Case Studies
Landmark Labour Movement documentary “The Wobblies” makes its return to theaters over 30 years after first premiering at the New York Film Festival in 1979. The film has undergone a 4K restoration, which was digitally scanned by the DuArt Digitization Center using DFT’s Scanity.
"Dune" tells the story of a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive. Interpreting this epic sci-fi novel for the screen saw a team with imagination and tenacity unify to present a shared vision of an otherworldly adventure. As part of the process, after the primary creative color pass was approved, FotoKem shot to 35mm negative film and scanned it back to digital on a Scanity film scanner.
In acclaimed director Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller, Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie. But the glamor is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker. Cinelab provided both full film laboratory services processing 35mm and graded film dailies and graded digital dailies for the film, and used DFT's Scanity HDR for film scanning.
Harold and Maude (1971) is an American coming-of-age dark comedy–drama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. Newly restored and remastered in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the original negative was scanned in 4K and careful colour correction and cleanup were undertaken to pay homage to director of photography John Alonzo's memorable work and honour the look of the film. The digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a SCANITY film scanner from a 35mm interpositive, which had to be wetgated from the original negative since it was severely scratched and not suitable for scanning. Colourist Sheri Eisenberg, who worked on a previous transfer of the film with the late director of photography John Alonzo, referenced Alonzo's original notes and the previous telecine to generate this version.
After Life (1998) has been restored and released on Blu-ray. The premise is that after death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity. After Life is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Approved by director Hirokazu Kore-eda, this new 2K digital restoration was created by TV Man Union. A new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a DFT Scanity film scanner, from a 35 mm duplicate negative made from the Super 16 mm original camera negative, at IMAGICA Lab in Tokyo.
THE FRENCH DISPATCH brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. Wes Anderson wanted to do this film in 4K, so rather than producing dailies on 2K and rescanning for the final DI, the dailies process used proper 4K scans on a Scanity.
The Jerusalem Cinematheque - Israel Film Archive recently launched an innovative website featuring Israeli cinema through its generations. The new website provides a unique opportunity to browse through Israel’s visual history as documented in newsreels, home movies, and rare films from the late 19th century. Here is a sample of some of the rare historical videos demonstrating just a fraction of the vast wealth of historical materials that the Jerusalem Cinematheque - Israel Film Archive website contains. The Central Post office in Tel Aviv, Rosh Hashana (1952) - Postman leaves the central post office in Tel Aviv, carrying bags for distribution on New Year. In the central post office, many clerks and sit in front of piles of mail, sorting it out and preparing it for distribution. An Exhibition Showcases 100 years of Jewish New-Years Greeting Cards (1961) - An exhibition featuring 100 years of Rosh Hashanah greeting cards opens at the Youth Culture House in Jerusalem. The cards are from the private collection of Yaakov Zidkoni. Prayers in Synagogues and Chief of Staff's Greeting for New Jewish Year (1958) - In the Jewish month of Elul, Jewish believers say Selichot prayers in a synagogue. Prior to the New Jewish Year, a Judaica market opens outside the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv. Close by, citizens buy happy new year cards at stalls on the street. Finally, the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Haim Laskov delivers a happy new year greeting to the soldiers of the IDF and citizens of Israel. Prime Minister David Ben Gurion Delivers a New Year's Speech to the Nation (1958) - Prime Minister David Ben Gurion delivers a speech for the new Hebrew year. Tashlikh Ceremonies in Israel (1964) - Israeli Jews perform the Tashlich ritual during High Holy Days and pray near bodies of water.
Shot on film for Morly’s debut album, this black & white video for 'Jazz Angel' beautifully captures the feelings of loneliness expressed in the lyrics. Shot on 16mm film, processed by Kodak Film Lab & scanned at 2k using Scanity by Digital Orchard.
Shot on S8mm film, processed by Kodak Film Labs & scanned at 2k using Scanity byDigital Orchard.
Shot on film, in one take, here’s Billie Marten’s dreamlike video for the single 'Liquid Love'. Shot on 16mm film, processed by Kodak Film Lab & scanned at 4k using Scanity by Digital Orchard.
Music video for British singer songwriter RAYE, ‘Call on me’. 35mm Film Process & 2K Scanity HDR Scans at Cinelab London.
Music video for ‘White Picket Fence’, taken from the debut album, Agor. 35mm Film Process & 2K Scanity HDR Scans at Cinelab London.
Australia's national film archive (NFSA) has released colourised footage of the last known surviving Tasmanian tiger - or Thylacine - for National Threatened Species Day. The NFSA scanned the original film negative using a Scanity HDR (High Dynamic Range) film scanner. The 4K scan was absolutely stunning for a 35mm negative from 1933… and because of the resolution and quality of the picture, there were a lot of details…
Netflix comedy-drama series, Master of None, was shot on celluloid film, with dailies processed, scanned, and graded at Cinelab London. The story follows a complicated relationship of a queer Black couple going through both personal and professional obstacles. Director and star Aziz Ansari said “For Master of None we wanted this combination of really natural, raw acting with the mystical quality of film...We shot on a 416 on 16mm for its texture and nostalgic look. It’s also a lot easier to pick up and play with colour contrasts on film… I think for this project in particular, it might be the best result I’ve ever had on 16mm.” Master of None was scanned using a 2K Scanity 'scan once' workflow at Cinelab London and was released on Netflix in May 2021.
1992 erotic thriller, Basic Instinct, has been restored from the original 35mm negative by the restoration team at Hiventy. Using Scanity, the first step was to scan the 35mm image negative in 4K – including previously censored shots that were missing from the negative but later discovered in the internegative. STUDIOCANAL project manager, Sophie Boyer: “Thanks to this, we were able to restore the full length version of the film, the only version that Paul Verhoeven (the director) wanted to have restored.”
British sports journalist, Ned Boulting, famous for his coverage of the Tour de France, bought an old film reel of the race at a London auction house. Curious about what was on the reel, Ned began looking for a company to scan and digitise the footage. In his search he was advised that scanning the film may result in irreparable damage. “I was very worried when I was told that the sprockets were so torn it might not be possible to scan the film, because it might be destroyed in the process”. R3store Studios was recommended for the scanning due to their sprocket-less scanner which allows them to scan and digitise even the most delicate and damaged film up to 4K.
Award-winning film Australia Daze, which documented the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia, has been digitally restored by the NFSA. The film looks behind the curtains of the official celebrations of the Bicentenary of European settlement in Australia. Cameras rolled for 24 hours, capturing everything from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protests to Royal visits and backyard barbies; from the spectacle of Tall Ships coming through the Sydney Heads to re-enactments on dry riverbeds in outback Australia. The original print negatives were scanned in-house at the NFSA in Canberra, using the Scanity digital scanner, before being cleaned and fully restored.
Full-service, German post production house, OMNIMAGO, has recently completed work to digitise 35mm films with a native resolution of 8K for NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster. Best known for its world-class documentaries and factual series, NHK has also become synonymous with high-resolution broadcasting, pioneering the move to higher resolutions.
Bruce Beresford’s epic Black Robe (1991) has been digitally restored by Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. Originally shot in Canada and post-produced in Sydney, the master materials were returned to Canada on completion of post-production with just a safety inter-negative and sound master being held in Australia. The inter-positive was found in a storage facility in Toronto and original negatives were never found, and the reel four was missing...
Prasad has recently digitised and restored the 1982 Richard Attenborough classic film Gandhi, winner of eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and five Golden Globe Awards including Best Foreign Film. The original negative scan was done on Prasad's own flagship film scanner at 4k/16 bit resolution. Thanks to Grover Crisp and Sony Pictures they were able to restore this classic to its original glory.
Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature film is a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The film is set in 1969 Los Angeles, where an actor and his stunt double navigate the changing Hollywood film industry. The Hollywood Reporter called it "Tarantino's love letter to '60s L.A." and praised its cast and setting. ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ was shot on film, and the film dailies were also later used for an edited workprint. The negative was processed at FotoKem, who also printed the dailies and did a 4K scan of the negative using a Scanity .
Newly restored in 4K to mark its 30th anniversary, Terence Davies' acclaimed Distant Voices (1988) has been restored from the original camera negative. This classic British film evokes post-war working-class Liverpool life in a two-part film, by turns lyrical, humorous and horrific.
This black and white, hand coloured silent comedy has been restored by the National Library of Norway
dft’s new WetGate technology is designed specifically for dft’s Scanity HDR model providing a real-time organic solution for the ingest and management of difficult to solve historical film transfer issues – such as dust and scratch removal – surpassing prior transfer standards. The WetGate is ideal for archive owners who need a scanner that’s able to handle a range of problematic and historically-aged film issues.
Created by the Lumière brothers over 100 years ago, and discovered by La Musée Suisse de l’Appareil Photographique de Vevey, this short, 20 second film depicts a French family outing.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout was shot on film and then edited in 4K with IMAX and stereo deliveries. Film was processed at Cinelab (London) and scanned at Pinewood Post on a Scanity at 4K for an eventual 4K delivery.