After considering proposals from major studios, celebrated photographer Norman Seeff has selected Cinelicious to head up the complex 4K restoration of his prolific 16mm film library. The archive contains iconic images of culture-shaping music and film luminaries from the 60’s – 80’s that encompass an evolution of his work on “The Sessions Project”, a four-decade-long exploration and documentation of the inner dynamics of creativity in all its forms.

The historical significance of the library cannot be underestimated as it has never before seen images and sound recordings spanning hundreds of “sessions” with Norman exploring the creative process with the likes of The Rolling Stones, John Travolta, Carly Simon, Ray Charles, Frank Zappa, John Belushi, Martin Scorsese, Miles Davis, Cher, Dennis Hopper to name a few.

Cinelicious EP and Film-Lover Paul Korver will oversee every aspect of this intricate restoration which is unique in that about half of the 750,000 feet of 16mm film footage has never been processed. “Snip tests have been performed for each 1970’s stock and it has been confirmed that it can be processed. Initial tests are encouraging and the image is looking great which is a testimony to the robustness of the medium of film.”

For the technical aspects of restoration Cinelicious will be scanning 4K oversampled to 2K using their new cutting edge film scanner which is ideal for film restoration in that it is both sprocketless – which is gentle on old films, as well as having the highest dynamic range of any motion picture scanner which is ideal for the chrome / print stocks that were common in the 1970s. The film will then be color graded, restored as necessary, audio synced to picture and delivered to HDCAM-SR, Quicktime, Blu-Ray and DPX masters which will be backed up an LTO Data Archive.