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

Authors

  • Desirée Sabatini Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Art and Performing Arts
  • Ivano Forte
  • Ilma Schiavitti
  • Mauro Sabatini
  • Alessio Pietrini

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23738/ccsj.i82017.03

Keywords:

light, colour, full hd, contrast, gradation, colour correction, documentary, Mussolini, Archivio, Luce, digital, film, restoration, speach, dark, black, white, positive, nitrate, Trieste, PFClean, 35 mm

Abstract

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.

Author Biographies

  • Desirée Sabatini, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Art and Performing Arts

    Desirée Sabatini, is Doctor of Research in History, Theory and Technique of Theatre and Spectacle at the “Sapienza” University of Rome and Research Assistant for the project: “The theatrical audiovisual. Documentation and identification of digital show restoration methodologies“- disciplinary scientific sector L-ART / 05, at Dams, Disciplines of Visual Arts, Music, Entertainment and Fashion, Link Campus University.
    She was the coordinator for the Master’s in Digital Technologies at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at the same university, where was also a Research Fellow and visiting professor lecturing on the History of the Digital Restoration of Images and Film.

  • Ivano Forte

    Ivano Forte is a video editor and camera operator with a degree in Audiovisual Sciences and a master’s degree in video and audio editing from La Sapienza University of Rome. He has worked as a senior editor and archivist at the Cta (Centro Teatro Ateneo), one of the most important university archives in Italy, and has contributed to the digitalization, archiving, and transfer of rare CTA materials within the multi-year ECLAP project, the new online archive for the performing arts in Europe, funded by the European Commission.

  • Ilma Schiavitti

    Ilma Schiavitti, is a digital film restoration professional at Augustus Color, a company with 40 years experience in audio and video post- production, providing the whole range of video services for the audio-visual industry. Previously, Ilma worked as digital restoration artist for L’Immagine Ritrovata. She graduated from Sapienza Università di Roma with a degree in “Arti e Scienze dello Spettacolo” and a Master degree in Digital audio/video restoration.

  • Mauro Sabatini

    Mauro Sabatini graduated in Audiovisual Sciences from La Sapienza University in Rome, where he lives; he uninterruptedly studies the relationship between the film industry and cultural heritage, and currently works as a post-production operator in Augustus Color, a laboratory dedicated to digital restoration as well as, today, to the development and printing of films. He writes about Italian contemporary theater - studying the influence of the cinema’s imaginary on visual performance - on the “New Theater made in Italy” web platform curated by Valentina Valentini.

  • Alessio Pietrini

    Alessio Pietrini lives and works in Rome, where he studied Cinema and Digital arts at La Sapienza University. After a work experience in the University’s audiovisual archive he undertook a course of theoretical and professional training in the field of film restoration.
    In particular, he concentrated his interests on the application and in the comparative analysis of the most important digital restoration software.

References

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Berolo, A., Sabatini, D., Bonanomi, C., Gadia, D., Marini, D. and Rizzi, A. (2014). ‘Il restauro del colore digitale: un approccio basato sull’apparenza’. Cultura e scienza del colore, 1, pp.8-12.

De Felice, R. (2005). ‘Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo’. Torino: Einaudi.

Ovadia, M. (1999). ‘La porta di Sion. Trieste, ebrei e dintorni. Itinerario semiserio in forma di spettacolo della presenza ebraica in città’. Gorizia: Libreria Editrice Goriziana.

Sabatini, D. and Rizzi, A. (2011). ‘Il Restauro digitale del colore: esperimenti e confronti sulla memoria teatrale degli anni Settanta’. Colore e Colorimetria. Contributi Multidisciplinari, VII, pp.437-442.

Sabatini, D. (2010). ‘Il patrimonio culturale audiovisivo: il Restauro Digitale’. Archeomatica, Tecnologie per i Beni Culturali, III, pp.12-16.

Sabatini, D. (2011). ‘Restauro digitale del film. Alle origini del teatro (il Mnemodramma)’. Fersen, itinerario ininterrotto di un protagonista del Novecento, pp.102-105.

SMPTE 268M Revision of ANSI/SMPTE 268M-1994 ‘Proposed SMPTE Standard for File Format for Digital Moving-Picture Exchange (DPX), Version 2.0’, Revision 6.0, copyright 1986-1988, 1992, Aldus Corporation.

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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Published

2017-11-13

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Section

Papers

How to Cite

“ 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” (2017) Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science, 8, pp. 35–46. doi:10.23738/ccsj.i82017.03.