| Not
only has it been restored, the quality actually surpasses the
original, and it looks as though it was shot yesterday. There
has been so much attention to detail, it is truly breathtaking.
Restoration of 'The Prisoner' began
jointly as part of Granada International's project to update it's
library to a high definition format (in this case HDCAM SR) and
also to provide master material for a standard and high definition
DVD release by Network. This all presented a real challenge at
Granada as much of the material required to restore and transfer
'The Prisoner' was located at various facilities here and in the
USA.
The first job was to call in all
the relevant picture and audio material so that everything could
be evaluated and to work out which sources were likely to yield
the best base material to work from. For picture, prints were
called in, intermediate positives and the original cut E/K negatives
which were examined on a Spirit Datacine, comparing grain, colour
and density fluctuations, and general condition of the elements.
The E/K negative was, as expected, by far the best material to
transfer from, giving a clarity of image not seen before. Copies
of original negatives nearly always exhibit some form degredation
but with such a high quality restoration needed, it made sense
to go back to the original negatives. The main problem that can
occur using spliced material (which the original negatives had
in abundance) is that occasionally a visible 'jump' can be seen
as the splice runs through the gate on the telecine machine, but
with care this can often be over-come by 'flopping' or running
the negative the other way around. According to the restorers,
the benefits of transferring from the original material make it
worth the effort.
The audio was transferred from the
best available elements which in this case happened to be a 35mm
magnetic final mono mix. Other recordings were examined (e.g.
1/4" magnetics and optical prints) but the 35mm magnetic
track had a far greater audio range and less distortion, important
for Network DVD who were subsequently arranging a 5.1 mix from
this soundtrack.
The transfer was made in the original TV ratio of 1.33:1 (4:3)
and in the case of high definition (where the ratio is 16:9),
this meant 'pillarboxing' or blanking at the left and right-hand
side of the image. Down-conversion to the standard definition
master was made straight 4:3 and this fills the frame completely
(if viewed on a 4:3 TV - in 16:9 it would be a similar look to
HD, blanked on the left and right).
The colourist for the series was
Technicolor's senior operator, Dave Mason, who has graded much
of Granada International's work over the last five years and he
took great care in trying to produce the correct, colourful visuals
for this distinctive series. An initial grading session was arranged
to set the 'look' of the programme, and then Dave would colour-match
to approved stills. These images were used throughout the series
to maintain continuity of colour and could be referred back to,
to ensure that the colour did not 'drift' at all. The finished
DVD release demonstrates just how much difference this can make.
The main, noticeable, part of any
previous transfer or print were the poor dupe sections used in
the main title scenes. Other than 'Arrival' (where the titles
have slightly more footage) and a couple of episodes where there
were no titles at all (i.e. 'Living In Harmony'), the main titles
were pretty much generic, apart from individual credits for, say,
the director. This meant that they were able to transfer most
of the original shots for the sequence (used at the head of the
episode 'Once Upon A Time') and thoroughly restore them to be
used on all relevant episodes. The opening shot of the clouds
dissolving into the prisoner driving along the runway was remade
using the original negative shots, and the two credit scenes of
'Patrick McGoohan as' and 'The Prisoner' were completely recreated
using textless background shots and 'keying' the text from the
existing title sequence. Overall, this opens each show spectacularly
with the type of crisp, clean images never seen before - not even
on the original masters.
Once each episode was transferred
to tape, it would then have a number of processes used to 'despot'
the visuals to produce a smoother, cleaner image. Video noise
reduction was applied (but minimally to retain some grain, keeping
the 'film' look) and then the whole show wass loaded into an 'Edifis';
a pen and tablet style tool that allows film dirt or defects to
be painted out using the previous or subsequent frames. Any complex
fixes (e.g film buckle or movement) were performed on a number
of tools at Technicolor's disposal such as 'Smoke' or 'Revival'
and once the entire programme was completed, a test DVD-R would
be produced.
At the QC room in Perivale, the
DVD was viewed (provided with a timecode burnt on screen) and
any instances of dirt or defects missed was logged, as well as
ensuring that the audio matched the action and any other anomalies
were noted that might have required correcting. This list was
then e-mailed to Technicolor and they would correct the faults
or advise if anything was not possible (although this is rare).
Once finally approved and complete,
the episodes were delivered to both standard and high definition
formats for supply to clients such as Network.
Those who have purchased the restored
version must be wondering what to do with their older copies of
'The Prisoner'. The difference is spectacular and this set will
no doubt now be regarded as the definitive version. New fans of
the series will be able to see 'The Prisoner' in pristine condition
and with the series now ready for HD TV, its future is assured. |
