Matt wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:21 pm
... the Criterion “about the transfer” note on the Blu-ray mentions “the 35 mm original camera negative”—singular—and not “negatives” or “three-strip negatives.” And yet there is this other, difficult to parse statement: “duplicate shots had been inserted into the negative, and for those segments the 35 mm yellow, cyan, and magenta separation masters were used.” Separation masters (aka YCMs) would generally only have been made from a monopack negative as preservation elements.
Just for comparison and the historical record (I assume this info was deleted from the first post when the Bluray was announced), Criterion's original 1998 DVD sleeve said
This new digital transfer was created from a new 35mm internegative. The internegative was created from the separate yellow, cyan and magenta 35mm Technicolor positives.
The 1998 sleeve also refers to "Jack Hildyard's glorious Technicolor photography" which is arguably misleading. I think that sort of phrase often being applied to the film is one reason I always assumed it was shot in three-strip Technicolor. But, besides the fact that would have been quite unusual in 1955 (only about a dozen such films released that year), I suspect the cumbersome size of the three-strip cameras was a factor in Lean's choice of Eastmancolor. If they still weighed 400-500 pounds, it would have made it much more difficult to shoot a film entirely on location in Venice, including shots from small boats.
