Decoder with Nilay Patel Recode Decode: How Peter Jackson’s team made WWI footage look new
Dec 15, 2018
Peter Jackson, Academy Award winner best known for The Lord of the Rings, describes restoring and reimagining World War I film. He explains colorization choices, bespoke software and studio work to clean damaged footage. He discusses building a realistic soundscape, forensic lip reading for voices, and using technology to bring soldiers’ humanity back into focus.
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Restoring Film Removes The Barrier To Empathy
- Peter Jackson discovered restoring WWI film could remove the 'fog' of damage and make soldiers feel fully human again.
- Park Road Post developed bespoke fixes for scratches, frame loss, and duplicate-grain to produce sharp, normal-speed footage.
Hand Cranks Caused Inconsistent Frame Rates
- WWI cinematographers used hand-cranked wooden box cameras, so frame rates varied widely from about 10 to 18 fps.
- Jackson's team measured shot-by-shot speeds and corrected them to modern playback to fix the jerky, sped-up look.
Write Custom Code When Restoration Tools Fall Short
- When off-the-shelf software falls short, hire coders to write custom plugins for specific restoration tasks.
- Jackson used in-house code writers at Park Road Post to build tailored tools for the unique damage in the archive.