The 77th Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 14th to 25th. The 4k restored version of Jackie Chan's classic film " Eagle Project " has been selected as "Cannes Classics" and will be held at 21:30 on May 23rd local time. It premiered in the "Beach Screening" section. The 4K version screened this time was restored by the "Classic Hong Kong Film Restoration Project" initiated by the China Film Archive, Douyin, and Volcano Engine.
"Beach Screening" is one of the most popular parts of the Cannes Film Festival. During the festival, the organizing committee will screen classic films or world premiere non-competition films for the audience on the beach every night for free. It is reported that "Eagle Project" is the only Chinese film selected for the "Cannes Classics" beach screening unit at this film festival.
Restore martial arts action frame by frame
Manual restoration and technical restoration combined
In "Eagle Project", Jack, the "Asian Eagle" played by Jackie Chan, is entrusted by the count to go to the African desert to find secret gold, and engages with a mysterious organization on the way. A life and death struggle.
"Eagle Project" was released in 1991. It was filmed during the golden age of Hong Kong movies and was nominated for Best Action Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards. It is reported that the film went to Morocco, Spain, the Philippines and other places for filming, with a total investment of HK$115 million, setting a new record for the highest production cost for a Hong Kong film at the time. If
wants to restore the film in 4K, it must first scan the original film with high precision in Hong Kong and convert it into a 4K resolution data image file. The data image will then be digitally restored by the China Film Archive.
Compared with other old movies, the preservation condition of the film of "Eagle Project" is not too bad, but because there are many martial arts in the film, it is still a great test for the restorers. There are many martial arts actions in the
film, and each frame changes greatly, so it is difficult to learn from each other during restoration. Once there are scratches, stains, etc. on the screen, the restorer can only continue to explore in the current frame and try them out bit by bit with time.
When repairing the sound, it is not only necessary to make the sound clear, but also to maintain the texture of the golden age of Hong Kong movies. In particular, while ensuring the clarity of character dialogue, the dynamics of fighting sounds must also be ensured. In this way, we can not only retain the wit and humor of Jackie Chan's movies, but also feel the hard-hitting action scenes.
"So action movies are one of the most difficult types of movies to restore, and they test the restorer's eyesight, ear, and patience." said Li Tao, director of the Production Department of the China Film Archive. There are also some fighting scenes in
that are not smooth enough due to the low frame rate. These scenes are difficult to repair manually. The Volcano Engine provides a technical solution for intelligent frame insertion. For example, at the end of "Eagle Project", Jackie Chan used strong winds to fight his opponents, and his facial features were "disfigured beyond recognition" by the strong winds. The Volcano engine uses a frame interpolation algorithm to intelligently compare the contents of the previous and next frames and generate intermediate frames, thereby increasing the video frame rate and reducing lag, making the picture smoother and the motion details clearer. The application of
volcano engine technology restoration can not only help restore classic fighting scenes in film history and present more fast-paced and smooth fighting scenes, but also reduce the repetitive work of restorers, allowing restorers to focus on the most difficult and complex details.
Continuing the classic beauty of the film
The main creator participated in guiding the art restoration
In addition to digital restoration and technical restoration, the China Film Archive also invited the film's main creator to guide the artistic restoration and control the artistic quality of the restoration.
For example, in terms of film color grading, the main creator of "Eagle Project" gave repair suggestions. Some of the scenes in the film involve transitions. The creator hopes to enhance the contrast between the images before and after the transition. For example, after the Flying Eagle and his group exit the tunnel, the sky, yellow sand, and sunlight are brightened to make the images more impactful.
is repaired here. If the restorer directly adjusts the brightness, the picture will easily produce image noise with small white spots. The Volcano Engine uses AIGC large model technology to simulate old equipment with degraded shooting capabilities. It uses the simulated data to train the HDR algorithm, predicts the white points in the picture to obtain a color correction matrix, corrects the color shift of the picture, and makes the film more transparent and transparent. Bright.
There is also a chase scene in caves and tunnels in the film. Not only is the picture in the dark environment full of noise, but the color and quality of the film used for the special effects shots are inconsistent with those of regular shots.In order to solve this problem, the Volcano Engine technical team used algorithms to equalize the graininess of the film without affecting the picture quality. After color matching and noise equalization, the picture was more natural, smooth and "repaired as before", bringing better viewing experience. The restored version of "Eagle Project" by
4k makes up for the regrets left during the filming of the movie. Sun Rong, a senior film producer who once served as vice president of Jackie Chan China, said, "Restoration makes the film 'immortal' to a certain extent. It is not just a technical preservation, but also an artistic creation." 4k restoration allows classic old movies to be released The film tin box has reappeared with a clear face after being "dusted", continuing the artistic life in the hearts of a new group of young movie fans.
It is reported that the "Classic Hong Kong Film Restoration Project" was launched in 2023 by the China Film Archive, Douyin, and Volcano Engine. It plans to restore 100 classic Hong Kong films and select 10 of them to be restored frame by frame by "artificial + AI". The remaining 90 parts are mainly repaired by AI technology. In April this year, the 4K versions of "a project " and " selling oneself contract " restored by the project premiered at the Beijing International Film Festival. The restored films can be watched for free on Douyin and Xigua Video.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wang Lei
editor/Cui Wei
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