[KineJapan] ORTHOchromatic SHIN GODZILLA?

Thu Jun 20 09:01:14 EDT 2024

Hi Quentin,

Of course! I should also add, as I realize it's not clear, that I'm the
film programmer for Japan Society. I'd guess this is best seen as a digital
emulation of orthochromatic. It would require a lot of funding to do the
orthochromatic photochemically, so while IMAGICA may have the ability, it's
ultimately a question of whether Toho would see the value in these analog
processes - something I'd be unsure of. It's very rare nowadays to see any
contemporary Japanese films shot on 35mm, much less have new 35mm prints
struck unfortunately. I believe ORTHO has only been distributed digitally.

Best,
Alexander

–––
*Alexander Fee*
*adfee96 at gmail.com <adfee96 at gmail.com>* | *513.473.2232 *| alexanderfee.com

On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 10:00 PM quentin turnour <unkleque at yahoo.com.au>
wrote:

> Alexander - thank you so very much. You've satisfied my curiosity.
>
> The NY Japan Society screening is on DCP, so there has to have been a
> Digital Intermediate made. And for all the talk of 'film' in your
> translation, my guess is that the whole thing was done in the digital post-
> realm, rather than any optical-chemical lab work being involved. But
> Japanese film labs still like to experiment (someone from Imagica is always
> appearing at film archiving conferences with a paper on their latest
> research in film colour restoration science that's hard to follow but
> rewarding if you can). So I wonder if there was any release of the ORTHO
> version in Japan on 35mm film, although I have no idea how many commercial
> venues there can still run 35mm. And if so, whether the release screening
> print stock was actually orthochromatic? That would be fascinating,
> although the same(-ish) effect can be achieved in the Digital Intermediate,
> then laser film recorder-outputted to a normal modern 35mm stock.
>
> Thanks also for alerting me to a MINUS ONE MINUS COLOR version of
> Yamazaki's -ONE. I had no idea, but the Wiki article on the film now
> devotes a full section to its January release in Japan,
> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Godzilla_Minus_One&action=edit§ion=18
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Godzilla_Minus_One&action=edit&section=18>
> with a reference to discussion at one point about integrating colour and
> B&W in the style of Kuriosawa's TENGOKU TO JIGOKU*.*
>
> QT.
>
> On Thursday, 20 June 2024 at 01:54:33 am AEST, Alexander Fee via KineJapan
> <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Quentin,
>
> *Orthochromatic* was originally released in advance of *Minus One*'s
> release (it can be surmised that the *Minus One Minus Color* version came
> as a result of *Ortho*). *Minus One* director Yamazaki was asked to
> select his favorite Godzilla films and present them as a leadup to *Minus
> One*. When Anno was asked to attend the screening of *Shin Godzilla *(also
> selected by Yamazaki), he proposed this Ortho version. The actual process
> they undertook is not entirely clear, but the project was overseen by
> Shinji Higuchi and Katsuro Onoue. The Japanese announcement of Ortho
> described orthochromatic as (this is a DeepL translation FYI) "a type of
> black-and-white film with a characteristic of not being sensitive to
> reddish colors. It is characterized by a heavier face tone than
> panchromatic film, the current mainstream monochrome film, and we aimed for
> this texture and incorporated it into the title." (
> https://eiga.com/news/20231003/9/).
>
> Best,
> Alexander
>
> –––
> *Alexander Fee*
> *adfee96 at gmail.com <adfee96 at gmail.com>* | *513.473.2232 *|
> alexanderfee.com
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 7:31 AM quentin turnour via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
> Just seen the NY Japan Society announce that they will internationally
> premiere the 'ORTHOchromatic' version of the 2016 franchise's
> re-re-re-re-re-...boot here:
> https://japansociety.org/events/shin-godzilla-orthochromatic-encore/
>
> Does anyone know it the rationale for this - beyond mere novelty and a
> market ploy / excuse to re-release - has been explained in the Japanese
> press?
>
> Japanese film labs have a great tradition of pioneering creative
> optical-chemical film processes. Bleach-bypassing is just one. So I though
> for a moment that this might be the revival of a past process used on a
> Toho release in the past. There's also the argument Dr. George Miller made
> when he re-released FURY ROAD in grey scale; because that's how he saw the
> film in his head, in development. But B&W FURY ROAD emphasised the gleaming
> silvers and chiaroscuro.
>
> This is not so explicable. If it reflects an old-school film process you'd
> hope for a Christopher Nolan-style 70mm film re-release, which is back in
> fashion in the US with VistaVision and similar 1950s big screen format
> originals getting restorations (like the new version of THE SEARCHERS). But
> this is appearing only on DCP.
>
> Obvious, also SHIN GODZILLA is a contemporary-set film, and stands out in
> the franchise for playing in the field of post 3/11 Japanese social
> commentary. Surely a 1950s B&W Tohoscope sort of retro feel would be better
> applied to the newer, overtly retro GODZILLA -1?
>
> Finally and weirdest of all: Is this really Orthochromatic?
> English-language marketing is being coy about what this actually means, but
> silent film- and early photography historians will know its the old,
> pre-1922 B&W film process, which basically could only see blue and green colours
> in the spectrum, and explaining why pre-mid 1920s silent films are often
> drab, often have dense daylight shadows, little detail in clear blue sky,
> and coal-black reds. (This Wiki on this does a better job explaining this
> than me (and I like that the photo they use to illustrate what it did to
> Union Jacks features the famous Australian explorer Douglas Mawson):
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthochromasia. This other Wiki explains
> why panchromatic film can see the whole spectrum:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchromatic_film.
>
> So are Toho merely playing with an English loan word they hope no one in
> Japan actually understands? Is this meta-play with some corner of GODZILLIA
> or Toho history? Does the ortho, missing colour-specturm aesthetic make
> this a movie-going experience I need to have (per this article, which
> acknowledges ortho's charms using modern stocks:
> https://thedarkroom.com/orthochromatic-vs-panchromatic-film-a-photo-comparison/
> )?
>
> Or is it all just hype?
>
> Quentin Turnour
> National Archives of Australia / Cinema Reborn Film Festival, Sydney.
>
>
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