"Help!" (1965) Open Matte Preservation Project (Help Needed on Audio) :)

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Project Info

Out of the four Beatles-related films released in the 1960's, Help! (1965) received by far the most mediocre Blu-Ray release. The video, taken from a 2007 restoration intended for SD, was horrendously DVNR'ed and EE'ed. The audio was not the original mono either for that matter.

In keeping with the recent rush of open matte preservations, this is an upscale of the MPI DVD with a grain plate added and a touch of color correction to bolster contrast and remove a slight blue tint in the midtones. For better or worse, the DVD5 MPI edition is the most filmic presentation of Help! available right now. The BD, even with grain plate applied, still has a smeary look with obvious EE. Going back to the 2007 DVD would be worse, with resolution taking a hit and DVD artifacts ironically being more prominent than the MPI edition.

Of course, the MPI DVD has been IVTC'ed to its original 23.976 fps.

This project doesn't necessarily aim to supplant the commercial BD, but rather provided a more filmic alternative to it. In using the MPI DVD, which is fairly dirty and high contrast, the general look of the preservation emulates a well-worn 35mm print more than a finalized IP one might see transferred for the home video market.

Video

• MPI DVD - Open Matte Version
  

Audio

• English 2.0 LPCM - the restored mono from 1990s AMC broadcast (I DO NOT HAVE THIS TRACK YET)
  
• English 2.0 AC3 192kbps - the default audio with the MPI DVD; a restored track with songs in stereo
  
• English 2.0 LPCM - the restored track in higher fidelity; ripped from the LD or the VHS (I DO NOT HAVE THIS TRACK YET)
  
• English 2.0 LPCM - audio from a 1978 broadcast of Help!; should be the original mono, if in rather lackluster quality (Trying to sync... we'll see)
  

Screenshots
MPI DVD


Upscale (with Grain Plate and Color-Correction)


MPI DVD


Upscale (with Grain Plate and Color-Correction)


MPI DVD


Upscale (with Grain Plate and Color-Correction)


BD


Upscale (with Grain Plate and Color-Correction)


Project Status
Like my Trainspotting project, video is done, but this has stalled due to lack of available audio.

I'm looking for-

1. The Restored Mono from AMC Broadcast - the original theatrical track never released on home video
   
2. The Stereo Restoration Track from the MPI LD (or if necessary VHS) - the restoration audio with stereo versions of the song put in; a hi-fi if not theatrically accurate alternative
   

Big problem being that even if the tracks were obtained, syncing, as I have stated, is not my strong suit.   I'm experimenting syncing the 1978 audio in Audacity, but we'll see how well that turns out...

Hope there's some interest in this, and, hey, now that we concluded on ot.com, which is the best possible release of Let It Be so far, maybe an upscale preservation should follow with LD audio.  

Final Product
BD25 ISO - 1080p/23.976fps 30.1 Mbps Vid.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

PROJECT CURRENTLY DEAD. A drive died on me, and this was the main casualty. It shouldn't be terribly hard to recreate, but any such recreation will take quite a bit of time.

[PDB]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Falcon. I was looking forward to watching this. HDD crashes just kill, I've lost so much great stuff so I feel for you.

[CSchmidlapp]

PROJECT CURRENTLY DEAD. A drive died on me, and this was the main casualty. It shouldn't be terribly hard to recreate, but any such recreation will take quite a bit of time.

Ouch!

Happened to me also. I lost alot of work on 3 of my projects and being a new father I have no idea when I can redo any of them.

I really like this project and what work you did looks great.

We're any of the materials you require released in PAL (U.K) land?

[Koopa Luath]

Has any progress been (re)made on this since the last post?

[TServo2049]

I have the AMC version. It doesn't sound like 100% true mono, there seems to be channel variation of some kind, but other people say it's the mono mix so whatever. I can send it to you.

I also have the 1978 KABC Los Angeles broadcast, did you lose that and need it again, or do you still have that?

[jerryshadoe]

I'm kinda curious, how is the audio quality on your KABC broadcast??

[TServo2049]

It's the same broadcast referenced in the original post, Falcon considered it to be "lackluster" quality. Here's a sound file of the opening scene and title song to judge for yourself. There are definitely some splices in this print, I'm not sure if it's worth trying to sync the audio to other sources. (I've also heard this version is edited for time, but I don't know the movie well enough.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/asecj4c1pim481...8.wav?dl=0

This broadcast is on the Spleen if anybody wants it.

[Stamper]

That looked cool. What did you use to upscale? I'm working on upscaling a couple of trailers myself.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

This project might be revived. Finally solved my issues with uploading, so expect some customs coming up. This will follows Zulu (1964), Peeping Tom (1960), Reservoir Dogs (1992), An American Werewolf in London (1981), and Le Samourai (1967).

Still looking for people to help me with audio work.