Hi all,
I asked BBC telecinist Steve Roberts for more information on these
new UFO remasters, and I'm afraid the news isn't quite as good as
I assumed. Here's his reply:
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Hi Marc,
>>I just got back from a vacation, and I saw a message of yours on
> ITC_DVD about your seeing the first 3 UFO episode remasters for the
> upcoming DVD release.<<
>
Ah, I think you're making an assumption there... They aren't actually for
DVD, they are for French TV, who have just bought the series but rejected
three episodes on technical grounds. (Confetti Check A-OK, Sub Smash and
Computer Affair).
>> Since I run a website devoted to UFO
> (
http://ufoseries.com), I was wondering if you had any more
> information about that which would be of interest to fans? Like the
> elements used, how the quality compares to the previous BBC2
> broadcast remasters, etc.?<<
>
The three episodes were transferred from 35mm interpos on our Spirit
Datacine, by colourist Jonathan Wood, who has also been responsible for the
DVD masters of 'Joe 90'. Sound was (I believe) from 16mm magnetic film. The
pictures were then manually cleaned up using an Edifis Scratchbox to remove
dirt, sparkle and other blemishes.
They look... amazing. In fact, Jonathan produced a split screen tape showing
the new version against the rejected transfers and you just would not
believe the difference. Whereas the originals had an almost sepia tone to
them (particularly bad in the dupe sections for titles etc, which were
brown!) and were desaturated, the new ones are like a Technicolor movie!
They are also less zoomed in than originally, so much more of the picture is
visible. Jonathan spent a long time matching the colours of the model set to
the 'Canadian Forest' live action sequences in 'Computer Affair', which is
now seamless...
We're really hoping that when they see what can be achieved, they'll let us
do all of them - which will be great for the fans, especially if a DVD
release is on the cards.
Regards,
Steve
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