The Briefing Room

Post Logic Studios works with Batjac Productions to restore historic 3D movie for Cannes Film Festival debut

Post Logic Studios, a leading bi-coastal post-production and digital intermediate (DI) service facility, completed restoration and color correction of the 3D John Wayne film, Hondo. The 1953 classic is set to debut at this year‘s Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007.

“I have such fond memories of this film, and Post Logic Studios paid great attention to detail in bringing this movie back to its original glory,” said Gretchen Wayne, President and Owner, Batjac Productions, Inc, the company founded by John Wayne. “We worked very closely with the creative team and technical engineers ensure that this film would deliver the same visual impact to audiences as much more contemporary 3D films.”

3D films are experiencing a resurgence today as studios are striving to lure audiences back into theatres. Hondo was released in 3D when theatre-goers were being lost to color television in the early 1950s. The film features Wayne as Hondo Lane, who discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches and becomes their protector.

Post Logic received the original right eye and left eye film negative, which was shot in stereoscopic anaglyph for 3D viewing. Much of the original film stock was amaged due to age with warping, fading and shrinkage of the negative. Post Logic colorist Kris Santa Cruz went through the footage carefully to determine which elements were best suited to restoration, and worked closely with Gretchen Wayne, to select an appropriate look to optimize the look of the restored version of the film.

“The biggest challenge with Hondo was working with the two sets of elements,” commented Santa Cruz. “Each set had aged differently and we needed to make a lot of comparisons, switching back and forth, to make sure the elements for the right eye and left eye were properly matched.”

The footage was scanned with a Thomson Spirit 2K, and color corrected on a DaVinci 2K. Dirt and scratch removal was done using the DVNR 2K ASC3, grain reduction done on the AGR4, but much of the restoration had to be performed by hand on an MTI DRS Correct, frame by frame, a painstaking task undertaken by Tim Gallegos and the restoration team at Post Logic Studios. Stabilization was performed by Inferno artist Patrick Phillips, and final delivery was output to HDCam SR.

“Since the film was shot as an anaglyph, the left and right eye plates had to be as stable as possible, with little or no shifting between them,” explained Phillips. “We watched the movie projected in the Inferno suite wearing 3D glasses to check for jitter and when we saw any shaking we would cut that section out of the movie, steady the two plates in Inferno, and then insert them back into the film and continue on from there.”

A restored version of Hondo debuts at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007 as part of the John Wayne 100-year anniversary celebration.

About Post Logic Studios

With technologically advanced facilities in Los Angeles and New York, Post Logic Studios has distinguished itself as a leader in digital intermediate and feature film restoration, and continues to expand into new and emerging arenas within the post-production realm. The company provides unmatched digital intermediate, digital mastering, editorial assembly, restoration, visual effects and audio postproduction services to feature film and television clients from its flagship Hollywood facility and Manhattan-based satellite, Post Logic Studios N.Y. Encompassing a team of the feature film and television community‘s most talented digital artists and a 1,500-square-foot digital cinema-enabled theater, Post Logic Studios continues to lead and innovate. For more information, please visit www.postlogic.com or call 323-461-7887.