CHACE READIES 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS' SOUNDTRACK FOR BLU-RAY RELEASE
The Blu-ray release includes the first home video release of the
complete 1977 Original Theatrical Edition, as well as the re-edited
1980 Theatrical Special Edition and Spielberg’s Director’s Cut, which
was originally released in 1998 on the Collector’s Edition DVD. Chace
Audio relied on Clarity Audio Restoration by plangent processes and
Chace Digital Stereo to bring the soundtracks to their maximum
fidelity. In 1998, Chace worked on Close Encounters of the Third Kind
for its initial DVD release, but the new incarnation benefits
significantly from recent technological advances made in audio
restoration.
“Chace Audio was already intimately familiar with the vast amount of audio material from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
from our previous work on the first DVD release,” says Grover Crisp,
VP, asset management & film restoration, Sony Pictures
Entertainment. “We sought to maximize the capabilities of the Blu-ray
format while remaining true to the artistic integrity of each version
of the film. The amount of audio content required, because of subtle
mix differences in each version and the desire to maximize the overall
fidelity of the soundtracks as much as possible, made this a
challenging project.”
To present the three versions, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition
uses a relatively new technique called “branching.” While the
continuity of the films is nearly identical, there are several scene
with dialogue and music differences. Branching works by incorporating
each version’s unique scenes and the scenes common to all the films,
providing a seamless rendition with continuity flowing together as if
it were a single recording. In terms of audio, the high data capacity
of Blu-ray also allowed for the presentations of both DTS-HD Master
Audio and Dolby Digital TrueHD audio selections. This is Sony’s first
DTS-HD track for Blu-ray.
Chace Audio improved overall fidelity by returning to the two original
35mm magnetic soundtracks that together contained all of the audio for
all three versions. These mags included a 35mm 6-track
(L/boom/C/boom/R/S 70mm version) from the 1977 Original Theatrical
version, which provided the bulk of the source material, and also the
6-track from the 1980 Special Edition.
These were digitized at 96kHz and 24-bits to take advantage of the
higher bit-rate encoding offered on Blu-ray. A digital transfer on the
Sondor OMA-SE Chace, was then made for the Clarity process. Clarity is
a combination of proprietary digital signal processing and hardware
designed for the playback of 35mm magnetic sound film and audiotape to
remove mechanical instabilities. Clarity was a critical tool to correct
the instability anomalies that were the result of the analog technology
used in the 1970s to record the film.
“Clarity does not add any new information to the audio, but simply
reveals the maximum potential of the original recordings,” notes senior
digital audio restoration engineer Brian San Marco. “Today most
restoration or re-mastering technology relies on removing or adding
content, often to the detriment of the original material. It was
essential that a film of this caliber be presented with the highest
audio integrity, and Clarity proved critical to improving the fidelity.”
Clarity also delivered stability to composer John William’s score,
especially in portions featuring long sustained strings, and it
improved the intelligibility of the dialogue, even in scenes where it
might otherwise sound muffled.
The final mix sessions took place in Chace Audio’s Mix One studio and
were completed by senior mixing engineer James Young. In all, Chace
engineers spent over 300 hours preparing Close Encounters of the Third Kind for its 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition Blu-ray debut.