Peter Jackson Restored and Colorized 100 Hours of World War I Footage, remarkable results

[OnDoutside]

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Peter Jackson is beloved by moviegoers for bringing J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth to life in “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, and the Oscar winner is up to his usual ambitious tricks in his latest project, the World War I documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old.” Jackson utilized modern production techniques to restore and colorize nearly 100 hours of original WWI footage from Britain’s Imperial War Museum.

“The First World War, for good or for worse, is defined in people’s imaginations by the film that is always used in all the documentaries and it looks bloody awful, for obvious reasons,” Jackson told ITV News. “There were technical limitations and also a hundred years of age – of shrinkage and duplication and starches. I think it’s the best gift I can give at the moment, as well as this movie, to restore footage.”

“They Shall Not Grow Old” uses 90 minutes of footage from the overall total Jackson restored. The footage has been colorized and even converted to 3D for the film’s upcoming theatrical release. The movie will have its world premiere October 16 at the BFI London Film Festival.

In order to recreate the color as accurately as possible, Jackson studied pictures of crowds on the internet and used collections of WWI uniforms as a reference point. The narration for the film is provided by real veterans. Jackson combed through recordings from 1964 of 120 men who fought in WWI.

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/10/peter-jackson-world-war-one-footage-restored-colorized-1202010938/

[OnDoutside]

1. Follow up - Review after BFI viewing

They Shall Not Grow Old REVIEW: Peter Jackson’s World War 1 in colour is MESMERISING

Last night HRH The Duke of Cambridge attended the world premiere of Peter Jackson’s First World War film at the BFI Southbank.
They Shall Not Grow Old, a line from Laurence Binyon’s poem For the Fallen, was simultaneously shown at cinemas across the country followed by a Q&A with the director and film critic Mark Kermode. The documentary film was committed by 14-18 NOW and the Imperial War Museums, who provided Jackson with hours of archive footage from the conflict.

Using modern production techniques the black and white was cleaned up and colourised, bringing to life the faces of the British serviceman who lived and died in the trenches of the Western Front. The film begins in black and white, showing enlisting and training before breaking out into glorious colour, that’s something akin to early technicolour films like Gone With The Wind, once in France.
Adding sound and voices to the men on screen, thanks to lip reading, the world of 100 years ago really does come to life in a way it never has before.

Meanwhile, the footage is complemented by the voices of veterans who gave interviews about their experiences in the 1960s and 70s for a BBC documentary at the time. Their insight is eye-opening, expressing views that would perhaps contradict modern ideas of how contemporary people felt about the First War World, perhaps in part being constructed by Hollywood films.


SNIP

All in all, They Shall Not Grow Old is a profoundly human look at the First World War. While the audience hasn’t been through the same experience, the film provides a most relatable connection to the real people portrayed on screen; so expect both smiles and laughter alongside poignancy and tears.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1032719/They-Shall-Not-Grow-Old-review-Peter-Jackson-WW1-film-First-World-War-Lord-of-the-Rings

[Historic NY]

2. I'm hoping it comes here...its absolutely brilliant.

Many colorization artists have been working tirelessly to colorize hundreds of the many thousands of photographs out there. America is short on photographs compared to the Commonwealth. To note the BWM British War Museum has a number of photos of Americans, so much so that our National Archives has a set of them.

[OnDoutside]

3. I would have thought it would be the reverse re photos. I'm sure it will be a worldwide release. I'm

definitely going to try and see it in the cinema, for the full effect.

[sarge43]

4. Second that.

Jackson is right; we shouldn't forget. We're still living with the consequences.

[Historic NY]

5. I will say that the people 'over there', haven't forgotten...

it was quite evident, even among the youth.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Normally not a fan of colorizing old movies, but...

this sounds interesting.

[Puzzler]

7. Remarkable!

-Puzzler

[Squaredeal]

8. My grandfather had a colorized photo of himself in his WWI uniform

It was a very large, framed photo of him looking at the camera in his American Army doughboy uniform, just before he headed to France. He was 19. That portrait of him was in my family growing up as kids. What became of it I no longer know. As kids, it had no impact on us as to what he went through soon after the picture was taken.
In WWII, he spent a few harrowing years in the Merchant Marine, sailing the North Atlantic bringing military hardware to the Soviet Union. I recall him telling me how the boots would not be shipped in pairs to avoid pilfering on the docks when they were offloaded.

[catbyte]

9. I'm usually against colorization on principle (remember the ghastly 1980's fad of

colorizing B & W films? See "Heidi" starring Shirley Temple) {{{shudder}}} However, these look incredibly well done and Jackson is helping ot save history. I'd like to see the film. It looks compelling.

[camelfan]

10. This is apocryphal, but it makes what I think is a good point.

For years, Ted Turner was trying to colorize Citizen Kane. Orson Welles, on his deathbed, reportedly said "tell Ted Turner to keep his goddamn crayolas away from my movie." Yeah. Having been trained in black-and-white photography, seeing this pains me a little. But I have to admit, for what it is, it looks damn good.

[Ilsa]

11. This looks to be much better than the

World War II in Color films. I don't know if those were originally in bad color or if the addition of color was lousy. This sample in the OP appears to be quite well done.

[haele]

15. There was some WW2 footage shot in color.

The 3-strip technicolor cameras at the time were pretty large and clunky, so they were primarily used either on larger ships, in the logistic units to capture "after the big battle", or "slices of military life" PR near or around secured baseops, or by Hollywood in the occasional battle re-creations for newsreels released with the big budget movies. The Hollywood recreations were typically shot in California or Hawaii. Sometimes there would be expert "re-colorization" of original B&W footage similar to the Pathe process - especially with the European front footage, but it could only be done if the film stock was good to begin with.

There was usually a major difference in quality between the Hollywood recreations and the on site footage.
Even so, Technicolor film has a shelf life, and starts noticeably browning after 30 years or so. I remember the difference even from my childhood, between contemporary technicolor and what I saw of matinee re-releases of 1940's color films. The Wizard of Oz looked like crap when I saw it at a theatre in 1971, and my mom was heartbroken that it looked so different from when she saw it as a child. "It's grown so old"...

So much of the bad quality of color we see in footage from the 30's and 40's probably comes from either the degradation of the original technicolor or poor restoration in the 1970's and 80's.

FWIW, the most famous Hollywood color WWII footage was part of the "Victory at Sea" series. Much of the footage was original, but a good 70% - 75% was recreation.

Haele

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. It is my hope that

the atrocities of war are shown and not just the "happy" moments. None of the pictures that I have seen show just how horrible war really is. The last thing we need is a celebration of killing.

I trust(hope) Mr. Jackson has done the right thing and shown both sides.

[Nitram]

14. What I see in these clips is not a "celebration of killing," but a celebration of their

humanity. My grandfather fought in WWI, and he later suffered some severe psychological consequences. Very few returned from that war without deep scars to their psyche - and many with terrible physical injuries. Most believed that there would never be another war because that one was so horrific.

https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/WWI-Fixing-a-Shrapnel-Damaged-Face

[Nitram]

13. Wow!

[Paladin]

16. This looks like a genuine historical service.

I'd love to re-visit the Imperial War Museum some time. I was fortunate enough to view the special Lawrence Of Arabia exhibit there, a number of years ago.

[OnDoutside]

18. I took my son to visit the IWM last year, and it seemed smaller than when I last visited it in

1977, but interesting nonetheless. I'd say they only display a fraction of what they have.

[theophilus]

17. It is fantastic. It will help historians in many ways.

It will also help the younger generations to get an idea about the important past. It seems that many do not view black and white images as "real" situations.

Also, there are so many other old black and white images that can be upgraded. I saw a forensic lip reader working on some of the original fuzzy WWI things and she could, purportedly, read actual words that were being spoken. Jackson's treatment will make that much easier if the enhanced images reflect actual conditions.

I am so looking forward to some of the 1920's sports footage being fixed. Imagine Yankee Stadium with Babe hitting a homer and not looking like a Looney Toons cartoon running around the bases. Jackson and his computer group are to be commended. I hope we all live long enough to see some more interesting results.

I hope I can see the film.

[OnDoutside]

21. 100% agree. I'm often trying to show my 12 year old some of the old comedy stars, and in B&W, he is

just not interested. Even he was wowed by that trailer, and wants to go see it.

[Roy Rolling]

19. Two Thoughts

First, absolutely amazing.
Second, colorization techniques in 2018 are light-years away from some of the early techniques that butchered some classic black-and-white films that were the guinea pigs of a newfound color conversion technology.
Carry on.

[Iggo]

20. Colorization.

For art I'm against it.

For history I'm for it.

[bif]

22. It's playing every day for free at the Imperial War Museum, here in London.

I'm going t try and see it on Friday evening. We're only here for a couple more days.

[OnDoutside]

23. Excellent, let us know what you think of it !

[OnDoutside]

24. I got to see this documovie on Kodi, and it is every bit as good as people say it is. Outstanding

work by Peter Jackson and his team.