Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/910366
www.postmagazine.com 29 POST NOVEMBER 2017 RESTORATION CINTEL SCANNER HELPS PRESERVE FILM REELS FROM CYPRESS GARDENS' ARCHIVE FREMONT, CA — Blackmagic Design's (www.blackmagicdesign.com) Cintel Scanner and DaVinci Resolve Studio are being used by Paul Gerrish, of Cypress Gardens Treasure, to scan close to 6,000 reels of 16mm and 35mm film from the 1930s through to the 1980s. Cypress Gardens Treasure has acquired the film and photo archive from Cypress Gardens, a botanical garden and theme park that was one of the biggest attractions in Florida and known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" for its water ski shows before it closed in 2009. With a mission of preserving and providing access to the history of Cypress Gardens, Gerrish sought a solution that was both economical and safe for the film. "I wasn't sure what the value of the collection would be, so economy was a big concern," he says. "Sending film out to be scanned was never an option as the cost would have far exceeded the price of a Cintel Scanner. So far, I have scanned close to 300 reels without any problems, including shrinkage issues, which were my biggest concern. One 35mm nitrate film was even found and scanned on the Cintel; the film was from the 1940s, but is clear enough to seem like it was filmed yesterday. "I generally scan most films at 24fps unless the film looks to be less than prime, in which case I will run it at about 12fps. Sometimes the reels are loaded with the 'tail' first, but rather than re- winding old reels, the Cintel can scan them as is. DaVinci Resolve Studio has a nice feature that allows me to change the speed to 'reverse' after the scan, and the film is automatically adjusted. The same goes for film that is flipped. One simple button in the color section will automatically adjust it so that the film is correct even if the initial scan was done backwards or reversed." Once the scan has been completed, Gerrish moves it to the timeline and proceeds to color. "There I can correct the film orientation, and most importantly, I can size the film to eliminate any gaps that would be seen on a widescreen," he explains. "I adjust color using DaVinci Resolve Studio and then move to deliver." Once the project is complete, Gerrish should have around 4,000 unique films. "The majority of these films have not been viewed for more than 50 years and are one-of-a-kind," he says, referencing an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show that featured the Cypress Gardens water skiers and film of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson from their visit back in 1957. These are all amazing artifacts and would otherwise be lost without the Cintel Scanner." According to Gerrish, with discussions taking place around a possible documentary about the park, having the digital film files will be invaluable, making it easy to preview and organize such a project. In the meantime, Gerrish makes DVDs of the footage and uploads many of the films to YouTube. "looked at 18 sound sources, including the original track negative, lots of different 16mm mag elements and quarter-inch final mix masters," says Audio Mechanics president and chief sound engineer, John Polito. "Some elements were later copies, but we also found the original 16mm music mix units and effects mix units. We made a last-ditch effort to find dialogue stems but were unable to." Polito worked closely with Gary Streiner, who was the film's original sound engineer. "Gary wanted to be very involved," he reports. "It was his mix, and he knew what should and shouldn't be there. He has great pride in the film. George also came out here to supervise the final stages." Once all the elements were in hand "it was a mat- ter of getting a high-quality transfer and cleaning up the sound" to eliminate hiss, hum and drop outs, and create a smooth, seamless transition between the integrated elements, he explains. "The handling and research of the original elements is always the first and most important step," Polito says. "We were able to get really good transfers off the elements, although the mag elements were difficult to deal with and the 16mm music and effects mix units had a lot of splices and required special care." Working in one of Audio Mechanics' mastering rooms on an Avid Pro Tools mix platform, he used CEDAR and Sonic Studios' NoNoise for noise reduc- tion, NoNoise for pop and click removal, CEDAR for hum removal, plus various tools for EQ. Audio Mechanics is well-known for capturing the right "aesthetic value" for a film's restored sound track. "We have a lot of experience in knowing the way these films should sound," says Polito. "Older films were mixed on equipment whose playback speakers, amps and screens were very different from today's. They sounded great in that environ- ment, but when you play back old mixes on modern equipment, they can sound harsh and thin, and the dialogue isn't natural. We try to make sure the res- toration is optimized for our modern speakers while remaining true to the original mix." Performing a monaural mix, with just one speak- er, is in itself a challenge in these days of surround sound. "The balance between the dialogue, music and effects has to be perfect so that they don't mask each other," Polito explains. He tried to "enhance the dynamic range and fidelity of the music and effects elements where we could, and they sound incredible. No more wimpy music and music stings like you hear in the old prints! Now the orchestra sounds gorgeous and the dialogue is super clear with no distractions." Polito notes that before working on Night of the Living Dead, he had never seen the film and was not really interested in the genre. "But when I began working on it, I was floored by it," he says. "I could see what everybody loves about it, and I became a huge fan of the movie — it's full of intricacies and social commentaries." Elements of the Cypress Gardens archive