Communication and the "Generation Gap"

[Second Summer]

I'm just curious. Have you ever seen Dr. Strangelove ?

No. Is it black-and-white? Such a shame. I know a little bit about it, which makes me curious. Oh well, maybe someone will do a remake in colours

I know there are a couple of good movies older than 1980. I've watched several. Come to think of it, two of my absolute favourite movies of all time are actually from the 70s. So I take that back! Still not keen on black-and-white, or very old movies, though.

 

[Joe]

No. Is it black-and-white?

Yes.

Such a shame. I know a little bit about it, which makes me curious. Oh well, maybe someone will do a remake in colours

I can't imagine it being remade. The performances by people like Peter Sellars are unique works of genius. I don't think that adding color would help the film.

 

[Blobbenstein]

The Lady Killers(original 1955) is in colour, and I would say that film was perfect.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I've watched some WW2 in colour documentaries, so I know that colourisation of B&W films would be possible for people like IS.

 

[Joe]

I've watched some WW2 in colour documentaries, so I know that colourisation of B&W films would be possible for people like IS.

I believe that color film was just coming into use towards the end of WW2. I would guess that the documentaries you've seen were originally filmed in color. There is a process for adding color to black-and-white films. I am not sure exactly how this is done. I have seen a "colorized" version of the old black-and-white television show Wanted: Dead or Alive but as far as I know colorization is fairly rarely used.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I believe that color film was just coming into use towards the end of WW2. I would guess that the documentaries you've seen were originally filmed in color.

oh yea I see it now, some of that footage was originally in colour, especially some of the Nazi's footage.

but it seems as though some of it was colourised:

The series is in full colour, combining both original and colourised footage. It was made by World Media Rights in 2008/2009.[3]

World War II in HD Colour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess they automate a computer process; it would take too long to do each frame separately.

 

[Blobbenstein]

If the world doesn't end(ITWDE) then I'm sure that ANY old black and white movie will be able to be brought up to the quality of present movies, eventually, in terms of how it looks, even making them into 3D, if people wanted that. If they ever have a virtual world, like the matrix, then you could even go into the movie, and watch as if you were in there.

 

[ledboots]

I believe that color film was just coming into use towards the end of WW2. I would guess that the documentaries you've seen were originally filmed in color. There is a process for adding color to black-and-white films. I am not sure exactly how this is done. I have seen a "colorized" version of the old black-and-white television show Wanted: Dead or Alive but as far as I know colorization is fairly rarely used.

I remember Ted Turner bought up a bunch of old movies and tv shows and colorized them back in the '70's, '80's. A lot of people were horrified because the colorization was horribly done, and the directors and others who worked on the films were having their work changed without permission.

Film colorization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Joe]

If the world doesn't end(ITWDE) then I'm sure that ANY old black and white movie will be able to be brought up to the quality of present movies, eventually, in terms of how it looks, ...

I am not sure how expensive colorization is. Also, in some cases, the use of black-and-white film was/is considered to be an inherent part of the "art" of the film, so the film would be "ruined" by colorization.

In the case of the television show I mentioned, when they computer colorized it, it turned out that Steve McQueen's shirt colorized to a dark brown, making him look like a villain. So they deliberately altered the shirt color to blue.

 

[Joe]

Wikipedia has a listing of black-and-white films that have been colorized.

List of black-and-white films that have been colorized - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Blobbenstein]

I am not sure how expensive colorization is. Also, in some cases, the use of black-and-white film was/is considered to be an inherent part of the "art" of the film, so the film would be "ruined" by colorization.

That's true. I have really liked the black and white aspect of many old films. But people like Indian Summer don't seem to appreciate it. If it was on a DVD, or streamed, you could have the option.

Also, some of the old colour movies have a quality that I like, like North by Northwest. It is a really nice effect; I think they used high quality film, or something.
Some old colour stuff is horrible though.

 

[Amy SF]

Color films, just like color photographs, do fade over time, and the cheaper the materials and processing, the worse it is. Some lucky films, when they're genuine classics, get the benefit of careful professional restoration, with the original colors beautifully restored. But there are a lot of old color films that don't get restored, which makes them cringe-worthy when you watch them. It's hard to enjoy them when the faded colors are distracting. The only thing you can do is try to ignore the ugly faded coloring.

I have to say, that is one aesthetic benefit of black and white movies. The quality of the lighting and cinematography particular to black and white films can make these movies look just as good 70 years later than, say, a faded color film from 1980.

 

[Blobbenstein]

The only thing you can do is try to ignore the ugly faded coloring.

I suppose you could switch off the colour on the TV, and make it B&W.

 

[Amy SF]

I suppose you could switch off the colour on the TV, and make it B&W.

You know, that's what I did with some colorized films way back when, but I didn't like the results.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I was disappointed when Nick Hewer asked Rachel Riley about old films she likes and she seems to have the same attitude as IS, and some other younguns,,,,,,disappointed... I suppose when my classmates were out having fun of a Saturday, I was watching old afternoon movies...

 

[Blobbenstein]

Here's a pretty neat old movie from 1967:

 

[Blobbenstein]

I quite like some stiltedness in old movies.

 

[Andy_T]

I feel your pain.

I think that everybody should have seen the majority of the movies on the IMDB Top 250 list. I have just had a cursory look at this list, and apart from about 10 movies or so, I have seen all the top 100 and consider most of them worth watching. (Only very few of these are black and white, too).

I just had that experience, that I showed my kids (11&12) Jim Carey's "The Mask", and they laughed out loud when Jim Carey pointed his array of huge guns at the villains and drawled "So, Do you feel lucky, punks?" ... without knowing that this is a reference to another, rather classic, movie. (I could not even explain the reference to them, as Dirty Harry is possibly not exactly what is suggested for kids in that age group )

 

[Moll Flanders]

I have made references to people, both younger and older, about old films that they do not understand at all. I remember I was with someone a few years ago and there was a wire coat hanger lying on the ground and I said they always remind me of Mommie Dearest and she just looked blank.
Mommie Dearest (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I probably wouldn't understand many current pop culture references though so maybe I'm just old for my age.

I think that everybody should have seen the majority of the movies on the IMDB Top 250 list. I have just had a cursory look at this list, and apart from about 10 movies or so, I have seen all the top 100 and consider most of them worth watching. (Only very few of these are black and white, too).

I had to go through and count how many I've seen on the list. 101.

 

[Andy_T]

I'm currently going through the list, and a bit surprised to see "3 Idiots" and "Wolf of Wall Street" there. What the .... well?

Those were two movies that I could not complete watching (turned them off in the middle), for very different reasons. But well, there's no accounting for taste ;-)