Archivists at Paramount Spent 5 Years Restoring ‘The Godfather’

Being given the job of restoring arguably one of many biggest movies of all time, “The Godfather,” is daunting sufficient. Doing it underneath the watchful eye of its director, Francis Ford Coppola, to have a good time the fiftieth anniversary of the filmmaker’s Academy Award-winning opus is one other degree solely.

It was a workforce led by restoration professional Andrea Kalas, Senior Vice President of Archives at Paramount Footage, and James Mockoski, Archivist and Restoration Supervisor at Coppola’s American Zoetrope, who took up the mantle.

“The burden of restoring this masterwork was one thing everybody felt,” Kalas recollects, noting that it required among the best artisans within the business to take action.

Laura Thornburg, Government Director of Preservation, had left Paramount, however Kalas introduced her again to supervise the restoration. Says Kalas, “That’s, in my view, why the result’s nearly as good as it’s. We knew how severe, daunting, and thrilling it was.”

“That is one thing you may’t do in a single day,” remarks Mockoski, revealing that it was 5 years in the past when the restoration venture was first raised. “Andrea began the dialog across the time Francis wished to dive again into ‘Coda,’ and he stated that when the fiftieth anniversary got here round, he wished to be part of it. This effort is a journey over 50 years.”

The Zoetrope archivist considers the digital restoration within the mid-2000s to be the primary actual try and “convey this movie again,” however they had been now capable of push it additional.

“Expertise, monitoring, software program, and {hardware} have all modified,” Mockoski explains. The work carried out in 2007 proved invaluable in restoring the trilogy, which is being launched on 4K Extremely HD for the primary time. Nevertheless, it was simply one of many very important items of the puzzle.

“We had a reference from the 2000 restoration, a video grasp, and a Digital Cinema Package deal for theatrical,” Kalas reveals. Nevertheless, the video grasp didn’t look proper on at the moment’s know-how, so the workforce used the DCP and the unique print as their information.

“Should you’re utilizing the unique detrimental, you’re not compromising high quality, and that’s what we attempt for,” Mockoski says. That was showcased in the course of the restoration of key scenes similar to the marriage. “That first reel, which incorporates that scene, was three completely different sources. Essentially the most difficult factor was to go from IB Tech prints to CRI to authentic detrimental and even that out.”

Whereas there are pops of coloration, such because the rosy pink bridesmaid’s attire, “The Godfather’s” palette leans into earthy tones and deep blacks, completely showcased in costume design by Anna Hill Johnstone similar to Marlon’s Brando’s iconic tuxedo.

“James was the one which stated to place some extra grain in it,” Kalas enthuses. “Hastily, this element within the blacks was there. It was superb. He may see the place it wanted to go along with the excessive dynamic vary, the grain degree, and the composition.”

Kalas and Mockoski noticed utilizing excessive dynamic vary as an integral a part of the restoration as it might make the movie “look as cinematic as attainable for the house viewer.” Nevertheless, it additionally created points. “It throws colours and brilliant lights all over the place. It’s a must to practice it, convey it in, and educate it how you can work with the movie and the cinematographer’s imaginative and prescient,” she provides, likening it to “an excited child.”

After they screened the completed work for Coppola himself, how did they know that they had succeeded?

“James was texting me that day saying, ‘He’s telling tales,’ and I visibly relaxed,” Kalas explains. “I knew that meant he was immersed within the movie, remembering it and having fun with it. I knew that meant we’d carried out it.”