Grover Crisp, Senior Vicepresident for Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering for Sony Pictures Entertainment, was recently interviewed by Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits. In the interview, Crisp discusses in great detail the restoration of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (due out on Blu-ray on April 5) and the challenges of film restoration in general.
The full interview is a great read; what follows is only a summary of the main points.
Crisp said that Taxi Driver was only the third film that SPHE has submitted to a "full 4K workflow with no downrezing" (the other two being Dr. Strangelove and The Bridge on the River Kwai), in which "the resulting HD master used for the Blu-ray authoring was derived directly from the final 4K files." This procedure "preserves the essential resolution of the 35mm negative," explained Crisp. Indeed, he said that over the years, Sony has arrived at the conclusion that in a new hidef transfer film should be scanned "at 4K at a minimum," and that "regardless of what the particular element is" (CinemaScope or flat, color or black and white, etc.). He pointed out that larger formats such as 65mm "may require higher resolutions." Crisps admits that the 4K workflow is somewhat challenging, "but it is something that can be controlled."
Scorsese and Taxi Driver cinematographer Michael Chapman were "both involved" in the restoration process; Crisp noted that this is something that Sony does "if it is at all possible." Scorsese insisted that the restoration should look like "a product of the time and place in which it was made," with no attempt to modernize the look or the color palette, with special mention of the shooting scene at the end of the film. Crisp starts by saying that Scorsese "feels it best to leave the film as it is." However, he also explains that there are more issues beyond just "pumping" the color back into the scene which made it impossible to put the color back in.
The biggest technical challenges during video restoration included "enormous scratches running through some scenes," specs of dirt and lost frames due to a torn negative.
The audio restoration was completed at Chace Audio by Deluxe in Burbank. The best element for Taxi Driver was the original mono magnetic master with split dialogue, effects and music. However, Crisp also found the original 4-track stereo recordings of the score on audio tape, which was incorporated into the process. Scorsese had "his own audio experts" create the 5.1 track from the restored elements.
Hunt also raised the hot issue of grain or noise reduction for Blu-ray mastering. Crisp said that at Sony "we don't take the position that grain is an automatic 'problem', and we usually just leave it alone." They are aware of all the digital tools available to alter the grain, but "unless there is a really compelling reason" to do that, they don't. He proudly adds that that decision hasn't earned them negative Blu-ray reviews; "just the opposite, it seems."
Crisp didn't shy away from the ongoing DNR debate. "I really do not like the super clean, waxy look that is often the result of over-processing," he said. "It not only buries detail, but it gives the film an odd feel to it, an artificial feel, that I think detracts from the achievement of the filmmakers and is distracting to discerning viewers, all of which ultimately just cheats the audience. Most filmmakers know what they are doing with the resources at hand and our job, after all, is to replicate the vision of the filmmaker, not to impose our own aesthetic outlook on a film. People are entitled to their opinion on this subject, and lots of people have opinions on this, but we try to take a fairly authentic and neutral approach to every title - and they all differ in certain ways - so that each title looks, feels, sounds, like a product of its time and place, while trying to make them look their absolute best on Blu-ray. And, that's kind of what it's about, you know? I don't think Taxi Driver is a particularly grainy film, so there was really nothing to do in that regard."
Regarding future catalog releases from Sony, the VP informed while the negative of Lawrence of Arabia has already been scanned (at 8K), restoration is not completed yet and "will certainly take a year to complete." Other projects in the works include The Caine Mutiny and The Guns of Navarone.
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