South Pacific - those damn color filters...

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/17/10 at 9:09pm

...have always driven me (and many others) crazy, and even Joshua Logan is said to have felt they were too intense. So I decided to see what I could do to correct them, and got some surprising results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGm8czpVryY

If I can do this with a DVD and home video software, imagine what could be done with the original negative and professional color correction!

The top image is the 2006 DVD, and the bottom is my color correction. I used Juanita Hall's voice from the original Broadway cast, rather than Muriel Smith from the soundtrack.

Leave a comment at youtube if you can!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lostvocals4 Updated On: 4/17/10 at 09:09 PM

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:39pm

Just did "A Cockeyed Optimist," by special request:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBGx7jVZqiU

The results are surprising!

Mark

[morosco]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:42pm

Beautiful work!

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:48pm

I saw these the other night while I was browsing your youtube channel mark. I have to say you did a very good job on your "restoration".

Actually the filters aren't overly saturated and aren't nearly so distracting on the recent blu-ray release of the film as they are on previous dvd/vhs editions.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:53pm

That is impressive and, I think, a vast improvement. It still gives a slight surreal effect as was the original intention of the filmmakers.

However . . .

I doubt you will ever see this done by the studio for an authorized release. At least in the current climate, it is taboo to change another artists work even if that said artist regretted his choices. The current climate is to restore and recreate the original and altering that is a big no-no.

And Marquise, you are right about the BluRay release. Still annoying but not nearly as seizure-inducing as the DVD.
Updated On: 4/20/10 at 02:53 PM

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:25pm

I agree that no one would ever commercially release a version that is as color-corrected as mine (but think what they could do with the original negative!).

However, if you look at the various releases over the years, there is a lot of latitude in how intense the color filters are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq0ILSRbawk

Any colorist has to make choices, and some of the earlier releases toned down the filters a lot (as Logan said he wanted).

I don't own the Blu-ray, but they still look very strong in these screenshots:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/South-Pacific-Blu-ray-Screenshots/3438/

Looks like the one I want is the laserdisc - but what a hassle to find and transfer that!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 4:27pm

I love the color filters and it is how I've always known the film. It was a bold and unique artistic choice made for such a major musical film release and remains one of the defining characteristics of this classic film. To me, removing them is as intrusive to the film as colorization of classic black and white films, which was horrendously popular in the 80s.

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:32pm

I'll let the creators speak for themselves.

Richard Rodgers "thought it was awful...the use of color was atrocious. It didn't do much good to see the girl's face turn from natural color to yellow when she started to sing."

Joshua Logan: "I wanted (and still want) to carry a sandwich board in front of every line at the box office, saying, "I DIRECTED IT AND I DON'T LIKE THE COLOR EITHER!"

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:33pm

I would have to agree with Mister Matt. I'm not exactly for tampering with a directors vision or intent.

If the filters bother people that much (a) don't watch the film (b) adjust the color and color temperature on your television monitor. It really isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:40pm

Well, according to the director's autobiography, the color filters did not turn out the way he wanted - he hated them and clearly (from his quote) wanted them changed or removed.

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:45pm

That's fine. I'm not debating that. It is what it is. Logan should have done two shots: one with the color filters and one without as a sort of "safety net".

It would be interesting to see the film without the filters. I personally feel the film didn't need them. You had that beautiful island scenery, a wonderful story based on the hit show and James A. Michener stories, a classic Rodgers & Hammerstein's score *and* the beautiful, talented Mitzi Gaynor as it's star.

Nope. It didn't need color filters. AT ALL.

[marknyc]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:56pm

In his autobiography, "Logan takes great pains to explain that he went along with the idea of the color filters with the understanding that they could be easily altered if they proved unsatisfactory. Assured by photographer Leon Shamroy that the color changes would be subtle, Logan was shocked at their blatancy. Since previews were already paid for and the film was over budget, studio executives were unwilling to spend "three months in the lab to make the color come out right." Logan does not place the blame on Shamroy, who "had not been allowed in the lab to check" on how the color changes were realized. He does find fault with George Skouras for placing financial consideration over technical quality."

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 12:19am

The use of colour filters in South Pacific could be termed in contemporary slang as an "epic fail". Yes, it was a bold artistic choice, but it was a misguided one that did not turn out as it was envisioned and it is every bit as bad as people make it out to be.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 12:24am

Thanks, Mark! Those damned color filters should have been removed decades ago.

Now can you remove Mitzi Gaynor?

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 10:25am

The biggest problem with those filters is that they were done in-camera. The lab could have done only so much, back then, to remove them anyway. Today, we can do a lot more to adjust and remove color digitally.

And the filters would have been added in post-production, not during production.

I don't know how Logan was talked into doing the tints via lens filter anyway, even with the assurance of the (Oscar-winning) cinematographer.

I like your adjustments, marknyc, and I hardly think this is messing with a sacred cow here, especially when the creators were so clear about their disappointment in the botched results.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 1:59pm

Yes, after hearing the dircector complain all these years about ahting those filters, this is great to watch!

They look really nice!