20’s fashion film brought to life with AI upscaling to 4k at 60 fps. Hollywood actresses model cloche hats and flapper dresses in 1927.
A full restoration of this rare 20’s fashion film – from 1927 to be exact. It features Hollywood actresses Corliss Palmer, Raquel Torres,Laura La Plante, Ruth Elder and Edna Murphy. The iconic cloche hat of the flapper era as worn by women in 1927!
Restored 20’s Fashion Film using AI Upscaling
It represents one of the very few surviving color fashion films from the the 1920’s. A rare showcase of genuine 1920’s Gatsby dresses and cloche hats sold by Sibley’s department store in New York.
The film, entitled Fashion News, was made using Technicolor Process 2 by Fashion Features Inc.
This was done by simultaneously photographing two consecutive frames of a black-and-white film, behind red and green filters.
The Technicolor process was finally perfected in 1932. Using a beam-splitting optical cube, combined with with the camera lens, to expose three black-and-white films.
Using deep learning AI, we de-noised and frame interpolated the film from 24fps to 60fps to add depth awareness. Then we upscaled the 480p resolution to full 4K. We’ve also added a new soundtrack.
The Story behind the Film
The film nitrate was first found and transferred by archivist Murray Glass who ran the EmGee Film Collection.
We obtained a print from him, and with his kind permission, published an edit on our YouTube channel entitled – ‘Beautiful Flappers‘ . Subsequently we interviewed Mr Glass for Glamourdaze about his work. He sadly passed away in 2019. RIP.
The EmGee film collection, to the best of our knowledge is now preserved at the Blackhawk Film Collection that is held by the Academy Film Archive.
How we Restored the Film using AI
Some of the deep learning AI machines like Dain, and DeOldify are freely available from the Github community. You will need to learn how to use Google Colab. The DainApp for desktop is another good option. You will need a computer with a good graphics card, and lots of patience.
The Restoration Process:
- Removed artifacts and noise.
- Interpolated new frames ( from 24 to 60fps) using the DainApp, to add depth awareness.
- Upscaled the original 480p film to 4K resolution using Topaz Video Enhance AI and Vidcoder.
- Created a new soundtrack.
That’s all ! © Glamourdaze