The recovery of the original colour of the archive material: the digital colour correction of the ancient anti- Semitic discourse of the Duce in 1938
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23738/ccsj.i82017.03Keywords:
light, colour, full hd, contrast, gradation, colour correction, documentary, Mussolini, Archivio, Luce, digital, film, restoration, speach, dark, black, white, positive, nitrate, Trieste, PFClean, 35 mmAbstract
The work in question is a digital colour correction experiment on a 35 mm film, a documentary from the Archivio Storico Luce. This is the speech pronounced by Benito Mussolini in Piazza dell’Unità, in Trieste, on September 18th, 1938. The film is a positive duplicate made in nitrate of cellulose, scanned in full HD with resolution 1920 x 1080 at 25 fps. The interventions, with the help of the software PFClean, were aimed to solve problems related to a strong flickering and a lack in distribution of light and dark gradations, which led to a faded and low-contrast image. In order to bring back to life the initial splendor, the digital intervention was performed using both historical and technical information. Our first goal was to keep the colouring and lighting of an outdoor shot, with a shot in full day that detects strong contrasts of light. Further, we tried to recover part of the original colour with a colour correction aimed to globally adjust the brightness and the gradation of black and white, while on the more faded photograms a contrast mask was applied. The applied interventions have allowed the documentary to return to the right gradation of light with qualitative results that are comparable to the original image.
References
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Documentario sul Discorso di Benito Mussolini a Trieste (Documentary on Benito Mussolini’s Speech in Trieste), cellulose nitrate film kept at the Archivio Storico Luce (Luce Historical Archive).
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The "Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science" journal is registered at the Court of Milan at n.233 of 24.06.2014.
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