Random ideas for new projects

[spoRv]

Sometimes I wonder how a project maker decides which movie needs a restoration/preservation... so I thought to some ideas to take in account, to choose which movie will be the object of our new project, and what to make with it - if you have further ones, let me know! This could help new (and future) project makers, and also food for thought for the existing ones.

• "unfixed" titles - let's face it, we are a bit tired of all the Star Wars projects, aren't we? That's not the fact we do not love it - we do! - but start a new project about it, unless this is really revolutionary, it will be hardly needed... think about some less known title that needs to be fixed, or even a famous one which is not fixed yet - there are many around...
  
• uncommon titles - some obscure, forgotten one; an old b&w masterpiece, that Hong Kong flick that nobody knows, but also a mainstream title who nobody thinks it needs a fix
  
• not only movies - why don't restore an animated feature, a concert, a documentary, a TV series? Or compile a brand new bonus disc, with all those extra material like interviews, behind the scenes, documentaries etc? Or just clean that old scanned trailer full of scratches?
  
• extended edition - it's common practice to add deleted/extended scenes as bonus material in the released media; why don't put them back in the movie?
  
• theatrical cut - or, there is some rare cases where the only HD version is the extended one; it's good to have this, because we all love to watch more, but to me, it's mandatory to offer also the theatrical cut
  
• original cut - George Lucas docet... do you need more explanations? Apart extensive reconstruction made to such movies, often just few scenes must be replaced to restore an original cut
  
• film scan - let's face it, this is a great option, even if it's an hard (and expensive) task to buy and scan a film, and to restore its colors, clean the dust, scratches etc.
  
• added footage - for your light fan edit, you could think to replace some shots with a different take, or a shot taken from a documentary, trailer and so on...
  
• open matte - yes, we all know that a movie *should* be watched in its original aspect ratio; but sometimes, there are some open matte versions that really deserves to be preserved!
  
• color grading - often the new HD versions have revised color palettes, usually the well-knows "teal & orange"; but if the theatrical colors were different, it's a good idea to try to restore them, in particular if you have a color reference like previously released SD media or film cells
  
• logo free - tough task, if you haven't two different versions with logo placed in different corners...
  
• no HD releases - there are so many great HDTV broadcast recordings out there, that could be used as "HD master" for a project...
  
• upscale 720p - a simple task, that could lead to perfect results if well done, way better than any real time upscaling
  
• upscale SD - but, if there is no HD availble source, this is a viable option; a well done upscale - better using a good SD source, and combine two or more if possible - could outperform any simple upscaling done in real time by an hardware or software player, or display
  
• proper speed - what if the only available HD version has 25fps? Simple, remux it to 24fps (or 23.976fps) to restore the original theatrical version - don't forget to convert the audio, too!
  
• inverse telecine - convert back to film the 29.97fps material, to avoid judder and spare some bits - do not forget to NOT touch the audio, though!
  
• grain plate - the noise reduction applied from the studio removed all the grain? Fear not, just add a real 35mm film grain plate, and the video will look better
  
• colorize a B&W film - ethically, I don't want to pronounce; technically, it's the most hard work possible... as there are not good automatic colorize method (yet), it should be done by hand... good luck!
  

• original audio track - often the audio mix is revised, too; the old laserdiscs, DVDs and even VHS tapes could be a treasure for the original mix present in them. Do not exclude the DTS Cinema tracks, too!
  
• multiple audio tracks - if there are several interesting options, we could add'em all! Also, multi language projects are cool!
  
• subtitle track - sometimes there is no subtitle tracks at all, or it need a fix
  
• literal subtitle - taken from CC or transcripted from the dialog, great for the hearing impaired or not native speaker who wants/needs to understand perfectly the dialog, word by word
  
• multiple subtitles - each sub track takes so little space, so it will be great to add some extra language subs
  

I have surely forgotten some interesting ones, but I rely on your help.

Also, if you want to have some fun, why don't you follow some of the tips contained here? https://fanrestore.com/thread-1147.html