Hard Day's Night - COLOUR??
Iain Alexander Dmitrienko
About a week or so ago, there was an interview on Global Television (
Toronto, Canada) with a guy who's been a Beatles collector since 1964. In
between questions, they would show bits of film with the Beatles. One clip
showed a really faded but IN COLOUR scene from HDN - It was the scene where
a reporter asks, "How did you find America?", and John replies, "Turn left
at Greenland, ha!" Did a colour version ever exist (even if not publicly)?
I don't think this was freshly colourized, because it looked old, and the
sound was bad....
Thanks
ID
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Iain Alexander Dmitrienko
Edward S. Chen
Iain Alexander Dmitrienko <IADM...@ARTSCOURSE.watstar.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>
>
>About a week or so ago, there was an interview on Global Television (
>Toronto, Canada) with a guy who's been a Beatles collector since 1964. In
>between questions, they would show bits of film with the Beatles. One clip
>showed a really faded but IN COLOUR scene from HDN - It was the scene where
>a reporter asks, "How did you find America?", and John replies, "Turn left
>at Greenland, ha!" Did a colour version ever exist (even if not publicly)?
>I don't think this was freshly colourized, because it looked old, and the
>sound was bad....
No. No color footage of AHDN has ever been uncovered.
<ESC>
--
... The cats were catting, the dogs were dogging, the birds were birding, and
the fish were fishing ...
--- John Lennon
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Chris O'Hanlon
Chen) wrote:
> In article <IADMITRI.5...@ARTSCOURSE.watstar.uwaterloo.ca>,
> Iain Alexander Dmitrienko <IADM...@ARTSCOURSE.watstar.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> >
> >
> >About a week or so ago, there was an interview on Global Television (
> >Toronto, Canada) with a guy who's been a Beatles collector since 1964. In
> >between questions, they would show bits of film with the Beatles. One clip
> >showed a really faded but IN COLOUR scene from HDN - It was the scene where
> >a reporter asks, "How did you find America?", and John replies, "Turn left
> >at Greenland, ha!" Did a colour version ever exist (even if not publicly)?
> >I don't think this was freshly colourized, because it looked old, and the
> >sound was bad....
>
> No. No color footage of AHDN has ever been uncovered.
>
Back in the 60s, *everything* was in black 'n' white.
Brett Pasternack
IAD> From: IADM...@ARTSCOURSE.watstar.uwaterloo.ca (Iain Alexander
IAD> Dmitrienko) Subject: Hard Day's Night - COLOUR??
IAD> About a week or so ago, there was an interview on Global Television (
IAD> Toronto, Canada) with a guy who's been a Beatles collector since 1964.
IAD> In between questions, they would show bits of film with the Beatles.
IAD> One clip showed a really faded but IN COLOUR scene from HDN - It was
IAD> the scene where a reporter asks, "How did you find America?", and John
IAD> replies, "Turn left at Greenland, ha!" Did a colour version ever
IAD> exist (even if not publicly)? I don't think this was freshly
IAD> colourized, because it looked old, and the sound was bad....
I think this is actually from a press conference, not from AHDN.
... We're starting a movement to stamp out Detroit!
AKIS, RICHARD JOHN
>Back in the 60s, *everything* was in black 'n' white.
You're off the mark here. By the mid-60's, almost all films, including
the Beatles second film, "HELP" (1965), were in colour.
Richard A.
Bob Allison
While the Wizard of Oz was in color in '39, it took some time before
it was seen as cost effective to use color for the average film. But by
1964 most films but the smallest could be color.
I believe AHDN was intended to be in black and white. I can't imagine
it in color. Although at this point in time it could easily be
colorized. And I would probably watch it once.
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/ O' bo...@wwa.com | Net Newsgroup: rec.arts.ascii
W W W Page: <a href=http://gagme.wwa.com/~boba>- Bob Allison's Home Page -</a>
Iain A. Dmitrienko
>From: bo...@wwa.com (Bob Allison)
>Subject: Re: Hard Day's Night - COLOUR??
>Date: 23 Jan 1995 06:21:17 -0600
I don't think it was colourized (re: the clip I saw on Global TV) recently.
You've seen those shows that show old movie commercials. See how faded
those are? It was like that, and the sound was muddy too. I wish I knew
the guy's name who was interviewed, maybe it was something he knows about.
Did anyone (Canada) see this? The guy's been on before advertising the
Toronto Beatlefest. He has long, white hair, and one of the biggest Beatles
collections I've seen....What's his name? Is he reading this?
ID
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Iain A. Dmitrienko
saki
>it in color. Although at this point in time it could easily be
>colorized. And I would probably watch it once.
Director Richard Lester and writer, the late Alum Owen, both mentioned
that it was their intent to film "AHDN", even from its early conception,
in black and white, to conform to the then-popular "British realism",
a.k.a. "kitchen sink" school of cinema. Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor
(who had just shot "Dr. Strangelove" for Stanley Kubrick) was hand-picked
for his adept black-and-white expertise. The medium was also appropriate
for the semi-documentary feel of the Beatles' first film.
--
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"I guess by now you've got the gist".
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sa...@evolution.bchs.uh.edu (saki)
Aaron Bucky
(Brett Pasternack) wrote:
This comment _was_ made in a press conference, but then it was taken and
used for the "press conference" scene in AHDN. Hence, I guess, the
confusion: the color clip may have been from the real press conference,
but easily confused with the scene in AHDN.
--
Aaron "Yes, I _do_ change my .sig from time to time" Bucky
"Arthur." --George Harrison (abu...@haverford.edu)
Gm7add11 "Give us a kiss." --John Lennon
EADGBE "Well, no, actually we're just friends." --Paul McCartney
353533 "It's my active compensatory factor." --Ringo Starr
Knut Somme
Many of the old films showing up in color have been computer colorized !
This means that a computer colors the film frame by frame. Usually
lots of color info can be derived from the greyscale info. In
addition script/photo etc. can give usefull info on color setting.
The moral aspect of this is another matter... I feel seing
Charlie Chaplin in color would ruin 'the magic'.
I have the same feeling 'bout AHDN.
knut
Dave McCullough
> computer colorized !
> The moral aspect of this is another matter... I feel
> seing Charlie Chaplin in color would ruin 'the magic'.
As someone who studdied filmmaking while in college I can also add that shooting in color vs shooting in black and white are two very different arts. One doesn't need to use shadows as much when shooting in color, but when you start to shoot in black and white it takes a different eye and a different skill to get a really good looking film. To the people who want to colorize everything I can only say that they are missing the most important part of the cinematography involved.
* Origin: Abbey Road (1:324/119)
saki
>In article <pilgrim-2201...@dialup-108.mpx.com.au>,
>Chris O'Hanlon <pil...@mpx.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>Back in the 60s, *everything* was in black 'n' white.
>
>
>But seriously, this is way off. They'd been using colour in movies
>since the 30s! "Gone With The Wind" was made in 1939, and was in
>brilliant technicolor.
Even before that...."Becky Sharp" was 1935, the first full-length
film in three-strip technicolor (though there had been short features
prior to this). Even earlier (late twenties) there was two-strip technicolor,
a rather pastel technique but evocative enough of the "real" spectrum
(for evidence, see "Follow-Thru [1930] or "Whoopee" [1930], two full-
length comedies using two-strip).
The Fabs' director and writer decided on black and white from the
outset, to enhance the documentary aspects of the film and to suggest
cinematic "realism" (which, unlike actual realism, was *not* in
color. :-) There was also a budget to consider, and B&W is a much
more economical medium to work with.
When Lester filmed "Help!" he used Eastmancolor, which sometimes
has a tendency to degrade under poor archical situations, leaving
mostly red tones (Technicolor, a more expensive system, does not
have this problem, for the most part). So far the videos of "Help!"
have survived quite nicely (one imagines that they've been struck
from well-preserved negatives), though I've seen a few questionable
35mm prints over the past few decades.
Jay Smith
At the time of AHDN's reissue in the early '80's the film's producer
(heck, a mental block is keeping me from recalling his name) said that
it was a big mistake that they shot it in black-and-white. He said that
it was done in b/w because United Artists did not believe the film was
worth the small extra expense of color--at the time it was budgeted it
was not foreseen that the film would do much business outside Britain.
Of course, others have said that Richard Lester wanted b/w, but it's
possible that he adapted his artistic vision to the budget constraints.
It's also true that b/w was far more prevalent in British films of the
time than in US films--possibly because of the smaller investment required
or due to the popularity of those gritty b/w "angry young man" and
"northern" films.
Vivid color was more appropriate for the second film since it was a
James Bond spoof with international locations.
In article <3gbevf$8...@gagme.wwa.com> bo...@wwa.com (Bob Allison) writes:
> BTW, just turning down the color on a colorized version is not the
>same as watching the original B&M version. The contrast and tonal
>distribution is very different. It usually looks flatter.
Well the b/w version on video won't look the same as a projected film,
either. Given that colorization is done in the video domain and that
TV's allow adjustment of things like brightness and contrast, I don't
think this is a real problem, IMHO. Anyway, whenever they meticulously
restore a film for colorization, there is usually a b/w version released
as well, fortunately.
--
Jay C. Smith
Domain/internet: smi...@dg-rtp.dg.com
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"That guy up there's gotta stop; he'll see us."