Hand Tinting

Film restoration in general is full of dilemmas. Working on the restoration of applied colour films in
particular presents different levels of difficulties. This thesis aims to discuss the challenges met as well
as the various methods used particularly in the digital colour restoration of applied colour silent era to
provide a reference for the possible current technologies and techniques used in digital colour
restoration of such difficult historical films. It will be pointed out that the line between colour grading
for enhancement and for maintaining the look close to the original is blurred. Therefore there will be
discussions about the ethics involved in colour restoration, the responsibilities of the restorer and the
colourist, why having just an eye for colour is not enough and that being informed about conservation
disciplines is also necessary when dealing with colour restoration of archival material. This thesis will
act as a bridge between two worlds: the archives/curators and the post—to stage that unspoken
dialogue between them because of limited understanding on both practices.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is an animated feature film that blends graphic stylisation with photorealistic surfaces and motion capture to create digital beings in a hyper-realistic style. As a result, the visual style of The Adventures of Tintin is significantly different to the now dominant cartoon stylisation that continues to develop in studios such as Disney, PIXAR and many others. Disney inspired cartoon stylised films, such as Frozen, continue to engage audiences around the world; receiving relatively little criticism for their visual style. Hyper-realistic animation, however, has struggled to achieve the same widespread acceptance. Many people continue to find hyper-realistic characters less engaging than cartoon characters and at times even find them to be somewhat repulsive. Via close analysis of The Adventures of Tintin, this paper illuminates the significance of establishing visual harmony between the elements of shape, surface and motion to sustain appealing and believable hyper-realistic characters.

Somewhere between the making, the idea and
dreaming: Post-technology Photography

Who would have thought that age old processes along with out dated technology would have any relevance in the seamless
slick technological digital image world. Or even that the latest digital technology could become hijacked as a mere emulator of
the appearance of old time photos. With its arcane history of chemicals, darkrooms and focussing cloths photography is now
morphing into a brave new emancipated world where everything old can be new again and anything goes.