Ambersons Again - Missing Footage

[Roger Ryan]

It may well take more than a decade before CGI technology has advanced to the point where a computer animated version of the completed Ambersons is feasible. But a soundtrack could be done today.

Yes, I believe CGI will eventually be good enough that one could create a fairly seamless visual recreation of the missing sequences. But could one ever really create a seamless audio track recreating the wonderous vocal performances from Welles, Cotton, Costello, Moorhead, Collins, etc? I can't imagine any amount of technology getting us more than 60% of that aural experience. Definitely worth a try in a couple decades, though.

[Le Chiffre]

Roger,
No, don't feel bad about it, I'm somewhat burned out on the whole Ambersons thing anyway. Besides, your version was a big inspiration and showed what remarkable things can be done with the right equipment, resources, and enthusiasm. If I were to make another draft with female voices, as I planned, it might be as good as yours, but why bother? You've already done it very well, although I have considered doing some of the scenes that you chose not to do, and then reedit the whole thing into a composite version. With all the different versions of the film that were previewed before it was released, the "original" TMA was already a nightmare of what Rosenbaum calls "textual uncertainty" anyway, so why not make it an even bigger nightmare?

Having said all this, however, I have a sinking suspicion that voiceover versions like ours in any form are not the approach that potential producers would want. I agree with you 100 percent that voiceovers are the best way to go, but to purists (as I suspect most potential producers are) voiceovers represent an extraneous element that was not part of the original film, so they are simply not acceptable. Jeff Wilson says that what we're doing is not a restoration, and of course, he's right. The only reason I've called it a restoration is because I keep forgetting to call it what I think it is, which is an "essay" (although "reconstruction" might work too). If we pitched the project as an essay, perhaps voiceovers might be more acceptable, but I doubt it.

I sympathize with your 400 hours of work. I think I have probably put in at least that, but with vastly inferior equipment to yours, so the results have been quite crude looking, as you've seen. Jaime Marzol says he'll run it through his computer, so maybe he'll be able to do something with it. As for a subtitled version, it could probably be done fairly quickly if I had the right resources, but I don't, so I'll keep slithering along at my own pace. As you said, it's very difficult to find time for it, and it's exhausting physically and mentally with not many prospects for professional assistance so far. But I'm glad that you, Jaime and I have at least got the ball rolling, even if it does seem stuck at the hobby level at this point. Who knows, maybe Citizen K's will be the best one yet.

[Glenn Anders]

A time may come when images and words of performers will be sliced and diced, then put back together again in new forms. I suspect that it is possible now. Over 20 years ago, I read an article in Esquire about people who were trying to bring Elvis Presley "back to life." All the major players in THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS had long careers in Movies, Radio and/or TV. Their hundreds of hours of performance could be wedded in stereotype to the existing fugitive images and dialogue to reconstruct (I think that is the proper term) . . . AMBERSONS.

It would be an extraordinary effort, but it might be worth it.

Comment?

Glenn

[Gus Moreno]

Interesting idea, but I would think some good impressionists would be a lot less trouble.

[Harvey Chartrand]

There is no way you will ever find financial backing for a CGI effects-laden reconstruction of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS. Welles was never box office. He has been dead for almost 20 years. As time marches on, even CITIZEN KANE recedes in the collective memory. As far as the viewing public is concerned, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS draws a blank. I can't see Criterion or any money people investing millions in a high-tech AMBERSONS salvage operation. Just won't happen. Peter Bogdanovich can't even scrape together enough money to complete a more recent Welles project that we know exists – JAKE HANNAFORD/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. Very limited commercial potential. (Bogdanovich almost pulled it off, but Welles' daughter threatened legal action and screwed up the deal with Showtime.)
I once interviewed the star who dropped out of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND – impressionist Rich Little. He is getting on in years, and his favorite movie stars are from the 1940s and 1950s. Little told me that about 10 years ago, he decided he could no longer do shows on college campuses, because he wasn't such a big draw anymore and audiences didn't recognize most of the celebrities he was imitating (except for Humphrey Bogart). Little was astonished that many kids today don't even know who James Dean is. And the culture forms around this demographic. If you can find a way to get 100 million teenage and twenty-something males interested in a reconstruction of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, it'll happen. Welles' quip to a small audience at an early screening of FALSTAFF in the sixties still applies: "It's a pity there are so many of me and so few of you."
Or as Pauline Kael expressed it in her sympathetic 1967 article on Welles for The New Yorker, "There Ain't No Way" (that Welles, the greatest living director of the era, will ever get any of his movies financed or completed).

[Roger Ryan]

As far as recreating the audio for "Ambersons", I believe the material requires actual performances as opposed to trying to "Frankenstein" existing words, syllables, etc. together (I've actually done that kind of thing occasionally in my production career to repair a mispronounced name or what-have-you; it's kind of fun to goof around with, but takes way too long for practical purposes). Harvey's right, of course, that no one would put millions into creating a CGI "Ambersons", but perhaps the technology will eventually advance enough that some fanatic like myself could spent a couple of years doing it for free in the comfort of his/her home.

[Glenn Anders]

You guys can actually do it, but my guess is that in 20 years, the materials from old movies will be available in kits; everyone and his uncle will play with what you have created with sheer sweat and artistry.

Glenn

[jaime marzol]

yes, i'm going to put mteal's restoration in comp. then replace as much as possible the shakey stills.

i really loved watching it as is. would be a pleasure to clean it up a bit and re-export with menus, etc. without a doubt it takes you on that journey.

now i have the memory of the experience of watching the reconstruction. it's a special feeling.