chaplin feel old B/W movies in the twenties look and view it realistacally as if in real time.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Dave S4]

The BBC say it's going to be on TV in November. They have updates about this sort of thing on the page I will post a link for next...

 

[Dave S4]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/
They posted a reply on Twitter when someone asked if They Shall Not Grow Old would be on Iplayer:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1050812338885021697

 

[JR]

“A New Zealand director”? You say that as if you’ve never heard of the Lord of the Rings movies

I’ve seen bits of it on a number of news shows on BBC, and I must say it looks better than most coloured-in footage I’ve seen in recent years. I’ll probably watch it when it comes on TV, but in general I tend to prefer the original black and white. Though for this they’ve also corrected speed, jerkiness, etc. which does sound like a welcome improvement.[/QUOTE

Jakko.... No! Never seen it ! Sad maybe,. but with my eye watching anything with flashing,. quick cuts and fast moving images is out. Heard of it .but never knew who directed it ! .:smirk:.
The Old Git .

 

[Jakko]

No! Never seen it ! Sad maybe,.

The books are better. (For one thing, the films pretty much completely omit what some consider to be the central theme of the novel.)

 

[Tim Marlow]

Funnily enough, I thought the films were actually better, with tighter control over the storytelling. The books are a bit stolid regarding language and have got the pointless episode of Tom Bombadill to wade through. Not sure what theme is missing either?
The hobbit, on the other hand, was pants

 

[JR]

Thanks for that, I will give it a miss then
John

 

[Jakko]

Funnily enough, I thought the films were actually better, with tighter control over the storytelling. The books are a bit stolid regarding language and have got the pointless episode of Tom Bombadill to wade through.

True, especially the first volume takes rather long to get up to speed.

Not sure what theme is missing either?

The destruction of the Shire. There’s the vision of it, but that’s about it, and it can be argued (and was by at least one book I read) that that’s actually the central theme of LOTR: the loss of traditional kind of life.

The hobbit, on the other hand, was pants

I’ve seen about half an hour of one of those films, when it was on TV a few years back, and that’s it.