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www.postmagazine.com 45 POST NOV/DEC 2019 versions in the same theater and match them very closely. That was critical in helping us to retain the authentic look," adds Theodosiou. "HDR is really a great restoration tool, as it improves the offset of foreground, midground and background, giving the movie an improved sense of depth," Oran continues. "Having the original to match to new versions gave us the ultimate reference for maintaining the integrity of this classic movie." T H E H U N C H B A C K O F N O T R E D A M E The Universal Pictures 2019 restoration of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) continues the company's Silent Film Restoration initiative. Still in progress, this 4K digital restoration used a 16mm safety print borrowed from a collector as a primary source element. The secondary source element, used for two missing sections (and as a tint reference) was a 16mm print borrowed from the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI). The Hunchback of Notre Dame stars Lon Chaney and was directed by Wallace Worsley. The film tells the story of Quasimodo (Chaney), the bell-ringer of Cathedral of Notre Dame. Shunned because of his condition, he is befriend- ed by Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), the little gypsy girl. The Hunchback repays her kindness by saving her from execution, and from Jehan, the wicked brother of the priest of Notre Dame. This large-scale production required an exten- sive set. including an exact replica of the 1482- era Cathedral, Court of Miracles, Place du Parvis, Palais du Justice and the interior of the Bastille on the Universal Studios backlot. Approximately 4,000 cast and crew members worked on this sprawling movie for a year. To become Quasimodo, Lon Chaney would spend three-and- a-half hours in make-up daily. This primary source element for the resto- ration (stock codes — 1949) was in good physical condition with light-to-medium base scratches throughout and minimal repairs needed. Film shrinkage averaged 0.6 percent. The quality of the image was fair to poor, with much of the feature exhibiting instability, heavy flicker, raining scratches, digs and dirt throughout. There was a repeated section in a R2 dissolve (approximately two seconds) that was removed in editorial. Prior to scanning, physical repairs were made to elim- inate the possibility of damage that could occur during the scanning process. Using a 4K workflow, this primary element was scanned, dry-gate, on an Arri scanner. Once scanned, stabilization was achieved in two passes; the first pass went through Diamant, the second went through the Resolve to further stabilize issues created by damage and glue. De-flicker was completed using the Diamant. Dirt and scratch removal was accomplished by using a combination of MTI Correct and Phoenix. Film tears, film warps, some gate hairs and film shifts were repaired using Autodesk Flame. No grain management was used on this restoration. As was typical with large-scale Universal titles, this film was originally tinted. However, the primary source element was black and white. A tinted 16mm print was located at the Packard Humanities Institute, which PHI generously loaned for reference purposes. That element had seven different tints. "The tints found on this element were consistent with our research so we proceeded to add color to the transfer. Once we had dialed in the color correction, the colors were added on the output," says Peter Schade, vice president of content management for NBCUniversal Global Media Operations. Once reviewed, the PHI print was also used to include two short sections that were missing from the primary element. "Hunchback is an important title, not only for its link to Universal's monster film legacy, but also due to the early experimentation with color tints," says Schade. "With the digital tools available, we are able to restore this title to the filmmaker's original vision." One of the challenges was the film's speed. The action from this scan was occasionally too fast. Speed tests were done at 18, 20 and 22fps. In the end, 22 frames per second was selected and was accomplished using Resolve. NBCUniversal StudioPost provided the restoration services for this project. This film is the latest title to be restored as part of the Universal Pictures Centennial Initiative started in 2012. In 2015, Universal announced its Silent Film Restoration Initiative and has restored 24 silent titles to-date. T H E M O R E T H E M E R R I E R Filmed in 1943 during World War II, Columbia Pictures' The More the Merrier is a romantic comedy set in over-crowded Washington, DC, whose backdrop provided director George Stevens the opportunity to use ingenious comic