The Tree of Wooden Clogs

[Oedipax]

So yup, that's actually a pretty massive timing difference.

Thank you very much tenia.
Yes, the film now looks good. Arrow should have pointed out the differences to the public.

By the way, MichaelB, can you please answer me this?
Arrow did the color correction which means by itself that they admit the Ritrovata restoration has a problem.
I'm sure Arrow knows that other restorations by them have color problems too.
Why doesn't anyone say anything to them? (Ritrovata/Eclair)
(to fix their machines or something, I don't know exactly what is the problem and all restorations end up with a blanket teal)

I doubt it's their machines/scanners, it's whatever color correction (or LUT) they're applying afterwards that gives everything the same orange/teal 'modern' digital grading look. The scans themselves should still retain an enormous amount of color information, which is presumably why Arrow was able to re-grade this one so beautifully (it would not look this good if they had to start from where Criterion's ended up). So in a sense this is good news for correcting other badly-timed releases, insofar as you don't have to re-scan the original negative and spend a lot of money again. You just need the original files and a more accuracy-minded colorist.

[nitin]

Yes this is what a professional colorist has theorised in a br.com thread previously:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p ... tcount=417" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And it was confirmed by a Camera Obscura insider :

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p ... tcount=424" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interestingly, the last time this topic came up was precisely in the Criterion thread for this same release.

[Lowry_Sam]

Glad to see Arrow correct this..... I'd love to see Criterion make good by doing the same for Indochine, since I assume all UK/EU releases will be the same Studio Canal disc.

[tenia]

I believe that these color-gradings are becoming a more and more urgent issues to solve.

We should know better : we’re now seeing all these old-as-crap MGM or Universal HD masters having unfaithful magenta-pushed poorly-contrasted look and we know we used to grade this way but this was incorrect. How can L’immagine Ritrovata (but they’re not the only ones) pull the same crap 15 years later and get away with it ? Even more : they’re considered as one of the top restoration facility, but all their color-gradings look like Bologna only have 2 LUTs in total (both poorly contrasted, one yellow, the other blue), and even their B&W movies often are clipped (at least in the black levels).

I’m quite sure they truly believe they’re doing the right things, but some high-ranked people like Grover Crisp or Robert Harris should go there and see what is happening and advise them, because something isn’t right, and all the movies they’re grading will now look this way for years, and this is becoming to become a preservation nightmare.

Before, we saw it could be a question of fixing the poor contrast and the yellow bias but now that we can see such a difference between the 2 Olmi releases, the idea of how different these movies can (should ?) look is terrifying.

[Costa]

but some high-ranked people like Grover Crisp or Robert Harris should go there and see what is happening and advise them, because something isn’t right, and all the movies they’re grading will now look this way for years, and this is becoming to become a preservation nightmare.

yes, I still wonder why anyone in the high ranks hasn't said anything to them.
And whenever I bring up the issue and ask, there's silence. I don't know. Is it a taboo issue?
They fear to say something negative for a restoration facility?

[Costa]

I'd love to see Criterion make good by doing the same for Indochine, since I assume all UK/EU releases will be the same Studio Canal disc.

Amen!
I'd love too Indochine but can't buy it with those colors.
But i don't think Criterion has ever color corrected a scan they got, have they?

[Ashirg]

Beaver

[jsteffe]

Beaver

I am beyond grateful that Arrow was able to fix the grading on this release and will definitely order it. And I hope that over time some other recent restorations get properly regraded as well. It's frustrating, because often the underlying scanning and restoration work is really solid. And as tenia pointed out above, it could be years before the existing grading problems get addressed.

The top choice on my list is easily JE T'AIME, JE T'AIME by Resnais.

[Oedipax]

That's one area where (realistically or not) streaming could really speed things up in terms of fixing these sorts of errors. It would be great if all these poorly-graded films could be re-rendered out with a proper grade and replaced on a server somewhere without having to go through a more expensive disc replacement program, or waiting years for the right timing to do another physical release/anniversary edition (which many films will never get). I say that as someone who doesn't really stream anything I care about in terms of image quality (still a physical media/high bitrate purist) but it also sucks being stuck with a great restoration that's been carelessly color graded because someone, I don't know, thought it looked cool.

[Stefan Andersson]

2018 interview with film restorer Davide Pozzi, L´Immagine Ritrovata:
https://digitalcine.fr/?s=pozzi

According to Pozzi, Ermanno Olmi redid The Tree of Wooden Clogs (unspecified changes), apparently during Ritrovata´s restoration. Pozzi mentions Arrow releasing both Olmi´s and Ritrovata´s restorations.

The above info may be out of date due to MichaelB´s 2017 post about Arrow redoing the color timing.

Edit: it seems Pozzi mistakenly thinks Arrow released both Olmi´s revised color grading and Arrow´s original timing. Possibly a mistake in translation, or Pozzi wasn´t fully updated or misunderstood the situation.

[ryannichols7]

The top choice on my list is easily JE T'AIME, JE T'AIME by Resnais.

good things come to those who wait! very opportune thread bump here. wild to see the perspective of Fran's impact. this thread and release is years old and Tree of Wooden Clogs is one of the best ever "fixes" by a home media label. in the time since that release, he left Arrow, founded Radiance, and tackled the Resnais film, pulling off the same feat. the bonus is definitely releasing the Olmi double feature, one of the best packages anyone has put out in a long time. great stuff!!

[Stefan Andersson]

More about Olmi´s revisions to the film:

Olmi "has inserted changes by exploiting the potential offered by digital technology. "He wanted to smooth out the vivid colors," Tammaccaro points out, "in particular he made us break down the shades of red, so now those of blue prevail. The overall effect is a colder film than the original. Olmi also wanted to increase the contrast. And finally, taking advantage of filters and "masks" offered by digital, it has added new points of light that underline the narrative. He moved like a painter evaluating the scenes as paintings. For this reason, I would speak more of a re-edition than a simple restoration." One of the reworked scenes is that of the stories in the stable in which, compared to the past, the character who takes the floor is highlighted thanks to the new points of light." (browser translation from Italian)
https://bergamo.corriere.it/notizie/cul ... d386.shtml