Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

The first frame of most of the shots in the bedchamber sequence from
section 3 had handwritten numbers on them; these numbers had been
scratched directly on the image, not on blank frames preceding it.
Cutting them out meant losing one frame of not-terribly defective
image from each shot; leaving them in place, however, produced so
much flicker that after some deliberation, we ended up deciding to
remove them.
Only in the fragment from section 6, where the shots were clearly out
of order and several of them evidently retakes did we do any actual
editing. The final result is basically guesswork. We started from the title
list, which gave some indication of the overall development of the
scene: first, Smokehat measures the scullery maids to see if any of
them fit the wedding dress; then, the Prince enters; the Princess is
measured, is found to be the right size, and the Prince orders her to be
led away; finally, Smokehat flirts with and proposes to Bolette, one of
the maids.
In a few places, where short sequences are missing, freeze-frames were
made and inserted to clarify who is speaking.
The Duplication: Digital Intermediate
The duplication of the film was performed using a digital intermediate
process.
As mentioned above, the film elements were first transferred in
standard definition in order to use an AVID editing suite. The resulting
edit decision list (EDL) from the AVID editing suite was then imported
into an Inferno effects workstation for the high definition film work. A
high definition (2K, 1920x1440) scan of the film on a Spirit datacine was
imported and conformed to the EDL and the film was assembled in
reels prior to being re-recorded back to 35 mm black and white negative
stock (2238) on an Arrilaser film recorder. From the new negative a few
35 mm prints (5302) were produced for cinema use. A digital betacam
tape video master was produced from the down-scaled 2K data and a
17 fps videomaster created from this was used for the subsequent DVD
release.
The choice of a digital intermediate duplication process was two-fold.
Since the basis of the restoration was a duplicate positive, already two
duplication stages away from the original prints it derived from, it was
decided to minimize further analogue duplication stages. Also, the
large number of edits required, some only omitting single or very few
frames, required very good preview facilities, which the AVID editing
station allowed, while a conventional negative edit would invariably
have fallen short in precision and flexibility.
Der var engang is available on DVD through the Danish Film Institute,
http://eshop.dfi.dk
36 Journal of Film Preservation / 67 / 2004