Cintel and DaVinci Resolve resurrect 'Perth', shot in Super 16

El largometraje ‘Perth’, rodado en Singapur en formato Super 16 en el año 2003, resucita dos décadas después de su estreno gracias a una digitalización y restauración emprendida con el escáner Cintel y el software DaVinci Resolve de Blackmagic Design.

Perth tells the story of Harry Lee, a 51-year-old security guard who works part-time and dreams of emigrating to Perth (Australia) to escape a difficult life with few opportunities. Without realizing it, he finds himself involved in Singapore's underworld in order to earn enough money to fulfill his desire to live abroad. Although the film did not have the expected success when it was released in 2003, the renewed interest of the Asian Cinematheque to restore it for today's viewers encouraged its director, Djinn, to explore different possibilities. Consequently, he went to the colorist Shaley Brooks (Digital Iris Post), with whom he had collaborated on several occasions, with the aim of recovering the feature film and having it ready for a screening of works from the film collection in May.

Brooks did not have many elements to begin the restoration process, since only one remained. 35mm copy belonging to the Asian Cinematheque and a copy in format PAL Digital Betacam which had a production company's logo superimposed on the images and which ended up being used as an audio source. Based on these resources, Brooks turned to the production company DigitalFilm Tree, which gave him access to Cintel scanner: "The scanner was ideal for this project. I particularly like the CRI format, as the files don't take up a lot of space and the image quality is very good. This model is very easy to use. I was able to put the film on the reel without any problems, and the rollers for the transfer of particles are extremely useful. I like the scanner interface in Resolve. Its integration with the rest of the program is great, and since I was already familiar with it, I didn't have to learn how to use other tools before starting digitize the film,” recalls the colorist.

Challenges in the restoration of Perth

Aunque no hubo dificultades con relación a los aspectos técnicos relativos a la digitalización de una cinta de 35 mm, emplear dos fuentes distintas para el audio y las imágenes resultó ser todo un desafío para Brooks. En palabras de Brooks: “Uno de los mayores problemas fue el estado de la película, en comparación con la videocinta PAL Digital Betacam que empleamos como fuente de audio. En la película, faltaban fotogramas al inicio y al final de cada carrete. Fue preciso disminuir la velocidad en algunas tomas para rellenar dichos espacios, y esto afectó la sincronización un par de veces”.

Once the film was digitized, Brooks was able to improve its finish using some of the tools included in DaVinci Resolve Studio software, such as its functions for remove dirt or dust automatically, or flicker correction resources de las imágenes grabadas en la cinta: “Llevé a cabo por separado la eliminación automática de la suciedad y la reducción del parpadeo. Después de solucionar dichos problemas, rendericé una nueva secuencia DPX intermedia y convertí la señal al formato ACES. Esto me permitió ajustar el color sin que el sistema se enlenteciera. Si encontraba algo que aún quedaba por resolver luego de este proceso, podía trabajar rápidamente en la imagen específica y renderizar otro fotograma en formato DPX para remplazar el anterior”.

Por otra parte, la amplia variedad de prestaciones que incluye DaVinci Resolve Studio fueron de gran utilidad para Brooks al momento de lidiar con algunos de los aspectos more complex: "For example, to remove large streaks, I used the program's built-in Fusion module, which I've been using frequently lately. This has become one of my most valuable tools. It was worth taking the time to learn its features. There is no longer such a clear separation between color grading and special effects."