Posted by Marc Martin on
URL: https://www.shado-forum.com/soundtrack-discussion-tp1501042p1501044.html

>What's the problem with colourised movies? Although I prefer the
>movies and series in its original black and white format

I think the problem with colorization is that your tinkering with
the original work of the director of photography. The people making
the film KNEW that the film/show would be in black & white, and they
lit it accordingly. Often times black & white movies can take
advantage of the fact that they are in black & white and make use
of stark contrasts. However, when you colorize the movie, the first
thing you generally do is to reduce the contrast, and then the
act of colorizing reduces the contrast even further. The final
effect on the viewer is then different. Take a look at the original
OUTER LIMITS TV series -- they really took advantage of the fact
that they were shooting in black & white, and any attempt to
colorize it would dilute the viewing experience.

I think the analogy between colorizing and remixing a mono soundtrack
into stereo is a good one. When UFO was recorded, they knew the
final product was going to be in mono, so they recorded it for that.
A question for anyone who knows -- if, in 1969, someone was planning
on releasing a stereo album, how many tracks would the original master
tape typically have? Would they have used 4, like UFO did, or would
they have used more or less? Or is this something that cannot be
generalized.

Also, for the folks who have this CD, what do you think of the track
selection? There's an awful lot of music from UFO that didn't make
it into this CD, so I'm wondering if you think the choice of tracks
was appropriate? Are there specific music pieces that you were hoping
to hear that aren't on this CD?

Marc