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Topic: Hogan's Heros in High Definition

Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 10-10-2005 09:16 AM

So I was flipping through my Dish this morning, when I came across Hogans Heros... on HD NET. My first thought was "What the hell??" My second thought was "Why not?" I mean, all of those old shows were shot in 35mm, right? I guess it just never dawned on me. I watched it for a while, and it looked fantastic.

Kinda funny when you think about it. We have this big period in recent TV history where everything was shot on some sort of video which won't transfer to HD quite as well as the older stuff that was shot on film.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-10-2005 11:08 AM

Lots of film shows being restored for theatrical, DVD, and HD release:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HNN/is_5_19/ai_n6118673

quote:
THE surge in demand for film restoration is being fueled by two major trends. First is the recognition by motion picture studios of the value of their content. Before the advent of cable channels, HDTV, DVD and other new distribution outlets hungry for content, movies used to be packed away in vaults with no real plans for re-use beyond the theatrical release. Now, studios want to preserve classic movies for posterity, as well as re-purpose them for re-release in today's exciting new venues.

Certainly, anything shot on 35mm film will produce excellent HD transfers. Likewise, modern 16mm film stocks offer very good quality, especially if used in the Super-16 format.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 10-10-2005 06:54 PM

I think it depends on how the HD transfer is done as well. Ever notice that many TV shows which are shot on film really don't look like much? But other shows have an incredible WOW factor as far as the HD effect is concerned. I think the darker the visuals, the lower resolution you can probably get away with. But when the helicopter scene comes up, then you have to have HD.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 10-10-2005 09:27 PM

Yeah but aren't these episodes cropped, or are they shown with black bars on the sides.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-10-2005 10:02 PM

quote: Mike Heenan
Yeah but aren't these episodes cropped, or are they shown with black bars on the sides.

Many of the older shows were composed with a generous "safe action area" (to compensate for overscan that was common on older poorly regulated TV sets), so when new 16:9 transfers are made, it's usually possible to crop the top and bottom of the image without destroying the composition. Certainly, pillar box is also an option for showing the entire 4:3 frame.

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 10-11-2005 08:57 AM

Hogan's Heros was cropped to 16x9 and looked absolutely fantastic. I didn't notice any composition problems at all. Not to mention the colors were brilliant, and you could almost count the threads on the soldier's uniforms.

I wonder how long it'll be before we have a "Nostalgia HD" network.

[ 10-11-2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Mark J. Marshall ]

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Frank Dubrois
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 896
From: Cleveland, OH
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 10-11-2005 08:28 PM

That was one of the reasons I subscribed to HDNET. Charlies Angels was also put on that network in HD, looked good, but not as good as HH. HDMOVIES also showed Hooper in HD, the only reason I mention that is because I remember the DVD being a crappy full-screen single layer VHS quality transfer. Its just another example of studio laziness. The HH DVD's look good, but compared to HDNET, they might as well be VHS. I can't wait for HD-DVD and repurchase my entire library. [thumbsup]

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Andy Summers
Master Film Handler

Posts: 397
From: Bournemouth Dorset United kingdom
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 10-12-2005 08:04 AM

I seam to remember this showed around the late evenings, oh some 18 years ago, looked a bit like “Mission Impossible” only there was a war going on, the show had some good stories to tell.

Now to the sound, the sound, sounded queer, I mean every time there’s gunfire or an explosion the mixer would always place it lower, I mean way low down in level against the dialogue, and when all the gunfire had stopped, and the dialogue performance will start playing again yet it was so loud, so what was the problem regarding the shows sound mixing, any thoughts anyone?
[Confused]

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-12-2005 02:53 PM

quote: Mark J. Marshall
Hogan's Heros was cropped to 16x9 and looked absolutely fantastic. I didn't notice any composition problems at all. Not to mention the colors were brilliant, and you could almost count the threads on the soldier's uniforms.

Not bad for Kodak film that is almost 40 years old! [thumbsup]

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 10-12-2005 04:08 PM

Of course, the wonderful colors could have come from digital correction from faded negatives, who knows.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-13-2005 08:35 AM

The rate of dye fading depends on the film type, whether the film was properly processed and washed, and the storage conditions. Yet many films from decades ago are being restored with excellent color, either from properly stored original color elements or from silver separations.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-21-2005 06:55 PM

Actually Techniicolor handled all Disney's and Universal's stuff back in the 60's and there are alot of IB prints of those shows fomr abck then... so no fading on those. Some of the Green Acres Episodes still look really good. I look foreword to the Blue Ray HD format and transfering of many IB titles.

Mark

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