Let young people fall in love with old movies, AI blessing, 4K repair 100 classic Hong Kong movies Tiktok | China Film Archive | old movies

The 4K repair version of Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier, starring Stephen Chow in 1992, was shown in the China Film Archive recently, and at the same time, it was launched in Tiktok and watermelon videos, which attracted many viewers to nostalgia in high-definition images. From the perspective of portrait restoration alone, the clarity of "Star Lord"'s facial features has increased, with eyebrows, hair, and skin texture becoming more textured. Director Chen Jiashang of "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er" said, "Thank you for the 4K restoration, which has revived my movie and given more young people the opportunity to relive it."

The film restoration process is complex and tedious. According to Wu Yunyue, a restoration engineer at Shanghai Film Studio, the resolution of 4K is as high as 4096 * 3112, which is equivalent to four times the workload of 2K restoration. According to statistics, from 2006 to January 2021, the China Film Archive completed 2K restoration of 525 films, while only 15 completed 4K restoration. In recent years, it has become possible to significantly improve the quality and efficiency of old film restoration through AI technologies such as deep learning.

Along with the 4K version of "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er", there have been 22 Hong Kong films released. Among them, the release of "Plan A" and "Shu Mountain: New Shu Mountain Swordsman" coincides with the 40th anniversary. In the future, Tiktok, China Film Archive and Volcano Engine will complete 4K restoration of 100 Hong Kong films through the "Classic Hong Kong Film Restoration Plan". "It's like seeing the rebirth of classic Hong Kong films," said Shanghai Shadow Lost. "I grew up watching Hong Kong films, and the classic Hong Kong films in my memory are a bit blurry and dim. Seeing the 4K version go live is like seeing their initial and clearest appearance."

4K fixed version of Plan A

A stroke of revisiting the rich and colorful Hong Kong cinema

Upon seeing the 4K restored version of "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er" on the big screen again, Chen Jiashang excitedly recalled the various stories and details filmed at that time. That was the first time the Hong Kong director went north, and many scenes in the film were filmed in Beijing. During the filming process, Chen Jiashang discovered Stephen Chow's creative passion and performance talent. "I looked through the lens and felt like I saw a genius actor. He's really the best, and I still think he's the best."

"Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er" was released in 1992, starring Stephen Chow, Zhang Min, and Wu Mengda. Yang Mi played the role of Stephen Chow's daughter at the end of the film, when she was only 6 years old. Back then, "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier" grossed a high box office of HKD 38 million in Hong Kong. Among the top ten box office films in Hong Kong in 1992, there were several films starring Stephen Chow, which was also known as the "Stephen Chow Year".

Comparison of Before and After Restoration of Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er

The martial arts champion Su Qi'er presents Su Qi'er's ups and downs in a tragicomedy style. Chen Jiashang still remembers that in the play "Stealing the Family", Stephen Chow did not cry, but instead casually lay on his chair and sang the melancholic and graceful Nanyin song "Red Candle Tears". "I told A Xing that I needed a lonely shot, and he started singing Nanyin. I was shocked at the time. It turned out that the most lonely thing was not pounding my heart and lungs, nor crying in the sky. As he sang, my goosebumps started to rise."

Lu has recently watched more than one 4K remake of a movie starring Stephen Chow. "Although it is an old movie, it is much better than many comedy films with more humor and less depth nowadays. 'Star Lord' is good at portraying life tragedies full of resistance. He vividly portrays great sadness and joy, love and hate, and human emotions, leaving a strong mark in the Hong Kong film industry."

100 films included in the "Classic Hong Kong Film Restoration Program" were produced in the 1970s to 1990s. Including Tsui Hark's "Shushan: New Shushan Swordsmen" and "Working Emperor", Jackie Chan's "Plan A", and Guan Jinpeng's "Ruan Lingyu". Sha Dan, a film curator at the China Film Archive, said, "This period is the golden age of Hong Kong cinema. At that time, the mainland is gradually moving towards openness, and Hong Kong cinema has become a window for many mainland youth to understand the world."

Martial Champion Su Qi'er 4K Restoration Version

AI+artificial, reproducing the details of the times

In 2022, Volcano Engine, together with Watermelon Video and Tiktok, completed the 4K restoration of 100 domestic classic animations and Beyond classic concerts, and accumulated rich experience. This time, the 4K restoration of 100 classic Hong Kong films was supported by Volcano Engine technology, and together with the China Film Archive, the films were "AI+artificial" restored.

Wang Yue, Technical Director of Cloud Architecture for Volcano Engine Video, introduced that Volcano Engine has for the first time applied AIGC visual models to old film restoration scenes, achieving a comprehensive improvement in restoration effects. AIGC has received widespread attention due to its stunning effects in applications such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion. The Volcano Engine has optimized algorithms for generating quality, video tasks, and efficiency of AIGC visual models, enabling them to output content more stably, with high quality, and efficiency in video scenes.

Comparison of Before and After Restoration of "Journey to the West"

In addition, due to limitations in equipment and technology during the filming period, early Hong Kong films had many bypass shots, such as the appearance of Weiya lines in the visuals. In the past, it was only possible to rely on manual frame by frame elimination. And AI algorithms can automatically recognize the position of Weiya and erase it. There are many action movies in Hong Kong movies. In order to improve the smoothness, Volcano Engine has developed an intelligent frame insertion algorithm to generate intermediate frames, improve the video frame rate, and reduce the feeling of lag while watching.

The reporter found that some netizens in the comment section of these movies pointed out that the 4K restored version is not "clear" enough. This raises a question: What kind of fix is considered a good fix, and is "clarity" the most important criterion?

David Pozi, director of the Bologna Film Restoration Institute in Italy, once said in an interview, "If digital restoration technology is used too much, it will lose the historical sense of the film and become too modern. Therefore, during the restoration process, special respect should be paid to the original appearance of the film. The original MSG accurately restores the texture of the footage taken at that time and reproduces the details of the era."

In the eyes of experts, the biggest challenge in restoring old films is to preserve artistic style and aesthetics. The upgrading of hardware and software provides a technological environment for high-definition restoration of movies, and the intrinsic driving force behind the flourishing development of 4K restoration is aesthetic pursuit and historical records. We need to restore the original image, but we cannot make the old film "new". Each lens color must match the meaning expressed by the creator at the time. Li Tao, Director of the Production Department of the China Film Archive, said that the restoration team extensively referred to the classic works of martial arts masters such as Hu Jinquan and Zhang Che, and learned the color tones of Hong Kong films. In the restoration of many films, we have tried every means to invite the original creators to enter the restoration laboratory.

Continuing the Time Classic Hong Kong Film Restoration Project

What is the value of repairing classic old films

"Film restoration is a global project, originally intended to save endangered films and is an important measure to protect film heritage," said Zhang Xiaoguang, Deputy Director of the China Film Archive.

Screenwriter Jiao Xiongping of "Ruan Lingyu" also believes that 4K repair is a genetic inheritance. In her view, Hong Kong classic films have inherited Shanghai cinema, and the upcoming restoration of "Rich and Powerful" has the shadow of old Shanghai cinema. Hong Kong cinema has expanded its influence based on this inheritance and innovation. Hong Kong action films have even rewritten the electronic language of action films in Europe, America, and even the world, making the Hong Kong film industry a very important market indicator and production process standard. I am very grateful for this restoration, which can preserve and rebirth classic images, allowing us to have conversations with childhood and the past. I think this is a very meaningful work for cultural inheritance.

In addition to cultural inheritance, 4K restoration also has market value. In recent years, many classic movies such as "The Pianist at Sea", "A Beautiful Life", "Titanic" and other 4K versions have been re released on the big screen, sparking a wave of nostalgia. Every year at the Shanghai International Film Festival, 4K restored classic Chinese and foreign films are always sold out by fans.

Do these movies made decades ago still have vitality today? Chen Duye, vice president of Tiktok, said that in 2023, 30% of the top 1000 movies of Tiktok's second innovation videos will be classic Hong Kong movies, and half of the users watching these movies will be young people under 30 years old. "Tiktok helps the old classic films become popular again and win the favor of young people." Chen Duye said, "We hope to restore these classic images through technology to meet the current audio-visual requirements, so that they can be accepted and appreciated by more audiences."

The 4K restored Hong Kong classic movies are a gift for loyal fans and also provide young audiences with more opportunities to experience and interact with classic images for a better viewing experience. Zhou Mo, a post-00s audience member, has only recently started taking extra classes to watch classic Hong Kong movies. She said, "We grew up in the high-definition era, where poor image quality became a barrier that made many young people unwilling to watch old movies. 4K restoration, through high-definition image quality and enhanced sensory elements, brushed away the dust of old movies."

For movie creators, 4K restoration can also make up for some of the regrets of the past. Chen Jiashang mentioned that there was a gap between the color and imagination of the film back then due to the constant rush of production. Chen Jiashang also participated in the restoration of "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qi'er", and he provided guidance on color and light and shadow based on the effects of technical restoration. He said, "In the era of film, filming can only be done by adjusting the light and not the color. It is indeed a good thing to be able to make up for the regret with current technology."