Frankenstein (1931) Audio Preservation

[captainsolo]

Only thing I can think of for sure is perhaps checking out the original Discovision releases for Dracula, Frankenstein and Bride. They're reputedly from nitrate materials and done straight from early elements.
But I can never find any classic Universal or Hammer LDs for cheap usually. They always go for relatively high amounts. Anybody have these or have seen them? (Or any LD or VHS recommendations for classic horrors in terms of transfer?)
There seem to be countless 16mm prints that come up for all the classics but I'm never sure of lineage or quality, let alone that they all go for a pretty penny. I will say that problems aside, the BDs are the fist time visually at home they have leapt off the screen in the same way as a print screening--and this is from somebody who enjoys the old dirty transfers and misses the hissy Dracula soundtrack.
BTW, the new sets despite the repeating of films across sets are mostly wonderful and dirt cheap currently. They did indeed seem to go back and do work on the Frankenstein sequels beyond what was seen on the earlier HD broadcast copies etc. I skipped the Wolfman one as it only adds the two lesser films I don't care for.

[crissrudd4554]

The Discovision disc for Frankenstein came out before the restored version in 1986 and thus would have the censored cut of the film so it wouldnt be much use here I'm afraid. And I understand what you're saying. On one hand it's nice that the films are finally being given the care they 'mostly' deserve (this thread is an example why I say mostly) but at the same time for the last 80 some years we've come accustomed to how they aged that's it's almost a different animal now. It's like playing out your favorite CD to the point that all your favorite songs skip. Then eventually you buy a new one and in a way the skipping has almost become part of the songs that when you hear the songs clean it's almost awkward. So you can't have everything however this is why I don't part ways with my various video releases since there's something different about all of them. To be frank I didn't really catch on fully to this whole Frankenstein audio thing until about 8 years ago when I DVD-R'd my VHS tape. I was preserving it for other purposes but this thing makes me all the more glad I saved it!

[crissrudd4554]

Quote from a CHFB member.

'I definitely remember the extra shouts of "Frankenstein!" when Waldman and company arrive at the watchtower. But I think the Monster's echo was something added to a video release. I owned a near flawless 16mm print of FRANKENSTEIN at one time, and also had audio and video recordings of the movie from local broadcasts. I never, to the best of my memory, ever heard the echo. In fact, I remember being surprised the first time I heard it on a video release.'

[monks19]

Hi. Any news related to this project ? Just wondering.

Thanks to let us know.

[jerryshadoe]

Have very little spare time and have had to put a lot of projects on hold... nearly all of them... BUT, this is NOT one of those projects...

However, the progress has been rather slow. I am having to visually sync a lot of elements and this can take some time of finding that "sweet spot" for each splice, as not only is it just a matter of syncing, but also a matter of matching the different sound elements to each other as seamlessly as possible. It is a LOT of work

I know I promised a sample and I even made one... but... well, I was not satisfied with the quality, even though it is still in the "rough" stage because I don't want to put anyone off the project before it's even finished... It's almost become a matter of pride. When I release a sample, it will be from the "final" (or very close to final) edit once I have everything put together.

This is an extremely important project to me and I am putting in the time to do it justice. For those that have worked on any kind of restoration/preservation work, you guys know what I mean when I say this work takes lots of actual "man-hours" (or "woman-hours" to be PC) especially when working on something alone. And this reconstruction is not an easy task at all... I know I've said this before, but I just wanted to stress this for those that come here and ask for updates when I haven't posted anything in a while. FEAR NOT! I am still working on this and it will see a release upon completion, even if it takes me another year to complete and nothing short of me dying will stop that... but... you might not see an update for a month or two... doesn't mean this project is dead... just means you need to be patient

Peace

[crissrudd4554]

As long as interest in this project is sustained, I don't mind the delay. I get enjoyment enough with the discussion.

[crissrudd4554]

Just wanna say Happy Halloween and again thanks for the support given this project! Have a spooky night!

[crissrudd4554]

Well now that I finally mastered this whole VHS capture thing, I might capture the 1999 VHS. Havent played it for a few years but I seem to remember it sounding close to the 1991 VHS and it also has the restored 'God' line. We'll see. I have other DVDs I will be burning of stuff Ive been trying to get off my computer for the last year and a half now so I may not get to this right away but throwing it out there.

[jerryshadoe]

So... it's time for an update on this, just to let you guys know that this project is "...ALIVE!!!" LOL

I have been uber busy with many things and I am so glad that 2016 is freaking over... That being said, recently I finally got some new HDDs and during the process of shuffling data around, I had to capture all of my CDs and albums on Vinyl. During the capturing of the some the stuff on Vinyl, I encountered some interesting issues which had to be corrected via software, (after the capture) using various plugins. I had some problems and reached out to a few friends of mine that are also audio engineers for some solutions. After sending some samples back and forth and using various different plugin sets, we were able to restore the audio in question. I then got the idea to try some of this "new knowledge" on some of the audio I've been having issues with for this project and... I discovered that some of it can be cleaned up and filtered much better than my initial results....


So, I had to go back to the "drawing board" and re-do a lot of changes I made to the original sources. Fortunately, as long as I keep the same filename and don't alter the duration, I am still able to keep my edits in Reaper, in regards to the reconstruction I'm attempting. Now, some of the parts sound much, much better than before and there is less of an obvious transition between sources. I wish I had help with this project, but at the same token I would never trust anyone else to do it, so I am forced to keep on at it alone.

Now, that I finally have the time to devote to this again, I'll be mainly focusing on this project first as it's long overdue. Thanx to everyone for the patience, you won't be disappointed

[monks19]

Hi. After this project is done, could you share the restoration pocess here ? It might be really usefull to some people that wants to do there own audio restoration (depending on source elements and physical conditions).