Newly-restored short that originally screened with "The Empire Strikes Back" premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Colorflow recently applied its color grading expertise to a newly-restored version of Black Angel¸ a fantasy-themed short film with a Star Wars connection that was believed lost for more than 30 years.
Black Angel was written and directed by Roger Christian, who won an Academy Award for his work as art director on the first Star Wars movie, and it originally screened alongside The Empire Strikes Back in Australian and European movie theaters in 1980.
The film, about a medieval knight on a mystical quest to rescue a princess, was not seen again in theaters or elsewhere, although it was credited influencing a number of later Arthurian cinematic adventures including John Boorman’s Excalibur and Ridley Scott’s Legend. In addition to being Christian’s first outing as a director (he later served as 2nd unit director on Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace), the film also featured the first work of cinematographer Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and composer Trevor Jones (Notting Hill, Dark City).
Christian, who thought the film was lost, recently rediscovered a 35mm interpositive in a vault at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. A story about Christian’s find appeared in Wired magazine and that caught the eye of Brice Parker, a producer at Bay Area animation specialist Athena Studios, and David Tanaka, chair of the Bay Area Section of the Visual Effects Society. Parker, who also serves on the board of the Bay Area section of VES, and Tanaka reached out to Christian with an offer to restore the film and, when he agreed, organized a grassroots effort to get the work done. “Everyone we talked to had either seen the article or heard about the movie,” recalls Parker, “and they were all super interested in lending their time and expertise.”
Athena Studios CEO John Peters donated his company’s services for digital clean-up and restoration. EFILM, Hollywood, performed a 4K scan of the 30-year-old interpositive, while its affiliate, Chace Audio, transferred the optical sound negative. DI color grading was performed at Colorflow. “We were excited to jump in and help the process,” says EFILM VP of operations Josh Haynie, “and the relationships we formed on this project have evolved into working relationships. So, it’s a positive all around.”
Colorflow Lead Colorist Kent Pritchett said that the film’s unusual pedigree required that it be treated with a degree of reverence. “Thirty years ago, when the film was made, it went through a traditional color timing process that was obviously quite meticulous,” he recalls. “Our role was to preserve what was there. We wanted to get the contrast right and address any obvious flaws, but our primary goal was to maintain the integrity of what the filmmakers were going for.”
Parker notes that the interpositive had originally been timed under the supervision of Christian and Pratt, so it became the guide for DI processing. “It was a great baseline to work from and it showed that the film’s look was slightly saturated with a sepia tint,” he says. “We confirmed with Roger that that was the look he intended and we didn’t deviate from that.”
Pritchett did apply one or two new tricks. He used his grading tools to paint out cars briefly visible in the far distance of a few shots. “They didn’t have that capability in 1980,” Pritchett says.
Noting Black Angel‘s connection to George Lucas and Star Wars, Tanaka says that it was fitting that most of the restoration work was completed in the Bay Area. “I work around a block away from Athena Studios and around six blocks from Colorflow,” he says. “I could walk over on my lunch hour to review the restoration. It was a nice boost for the local film and visual effects community.”
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“Ǝvolution” Comes Full Circle At The Chelsea Film Festival
The Chelsea Film Festival, running from October 16th through October 20th, 2024, at Regal Cinemas here in Union Square, is set to host the East Coast premiere of Ǝvolution, a thought-provoking experimental micro-short film that proves big ideas can come in small packages and in perfect circles.
In just 1 minute 16 seconds, this cinematic gem by Award-Winning Director Romina Schwedler, with original music by Argentine Composer Ignacio Montoya Carlotto, explores a cycle as old as time: life leads to progress, progress leads to destruction, and destruction, well, leads back to life. But is this vicious circle unbreakable? Ǝvolution suggests the answer is yes, unless we decide to open our eyes.
Inspired by the overwhelming number of recent events that threaten human existence, Ǝvolution, possibly the shortest film in this 12th edition of the festival, plays out entirely through the symbolism of circles, cleverly illustrating —in the blink of an eye— the repeating patterns of history, and confronting viewers with the uncomfortable truth that our so-called “progress” may, in fact, be guiding us to our own ruin.Premiering at the Regal 14 Union Square, New York City, on October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m., Romina Schwedler's micro-short, featuring Leah Young with cinematography by Alan J. Carmona, will be sure to spark conversations longer than the film itself! Forcing viewers to reconsider the true meaning of evolution, not just as a biological process, but as a reflection of our collective journey as humans.
With a string of festival appearances across the globe, including CineGlobe at CERN (Switzerland/France), Oscar®... Read More