The theoretical storage time of film is hundreds of years, but in actual operation, it is only 100 years at most.

The earliest films in China appeared after 1920 and have been stored for a hundred years. They inevitably suffered damage such as mildew, pollution, decolorization, flickering, frame loss, etc.

So it needs to be repaired.

The China Film Archive has two film libraries, one in the suburbs of Beijing and the other in Xi'an. It has preserved more than 30,000 domestic films and copied more than 600,000 copies.

During the repair process, it is usually washed with ultrasonic water to clean the film.

Clean it up, then use a film scanner to digitize all the images on it and scan it into the computer. This machine costs nearly tens of millions.

After digitization, the problems of fading, scratching, blurring, etc. are processed one by one.

Finally, there is artistic restoration, mainly coloring.

Because I don’t know what color it was during the shooting, I had to find the main creator at that time to study. The main creator had passed away, and I had to ask the expert group to come over to discuss how to make this color...

The movie with less severe damage will be repaired into a regular 2k version, and a team of more than a dozen people can be handled in two weeks.

It takes several months or more to repair the current popular 4K version, such as the 1934 "Fisherman's Song" took nearly two years.

K refers to the picture resolution.

Like you often put seeds, everyone who watches movies knows that there are 480P, 720P, and 1080P.

The resolution of 1080P is 1920*1080, so we think it is very high-definition. The resolution of 4k is 4096*2160, so it is called ultra-high-definition.

At the China Film Archives, the annual fund allocated is 35 million. From 2006 to 2020, more than 3,100 pieces have been restored.

On average, each fund is only more than 100,000 yuan.

Hollywood costs more than 100,000 to several million dollars, and Disney spent three million dollars to restore "Snow White".

The restoration of old movies is important. To put it bluntly, this is part of human cultural heritage. But this thing is expensive and laborious and has low commercial value, so few people support it.

Currently, one of the people doing this is an official unit, such as the China Film Archives and the Magic City Film Technology Factory.

One is a copyrighted production company, such as the King of Sunglasses, and that's right, his company is called this. Zetung repaired all his works and launched a restored version of Blu-ray DVD.

Another is a foundation, such as the World Film Restoration Foundation established by Martin Scorsese, which obtains funds through brand sponsorship and private donations to protect and restore various classic films.

It is precisely because it is important and unpopular.

So everyone is developing its commercial value. The most common one is the re-release of old films. The restoration of "A Chinese Odyssey" won more than 100 million box offices. The 3D restoration of "Titanic" won 1 billion box offices.

There are also dismal ones, such as "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "New Dragon Inn" that are very disappointing.

After all, it is difficult to talk about feelings.

…………

"Dongdongdongdongdongdong!"

Li Meng knocked on the door of the technical department and asked, "Is Teacher Xiang here?"

"Hold on!"

About two minutes later, someone opened the door and it was a man in his 40s and said, "Xiao Li, is there anything wrong?"

"Something is something to do with you."

“Come in and talk.”

Inside is the restoration studio, which is ordinary, with a lot of equipment piled up. The members of the technical team are buried among the equipment and have no interest in the outside world.

"That's right, a classmate of mine has been doing similar work recently and wants to participate in our project." Li Meng said.

"Private company?"

"right."

"But we have partners at the moment, and suddenly adding one is difficult to coordinate many things."

"You misunderstood. He has mastered a new AI repair technology. He borrowed our treasure land and made a name for himself. All of them are free."

"Free? Free things are expensive! I'm busy here, so I won't entertain you..."

"No, you can take a look at this first!"

Teacher Xiang wanted to see off the guests, and Li Meng took out his cell phone and showed him the video of "Xiaoyaoyou" and said: "They did a very good job and the construction period was short, which really helped us!"

"But AI is immature now. It's often not useful, and it still has to rely on manual..."

Teacher Xiang suddenly stopped, staring at the picture on his phone, and finally greeted his colleague: "Come here, come here!"

"What's wrong?"

"Yo! Is this really an AI fix?"

“The colors are so natural!”

The few people watched the scene of the Beijing City image a hundred years ago. They were all experts, with a focused and serious expression.

Although AI coloring is fast, it can easily become muddy, uneven and unnatural.

The archive repaired the clip of "My Motherland" in "Shangganling" last year, which is AI coloring, which shows that it is awkward. But this video has no shortcomings at all!

“…”

Teacher Xiang pondered for a while and asked, "Xiao Li, what exactly does your classmate say?"

"He said that without a film scanner, he couldn't do the preliminary work and could do the next steps. They were responsible for the technical links and just wanted to make some contributions to Chinese films."

"Ha! There are still film practitioners who make contributions but don't seek rewards? Even we want to raise our salary!"

Teacher Xiang didn't believe it at all and said, "Call him and I'll tell him."

Li Meng had no choice but to call and explain the situation.

Teacher Xiang took it and said, "Xiaozhuang is right? First of all, thank you for your intentions. Movie restoration is an unpopular business and has no commercial value. If you can think of it, we will appreciate it."

"Don't say that, I really want to contribute to Chinese movies and make some money by the way."

"This is the truth. Let's say, what are the conditions?"

"I promise first that we will never charge any fees for projects brought by the archives. I heard that you have cooperated with many domestic and foreign institutions?"

"right!"

"I would like to ask you to help introduce projects in this area, especially those in foreign countries, especially those in Hollywood."

"So you want to make money from Americans..."

Teacher Xiang and his colleagues were both happy and said, "I need to report to the leaders and study. But I would like to remind you first, Americans need 4K ultra-high-definition versions to repair movies. There are more to give and more requirements, and it is quite difficult."

"Thank you for your reminder, I'll wait for your message."

…………

In the archive.

At this moment, a group of backbones watched all the videos released by "Xiaoyaoyou", and no one expressed objection.

"The technology is certainly fine."

"I think so, too."

Teacher Xiang said: "Our current partners include China Film Digital Base, Beijing Film Printing Factory, Magic City Film Technology Factory and other units, but there are no private enterprises.

It’s not that private enterprises are not qualified, but that they are meager in profits and even lose money, so they are unwilling to do it.

However, we are limited to manpower and funds. Currently, we focus on rescue and repair as the supplement, so we will save those films that are about to rot.

I only made more than 3,000 copies of 600,000 copies, and I have made more than 3,000 copies, with a team of more than a dozen people, one by one. To be honest, I can’t see hope. Now that someone is actively participating, I don’t think I should refuse!”

"Don't worry, aren't we studying? The key to this matter lies in how to replace resources."

“Yes, it’s said it’s free, but if you don’t handle it at the beginning, it may cause trouble in the future.

They only have a few videos and have not repaired successful film works. Even if we match up, we are not convinced enough... By the way, aren't we preparing for the Berlin Film Festival next year? Can they repair a work first so that everyone can see the effect?"

"Yes, that Li Meng, you are responsible for communication."

"good."

(Hut down pain, no more!)
Chapter completed!