As a big 4K Blu-ray fan, it was a delight to visit the team at Silver Salt restoration several weeks ago, where I learned about the 4K Blu-ray restoration and HDR mastering process. I looked at the meticulous restoration work that goes into taking a film from its negatives, all the way to the finished product we collectors have stuffing our shelves.
During my visit, I got to speak to the team and hear their in-depth knowledge and expertise, and while we discuss plenty of movies and projects Silver Salt had worked on, the main movie I was there to discuss was the 1958 Hammer classic Dracula (known as Horror of Dracula in the US) starring Christopher Lee as the titular vampire, with Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.
Arguably Hammer’s most iconic movie and easily one of Silver Salt’s biggest projects, I saw a glimpse into the work being done to bring this classic flick to new life.
A painstaking restoration
For a more in-depth look at the initial stages before the restoration process (table inspection, cleaning and scanning) check out my previous article here. Once the digital files have been scanned in, these DPX files are handed over to the restoration artists, who must then go through the painstaking process of removing excess dirt, tidying up film grain (but not too much) and a general maintenance and tidy on each individual frame.
After being shown some of the work that goes into this restoration process on other titles (which you can again read about in my previous article) I speak with Paul Gowlett, the Project Lead for Hammer at Silver Salt Restoration. He’s overseeing Dracula and gives me a glimpse into the work that’s gone into revitalising this Hammer classic.
One particularly arduous process he shows me involves the movie’s opening sequence (a shot of the exterior of the castle, walking amongst some tombstones). During this shot, which lasts approximately 90 seconds, Gowlett points to the bottom of his monitor and points out a hair.
“It was part of the original presentation of the film, but was a production issue of the cleaning the camera gate, it is not intentional” he tells me. This brings me back to an earlier conversation I’d had with Anthony Badger, Head of Restoration at Silver Salt. He said “It can be a bit of an ethical dilemma on how much we intervene, but we need to consider if an extreme problem will take you out of the story.” Although the hair was part of the ‘original film’ it could serve as a distraction.
A shot of Christopher Lee as Dracula, with the original file on the left and the remaster on the right, the latter of which shows much more color and depth
Gowlett informed me that each individual digital frame had to be checked for this hair. Each frame was removed digitally by using information from frames from later on in the shot, leading to the final image. The final result: a staggering 2000 frames. When I asked Gowlett how long it had taken him to remove this hair, he said several days. All for 90 seconds of footage. It was just a clear indication of how much work had gone into this project.
The other issue the team found with the original film (which was prevalent in the digital files) was a heavy amount of yellow staining. This yellow staining was only apparent when isolating the ‘blue channel of the image’ in the restoration process. Along with the hair and this staining, the team also made sure to ‘de-flicker’ the image to make the colours more stable throughout.
A stunning grade and updated soundtrack
Once the restoration work is complete, the files are handed over for grading. Dracula is being handled by Ray King, Head of Film at Silver Salt, while also being overseen by Mark Stanborough, Head of Restoration, Hammer Films, but during my visit, it’s Ray’s grading I’m seeing in action.
King has worked on most, if not all, of the Hammer titles handled by Silver Salt. He shows me how Peter Cushing’s skin tone has taken on a red tint after applying the HDR grade, saying how it’s the old stage makeup used during these sorts of productions being picked up during the grade. With some alterations, the result looks natural and lifelike, breathing new life into all characters in the clips I saw.
I’m also shown the opening title sequence again, only this time with the blood-red ‘Dracula’ text overlaid. To get this, King had to separate out the picture and the words into two separate layers, to get that blood-red color on the words themselves. He told me the color of the titles had faded, so he separated the layers and grades here to get the colors worthy of the words.
Color fade was an issue with the original raw files, but the HDR remastered grade revistlized these colors
Color fade was also true of the original elements that had been scanned in. A lot of the beautiful, bold colors weren’t popping as much and after showing me the red, green and blue waveforms, which highlighted the colors' degradation, he then showed me the picture after the grade had been applied. The difference was staggering.
The ornate furnishings, particularly a set of lush, velvet red curtains, now dazzled thanks to HDR. Instances of blood popped on screen and even clothing had a more dynamic, modern-day look to them. Again though, it was the skin tones of the people on screen that really impressed me, as this seemed to give the movie an almost-modern look. “Once we’re done, some of these movies like they could have been filmed last week” King says, rightfully admiring the HDR grade before us.
Even darker scenes have been given a facelift. Black tones are richer, deeper and, when paired with candlelight or lamps, create strong contrast that would look superb on some of the best OLED TVs. The grade in every clip I’m shown is nothing short of masterful and having tested multiple Hammer titles as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, Dracula is set to be the best.
I discussed with Stanborough later on about the new 5.1 soundtrack, something that’s been included with those other Hammer titles I tested. Stanborough talked to me about the process.
To achieve the 5.1 surround, AI was used to split the dialogue and music tracks before being mixed in a studio. “60-70% of the film is in surround, which is quite nice” but he also stressed the importance of “trying not to go too far and staying sympathetic to the original theatrical experience”.
When the movie returns to cinemas on 16th October (on a two week run until 1st November), viewers will experience the 5.1 soundtrack and HDR grade. The 4K disc lands on 23rd November, but whether you can get along to a cinema screening or are getting the 4K disc for your collection, after what I’ve seen and heard, fans will be in for a treat.
Dracula is in UK cinemas now, with the 4K UHD Limited Edition and Standard Editions arriving 23rd November. Check here for your nearest screenings.