Umbrella Entertainment Reveals Exclusive New 4K Restoration of Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright
HomeUmbrella Entertainment Reveals Exclusive New 4K Restoration of Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright
Posted May 17, 2024 10:09 PM by Webmaster
Australian label Umbrella Entertainment has revealed an exclusive new 4K restoration of Ted Kotcheff's cult film Wake in Fright (1971), starring Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Jack Thompson, John Meillon, and Chips Rafferty. The label has not yet revealed plans for upcoming 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases.
Label description: The original camera negative was scanned in 4K by the National Film and Sound Archive before being sent to our restoration facility to be color corrected and stabilized one shot at a time.
The team then cleaned each shot frame-by-frame, removing any imperfections and correcting any distortion. With over 300 shots per reel, this resulted in months of intense restoration work before a feature-length preview was ready.
The most striking difference is the color between the previous scan and our newly restored and colored master. Director Ted Kotcheff intended for the heat to be palpable in his 1971 film, stating, "I don't want to see any cool colors. I don't want to see blue or green. Ever. On anything. All I want is red, yellow, orange, burgundy and brown."
The 2009 grade had a green and yellow hue that didn't correspond with the look of the surviving release prints. The grade on this new restoration has replaced these hues with a far more natural and earthy aesthetic – capturing the Australian landscape in all its sweltering, sun-soaked color.
WAKE IN FRIGHT has never looked better, and that is a sight for sore eyes.
Umbrella wish to give special thanks to colorist Charlie Ellis at Roar Digital and the Wake In Fright Trust. The restoration was supervised by filmmaker Mark Hartley.
Label description: The original camera negative was scanned in 4K by the National Film and Sound Archive before being sent to our restoration facility to be color corrected and stabilized one shot at a time.
The team then cleaned each shot frame-by-frame, removing any imperfections and correcting any distortion. With over 300 shots per reel, this resulted in months of intense restoration work before a feature-length preview was ready.
The most striking difference is the color between the previous scan and our newly restored and colored master. Director Ted Kotcheff intended for the heat to be palpable in his 1971 film, stating, "I don't want to see any cool colors. I don't want to see blue or green. Ever. On anything. All I want is red, yellow, orange, burgundy and brown."
The 2009 grade had a green and yellow hue that didn't correspond with the look of the surviving release prints. The grade on this new restoration has replaced these hues with a far more natural and earthy aesthetic – capturing the Australian landscape in all its sweltering, sun-soaked color.
WAKE IN FRIGHT has never looked better, and that is a sight for sore eyes.
Umbrella wish to give special thanks to colorist Charlie Ellis at Roar Digital and the Wake In Fright Trust. The restoration was supervised by filmmaker Mark Hartley.
