Special Editions ?

HenryJunior

New member
The color correction they did to give it that "film" look always threw me off. It usually resulted in pink clouds and skies and weird white balancing. The obvious digital boats, and pyramids, and backgrounds etc. could be tweaked. Those early digital effects just make me cringe at what was to come, CG EVERYTHING in the SW prequels.

I doubt they would put in the time to redo the effects now, but I would be interested. Some of the hardcore YIJ fans would probably say leave it alone since the episodes already got butchered into those weird 2 part movies on DVD :p. Oh, and restore the old Indy bits, most of us under the age of twenty have barely ever seen them. :D
 

Montana Smith

Active member
That's one series that would benefit from updated special effects.

Sometimes their 'state of the art' effects made another otherwise class act look pretty cheap.

HenryJunior said:
I doubt they would put in the time to redo the effects now...

I doubt it as well. If there isn't enough interest in doing a fifth movie then I can't see enough being put into this project.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Skylover SC said:
In a recent interview, Rick McCallum said they were thinking about redoin the special effects for Young Indy, like they did for the original Star Wars in 1997. But it was too cost prohibitive...
Merci pour le lien, Skylover!:hat: This is very interesting. McCallum says maybe in 10-15 years but the website has no (discernable) information on when the interview was recorded. I'm wondering if it was from before or after Disney bought Lucasfilm.

So you're from Amiens? I want to go there to visit Jules Verne' tomb.
HenryJunior said:
The color correction they did to give it that "film" look always threw me off. It usually resulted in pink clouds and skies and weird white balancing. The obvious digital boats, and pyramids, and backgrounds etc. could be tweaked. Those early digital effects just make me cringe at what was to come, CG EVERYTHING in the SW prequels.
Hi, HenryJunior. I'm afraid that your cringing is misplaced because the Young Indy series has very few digitally-created objects. Most of its effects deal with compositing live elements and the extension of sets so I'm not sure what you mean by, "digital boats, and pyramids". There are several parts where ships (ocean-liners & battleships - which are not boats) were digitally inserted into shots but this was achieved by colourizing archival footage & photographs. A shot or two of Chinese 'junks' (which are boats) were also colourized footage. In each of these cases, the vessels themselves, aren't CG models. What "digital boats" are you referring to?:confused:

As for digital pyramids, please enlighten me because I can't recall any.
HenryJunior said:
I doubt they would put in the time to redo the effects now, but I would be interested. Some of the hardcore YIJ fans would probably say leave it alone since the episodes already got butchered into those weird 2 part movies on DVD :p. Oh, and restore the old Indy bits, most of us under the age of twenty have barely ever seen them. :D
If you aren't old enough to have seen the Old Indy bits then you couldn't have watched the show during it's original run. Therefore, how can the colour correction 'throw you off'? What are you comparing it to?:confused:

Oh, and in case you didn't know, the "butchering" actually began 8 to 9 years before the DVDs, with the releases on VHS in 1999.
Montana Smith said:
That's one series that would benefit from updated special effects.

Sometimes their 'state of the art' effects made another otherwise class act look pretty cheap.
Nah. Keep in mind, Smiff, that you saw the series just a couple of years ago. When it aired, the effects looked fine...ESPECIALLY for a TV show. Plus, some of its effects are still almost impossible to detect, 20 years later (even to a trained eye).
Montana Smiffy said:
If there isn't enough interest in doing a fifth movie then I can't see enough being put into this project.
In the interview, McCallum says that Lucas would like modifications to be done, "even it's just for his own personal collection".
JuniorJones said:
You can't polish a turd.
*SLAP* - "That'sh for blashphemy!":whip:

---
What could be improved? Off the top of my head:
- the Mannesmann-Poll Giant Triplane in "Hawkmen"
- the shots of the rail-mounted cannon firing in "Phantom Train"
- the shots of that slug/catterpillar-insect-thing in "Phantom Train"

I also wonder if this would ever be dealt with: Digitally shrinking Corey Carrier

Those are suggestions for just the EXISTING shots. Who knows what else could be ADDED!:eek:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Nah. Keep in mind, Smiff, that you saw the series just a couple of years ago. When it aired, the effects looked fine...ESPECIALLY for a TV show. Plus, some of its effects are still almost impossible to detect, 20 years later (even to a trained eye).

It was moments like

Stoo said:
- the shots of the rail-mounted cannon firing in "Phantom Train"

that I had in mind. They were so rough in comparison that they take you out of the story.

Stoo said:
In the interview, McCallum says that Lucas would like modifications to be done, "even it's just for his own personal collection".

Then the updates may be done, but never likely seen in a public 'Special Edition'.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
They were so rough in comparison that they take you out of the story.
Even though I taped all of the episodes on my machine's best speed (SP), the picture quality on the DVD releases is much, much sharper. As a result, certain effects (like the cannon) stand out more than what I'm used to seeing so I can sort of understand where you're coming from. That said, the dodgy bits are a few in number compared to the exceptional, seamless ones.
Montana Smith said:
Then the updates may be done, but never likely seen in a public 'Special Edition'.
Only time will tell. Not to mention that what George would like to have tweaked may differ from what the fans would like.

Some challenging changes that could be made are digitally fixing the length of Indy's hair and Remy's moustache in a few of the new, bridging sequences.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Even though I taped all of the episodes on my machine's best speed (SP), the picture quality on the DVD releases is much, much sharper. As a result, certain effects (like the cannon) stand out more than what I'm used to seeing so I can sort of understand where you're coming from. That said, the dodgy bits are a few in number compared to the exceptional, seamless ones.

Totally agreed. The majority of the series was top class, which is why a little updating wouldn't be amiss.

As you explained, I think the guns were one of those composited archive shots, and hence mismatched with the rest of the film.

Stoo said:
Only time will tell. Not to mention that what George would like to have tweaked may differ from what the fans would like.

I'm not even sure how things stand now with George having passed Lucasfilm onto Disney.


Stoo said:
Some challenging changes that could be made are digitally fixing the length of Indy's hair and Remy's moustache in a few of the new, bridging sequences.

And Corey's height! He was growing faster than they could film. ;)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
As you explained, I think the guns were one of those composited archive shots, and hence mismatched with the rest of the film.
The cannon shots that I'm referring to are the ones in "Phantom Train" when Indy & Birdy are on the flatcar RIGHT BESIDE the rail-mounted cannon when it fires. Looking at that scene again, the shots of it firing are actually very good (it seems to be a miniature cannon, with live action soldiers inserted into the shot).

Problems arise with the side shots of Indy & Birdy on the flatcar while the cannon train rolls back behind the embankment. The compositing looks crude compared to today's standards and begs to be improved.
Montana Smith said:
I'm not even sure how things stand now with George having passed Lucasfilm onto Disney.
Which is why I asked Skylover SC about WHEN this interview took place (but he/she hasn't answered yet). Was it before or after the Lucas sale/Disney buy-out?:confused:
Montana Smith said:
And Corey's height! He was growing faster than they could film. ;)
Indeed, Smiff. I mentioned it a couple of posts above.;) A highly warranted fix!
 

T.E.Lawrence

New member
Skylover SC said:
In a recent interview, Rick McCallum said they were thinking about redoin the special effects for Young Indy, like they did for the original Star Wars in 1997. But it was too cost prohibitive...

http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/specialy/hydepark-civilizace/23.3.2013/
here around 35 minutes in
(be sure to select the english version)

I think its fine like it is, what do you think could have been improved ?

Wowww, thanks so much for this find. I will grab the video for sure. I am wondering in the same direction of Stoo - about the date of the recording.

I will try to locate Martin Scorsese documentary within my archives about sintetic expanded shots within Young Indy.
 

T.E.Lawrence

New member
The correct time is 36:40.
Rick gives timeline of about next 10 years for Young Indy changes, however it is more speculative. It is very interesting to know that such discussions did took place.

It seems that interview happened back March 2013 like OP suggested:

Here is also translated interview (shorter version):
http://translate.google.com/transla...-bratri-masinu-donuti-teenagery-k-premysleni/

More about McCallum in Prague:
http://www.filmcommission.cz/news/detail/id/288

This also should be considered:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=97631
http://variety.com/2012/film/news/rick-mccallum-ankles-lucasfilm-1118062964/
 
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