[Released] Harry Potter saga - open matte

[Papai2013]

Now, ep. 6 is missing from the list... what's up with it? I even found traces of an "IMAX 3D experience", anyone has an idea about this?!? (EDIT: there are rumors of this version broadcasted on TNT...)

I went to watch 'The Half Blood Prince' in 15/70 IMAX. It was 2.39:1 throughout; no aspect ratio changes. I entered a bit late, so I missed the opening London attack in 3D. The image was very grainy (though I'd rather have that than a DNR'd wax-fest) and the film was overlong and boring. The HDTV version is open matte but there is very negligible extra vertical info that it is more or less P&S.

Andrea, I had sent you a PM, did you get it?

[spoRv]

Well, as I miss just that film, it should be added anyway, even if only p&s...

Back to ep.7: just finished to make the comparison, and the only sequence opened is the animated one; it's very nice, and, once the TV logo is deleted, and image slightly adjust, is even nicer, perfect as an addition to the BD.

Now, stating that ep. 1,2,4,5 are properly open matted, and ep. 3 is p&s, but "should" be added for the continuity of the whole saga, let's talk about the others:

ep. 6: p&s HDTV is a good compromise IMHO
ep. 7: options are all widescreen + open animation, or all cropped + open animation; for continuity, I'd go with the second option - I know, I know, don't shoot me... to me, it was shooted 16:9 safe, as, if you don't do a direct comparison, it's almost impossible to say "Hey, this is cropped!" (unless you have watched the movie several times, of course)
ep. 8: as it seems that open scenes are about half of the movie, the same cropped + open would do...

Opinions?

[nirbateman]

I think you're right, Andrea, and this is a side project that provides an alternative way to watch the films anyway, we can only work with what we have.
Let's take this one film at a time, so we can address each dilemma separately, shall we?

[spoRv]

Papai provided ep. 6 TV version (thanks!); sadly, it's just SD and with logo; it's a start, anyway... another source would help at least to remove logo - the fullscreen DVD does help, but not for any shot, and the alignment would be a nightmare...

EDIT: made a quick comparison with the BD, and the TV has more details top and bottom, and cropped on the sides; it's better than ep 3 (which has just few lines more on top and bottom), but the TV logo is quite big and I think difficult to remove... hence, another full 16:9 version is needed.

Ep. 7: delogo+enhance: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/209736 - here, too, a second source, even at low quality, would help to remove what remains of the logo.

[spoRv]

I worked a lot on the "Three Brothers" animation, to get rid of the logo; this is my best attemp - far from perfect - with an alternative dub found on youtube, by Chazz Rauenelle (LINK)

Three alternatives: leave it "as is" (I'd like TO not choose it), find a second open matte source (the best and fast way), or find a crazy person who would like to take the honor and responsability of fix it, frame by frame, using also few images and a bad quality 4:3 version (the only way to get the perfect delogo version without a second source).

I'll post this also on OT, maybe the crazy one would read it there... 

[spoRv]

Few updates:
it seems impossible to find another copy of ep. 7, but it exists:

For our Russian friend: Гарри Поттер и дары смерти часть 1 - broadcasted on TB-3 (Russian TV-3)

I strongly hope to find it out somewhere, or that someone with a link to it would chime in; if it will be found, it could be used to get rid (possibly perfectly) of the TV logo in the best version of the two - TB-3 or NOVA HD.

The p&s/open matte I have has a slightly more lines on top and bottom, but, as the cropping varies from shot to shot, it's almost impossible to use the slice technique to get those lines and apply them to the cropped BD; hence, the plan is to crop the BD (losing those few lines, and I mean it, they are very few, maybe 6 or 8 in total) according to this version.

[spoRv]

Thanks to babouin (A HUGE THANK YOU!!!), I'm downloading right now ep. 6 in HD!
He told me he has also ep. 8 - it should be open matte as well, let's wait to know that.
EDIT: confirmed, it's the mixed aspect ratio version - open matte + pan&scan! It will be uploaded in the next days, so, if everything would go well, the whole saga could be ready in a matter of few weeks.
EDIT2: after a less quick comparison, ep. 6 is a mix of pan&scan and open matte.

So, at the end, we miss just another ep. 7 to get rid of the TV logo of Nova TV on top left corner; so, if a 1080p version would emerge, it will be perfect, but also an SD version would be really appreciated!

[nightstalkerpoet]

Andrea, keep in mind we're also missing the Extended Versions in Open Matte

Out of curiosity, will releases be strictly Open Matte/Pan+Scan, or are you intending to do mixed aspect ratio using the BDs in place of the P/S portions? Or... even more daring, perhaps a release where the Pan and Scan is mixed with the BD, leaving black rectangles in the corner

Also, I've been trying to convert 1 and 2 to 23.976fps, but they appear to have a strange pulldown pattern. Are you running into this as well, or do you have any suggestions?

[spoRv]

Are there available extended editions in open matte? Really? I guess films 1 & 2, right?

Well, as, apart 3 (but I should check), almost all 7, and half 8 are pan&scan, the rest is open matte, so I thought to make eventually a p&s/open matte of 7 and 8 (leaving 3 "as is").

Still haven't worked on 1 and 2, so can't say (yet) if there are IVTC problems.

UPDATE: ep. 6 in HD is finally available - thanks again to babouin ; finally, we got this episodo in glorious HD; there are something to fix - logo to remove, missing frames due to fades in/out into commercial breaks etc. - but overall, the quality is really good!

[Stamper]

Could Deathly Allows be a good candidate for an IMAX version? Ie ditch all the Pan & Scan shots and replace them with the actual widescreen.