[KineJapan] ORTHOchromatic SHIN GODZILLA?

Thu Jun 20 12:53:54 EDT 2024

Did he cut on film, or edit digitally and cut the negative or what? Very
curious.

Markus
---

*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*

Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design

*Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
<http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/>*
*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*

On Thu, Jun 20, 2024 at 10:50 AM Edo Choi via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> Not true with respect to Nolan. Release prints for IMAX, 35mm, and 70mm of
> OPPENHEIMER were graded photochemically:
> https://filmmakermagazine.com/123961-interview-hoyte-van-hoytema-oppenheimer/.
> The DCPs of course involved a DI process. He's one of the few directors who
> can still basically demand this workflow as part of his contract and get it.
>
> Edo
>
> ---
> Edo Choi
> Associate Curator of Film & First Look Senior Programmer
> Museum of the Moving Image
> 36-01 35th Avenue
> Astoria, NY 11106
> Office: 718-777-6826, Mobile: 917-921-0565
>
> Edo Choi
> Associate Curator of Film  & First Look Senior Programmer
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> v.072922
> ------------------------------
> *From:* KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of
> quentin turnour via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 20, 2024 11:40 AM
> *To:* Alexander Fee <adfee96 at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* quentin turnour <unkleque at yahoo.com.au>; Japanese Cinema Discussion
> Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [KineJapan] ORTHOchromatic SHIN GODZILLA?
>
> Thanks for clarifying this Alexander. Hope the NY screening goes well.
> Unlikely to see it here. -ONE did surprisingly well here but on the lure of
> the GODZILLA franchise brand; the suburban Sydney multiplex audience I saw
> it with was bewildered by the 1950s Japanese setting and political and
> historical references, and couldn't wait for the film to get on with the
> monster-mashing. Whereas my sentiments were in inverse proportion.
>
> You've got me thinking about the state of 35mm filmmaking in Japan.
>
> Post the Digitial Intermediate's emergence in the mid-2000s, but pre-the
> DCP mass rollout in 2012, a common feature film workflow globally was 35mm
> camera neg > digital scanning > DI > filmrecorder out to 35mm release
> print. DCP changed the last step, but 35mm negative originated productions
> are still more common than realised (I saw two features straight from
> Cannes at my local film festival last night, one Indian, one Portuguese;
> both had been shot on 35mm, speckle and all). That being said, even Nolan
> isn't making film intermediates, no matter his allegiance to shooting and
> releasing on film.
>
> Remembering that Yamada Yoji was still shooting film (I believe that's the
> case also for last year's KONNICHITA, KASAN?)  a quick google found an
> article from 2019 about Tokyo Laboratory Tokyo Genzōsho still at work
> (but looking pretty 1980s from the photos) pre-COVID: Tokyo Laboratory
> remains a stalwart champion of analog film production
> <https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/tokyo-laboratory/>. But the
> Anime News reported late last year that current owners Toho were closing
> it, mentioning that Toho was going to form a new restoration lab along the
> lines of US studios like Sony and Universal:  Tokyo Laboratory Shuts Down
> in November, Works to Return Film Originals
> <https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-09-09/tokyo-laboratory-shuts-down-in-november-works-to-return-film-originals/.202144>.
> This Reddit thread follow-up reports that there has been the usual
> nightmare of an old film film lab suddenly closing, with stored but
> orphaned negs potentially getting dumped because clients can't be located:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/16e0lk3/tokyo_lab_which_archived_many_old_anime_since/
>
> The Japan Times also ran a piece late last year on surviving 35mm
> mini-theatres, with a focus on The Royal in Gifu, north of Nagoya, the last
> surviving 35mm-only commercial cinema, now just showing Showa-era films: Mini-theater
> showing 35mm films is struggling to survive
> <https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/12/18/japan/society/mini-theaters-struggle/>.
> It seems to still be in business. Google says The Royal is currently
> running sessions of Segawa Masaharu's 1978 KIGEKI YAKUSHA-TACHI: SOOPER TO
> GABBLE,  a film featuring comedian Tamori I know nothing about, beyond
> this Tiktok fan video here: タモリさん主演映画『喜劇役者たち 九八（クーパー）とゲイブル』（1978年）
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCGNdAtABXs>.
>
> QT.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, 20 June 2024 at 11:01:29 pm AEST, Alexander Fee <
> adfee96 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> 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: Shin Godzilla: Orthochromatic (Encore)
> <https://japansociety.org/events/shin-godzilla-orthochromatic-encore/>
>
> Shin Godzilla: Orthochromatic (Encore)
>
> Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s 21st century masterpiece is reborn with
> this stunning black-and-white version....
> <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): Orthochromasia
> - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthochromasia>. This other
> Wiki explains why panchromatic film can see the whole spectrum: Panchromatic
> film - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchromatic_film>.
>
> Panchromatic film - Wikipedia
>
> A panchromatic emulsion renders a realistic reproduction of a scene as it
> appears to the human eye, although wit...
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchromatic_film>
>
>
>
> Orthochromasia - Wikipedia
>
> In spectral terms, orthochromasia refers to maintaining the position of
> spectral peaks, while metachromasia refe...
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthochromasia>
>
>
>
> 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: Orthochromatic vs
> Panchromatic film - A Photo Comparison
> <https://thedarkroom.com/orthochromatic-vs-panchromatic-film-a-photo-comparison/>
>
> Orthochromatic vs Panchromatic film - A Photo Comparison
>
> Trevor Lee
>
> This history of B&W film as it evolves from Orthochromatic to Panchromatic
>
> <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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