3 ms·

I remember reading that it was a compromise: - ZAZ wanted to the movie in a propeller plane (and B&W) - The studio would only fund it if it were a jet and col

I remember reading that it was a compromise: - ZAZ wanted to the movie in a propeller plane (and B&W) - The studio would only fund it if it were a jet and color, since the audience would identify with modern passenger jets. So, they agreed with the jet, but switched the sounds instead.

WalterBright 5y ago
The studio was right. Nobody these days wants to see a B&W movie except for cinephiles. I've opined before that new viewers would be attracted to older movies if they'd use AI to colorize them. Sacrilege! I know, I know, but colorizing an old movie is not a destructive process. I don't see an actual problem with redoing older movies to be more watchable by a modern audience. (One could also add a decent soundtrack to silent films, not those godawful squeaking violins or somebody doodling on a pipe organ. And bring in some foley artists! and some voice actors to dub the dialog and get rid of the title cards!)
- amanaplanacanal 5y ago
  Unless my memory fails me, Turner colorized a bunch of old black and white movies. Are these colorized versions still around or did people decide that they hate them? I honestly don’t know.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    He did. They have vanished from distribution. I've seen some of them, and they just looked terrible from the primitive coloring technology they used at the time. Modern colorizations look far, far better, like "They Will Not Be Forgotten" where WW1 footage was colorized. A lot of people cried "Abomination" when Turner did that, saying he was destroying the old films, but nothing of the sort happened. Just like someone photoshopping color onto an old Civil War picture (a popular thing to do) the originals are undamaged. People do really great jobs colorizing old photos, it just brings them to life. I have several in my wallpaper folder.

3 ms·

I remember reading that it was a compromise: - ZAZ wanted to the movie in a propeller plane (and B&W) - The studio would only fund it if it were a jet and col

by captn3m0 5y ago

WalterBright 5y ago
The studio was right. Nobody these days wants to see a B&W movie except for cinephiles. I've opined before that new viewers would be attracted to older movies if they'd use AI to colorize them. Sacrilege! I know, I know, but colorizing an old movie is not a destructive process. I don't see an actual problem with redoing older movies to be more watchable by a modern audience. (One could also add a decent soundtrack to silent films, not those godawful squeaking violins or somebody doodling on a pipe organ. And bring in some foley artists! and some voice actors to dub the dialog and get rid of the title cards!)
- amanaplanacanal 5y ago
  Unless my memory fails me, Turner colorized a bunch of old black and white movies. Are these colorized versions still around or did people decide that they hate them? I honestly don’t know.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    He did. They have vanished from distribution. I've seen some of them, and they just looked terrible from the primitive coloring technology they used at the time. Modern colorizations look far, far better, like "They Will Not Be Forgotten" where WW1 footage was colorized. A lot of people cried "Abomination" when Turner did that, saying he was destroying the old films, but nothing of the sort happened. Just like someone photoshopping color onto an old Civil War picture (a popular thing to do) the originals are undamaged. People do really great jobs colorizing old photos, it just brings them to life. I have several in my wallpaper folder.