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- Scribble 8: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Scribble 8: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Featured
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1973
Original Running Time:
8 / 7 / 7 / 7
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
8 / 7 / 7 / 7
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
A frame-accurate recreation of the original Super 8 cuts for Harryhausen’s ‘The Golden Voyage of Sinbad’, using a full-screen HD colour source taken from the Indicator release. Featuring multiple audio options, subtitles where relevant, and carefully applied enhancements to stop-motion animation for ‘Sinbad Battles the Monsters’ and ‘Sinbad Duels the Idol with Many Arms’. Black and white ‘purist’ versions with no adjustments to animation are available where relevant.
Intention:
It's hard for me to commit time to fanediting these days, but it's something I love and want to keep at when I'm energised and can dedicate time to it. I want to do a feature-length "B+ Movie Edition" for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (and many other films), in the same way I did Jason and the Argonauts. Watching the Super-8 cuts on the Indicator release, I realised that preserving these unique nugget-sized versions would be a manageable and fun primer to doing something more demanding in the future.
Context, for those that need it: Super 8 cuts were jarringly short versions of films, distributed on 8mm film for home use. Four were made for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, covering some of the highlight sequences. ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ was the only one presented in colour with sound, the others were silent and black and white. These cuts can be viewed on the Indicator blu-ray but in very poor quality. This project recreates them to the frame (to the point that I have kept the extremely jarring flash frame that occurs during ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ and similar). They are also presented in a wider aspect ratio.
In terms of audio, ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ can be watched with the original super 8 audio, with an isolated score, or with an approximate recreation of the original audio using both the restored mono track and the surround soundtrack. With the recreation, I remained loyal to the cuts, but chose to make them relatively smooth in comparison to the original presentation, for a different experience.
For the other three silent cuts, you have the choice of watching with full audio including dialogue, or an isolated score. Both are presented in mono and either stereo or surround. Watching with full audio is more akin to the ‘Oracle’ super cut presentation, and watching with the isolated score gives more of a ‘silent film’ vibe, which also might be considered more appropriate given that the cuts have burned in subtitles. With these silent cuts, you also have the option of a full colour presentation with enhanced animation, or just a higher quality black and white presentation, with the original animation untouched but a wider image.
If you’ve seen my Jason and the Argonauts edits, then you’ll have an idea what to expect with the animation. I have learned a lot since then and think that what i’ve done here is a significant improvement. I also know it can be improved more, but there was only so much time I felt I could put into this particular version. When I revisit the film for a B+ edit (it will happen), I will also revisit the animation.
In this instance, I applied two different techniques for harnessing AI in recreating smoother frames. I then blended what i felt were the best looking frames from each (or kept original frames). In each stage of the process, masking was made use of to limit any frame manipulation to the animation, or certain aspects of the animation. Faster movements were selectively enhanced with motion blur. The difference between what I’ve done here and what i might do with a B+ cut is both down to time and purity. Here I was going ‘frame accurate’, whereas in a B+ edit I would not be using 100% of the frames. I would be dropping frames I felt were too clunky, speeding up or slowing down footage to impact how the weight of the subject is perceived, cutting repeated shots, and generally making use of quicker cuts to draw less attention to certain aspects and allow for a more modern pace. There is also no real limit to how ‘smooth’ the animation can go, it’s all down to how much time you’re willing to put in. The more you do, the better it can look, but you have to spend more time correcting errors and glitches. AI is imperfect, and it is very important to me that the animation feel like smoother stop-motion or ‘go motion’ as opposed to having just had a gimmick thrown on. When you just throw footage into an app, you are likely to get glitchy frames and a distinct uncanny valley. I’m not sure if I’ve avoided that entirely here, but I have tried. Either way, I consider this ‘practice’ for a more advanced edit later down the line.
Context, for those that need it: Super 8 cuts were jarringly short versions of films, distributed on 8mm film for home use. Four were made for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, covering some of the highlight sequences. ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ was the only one presented in colour with sound, the others were silent and black and white. These cuts can be viewed on the Indicator blu-ray but in very poor quality. This project recreates them to the frame (to the point that I have kept the extremely jarring flash frame that occurs during ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ and similar). They are also presented in a wider aspect ratio.
In terms of audio, ‘Sinbad and the Oracle’ can be watched with the original super 8 audio, with an isolated score, or with an approximate recreation of the original audio using both the restored mono track and the surround soundtrack. With the recreation, I remained loyal to the cuts, but chose to make them relatively smooth in comparison to the original presentation, for a different experience.
For the other three silent cuts, you have the choice of watching with full audio including dialogue, or an isolated score. Both are presented in mono and either stereo or surround. Watching with full audio is more akin to the ‘Oracle’ super cut presentation, and watching with the isolated score gives more of a ‘silent film’ vibe, which also might be considered more appropriate given that the cuts have burned in subtitles. With these silent cuts, you also have the option of a full colour presentation with enhanced animation, or just a higher quality black and white presentation, with the original animation untouched but a wider image.
If you’ve seen my Jason and the Argonauts edits, then you’ll have an idea what to expect with the animation. I have learned a lot since then and think that what i’ve done here is a significant improvement. I also know it can be improved more, but there was only so much time I felt I could put into this particular version. When I revisit the film for a B+ edit (it will happen), I will also revisit the animation.
In this instance, I applied two different techniques for harnessing AI in recreating smoother frames. I then blended what i felt were the best looking frames from each (or kept original frames). In each stage of the process, masking was made use of to limit any frame manipulation to the animation, or certain aspects of the animation. Faster movements were selectively enhanced with motion blur. The difference between what I’ve done here and what i might do with a B+ cut is both down to time and purity. Here I was going ‘frame accurate’, whereas in a B+ edit I would not be using 100% of the frames. I would be dropping frames I felt were too clunky, speeding up or slowing down footage to impact how the weight of the subject is perceived, cutting repeated shots, and generally making use of quicker cuts to draw less attention to certain aspects and allow for a more modern pace. There is also no real limit to how ‘smooth’ the animation can go, it’s all down to how much time you’re willing to put in. The more you do, the better it can look, but you have to spend more time correcting errors and glitches. AI is imperfect, and it is very important to me that the animation feel like smoother stop-motion or ‘go motion’ as opposed to having just had a gimmick thrown on. When you just throw footage into an app, you are likely to get glitchy frames and a distinct uncanny valley. I’m not sure if I’ve avoided that entirely here, but I have tried. Either way, I consider this ‘practice’ for a more advanced edit later down the line.
Other Sources:
- film grain overlays
- film hiss sample
- film hiss sample
Special Thanks:
- to any and all that take interest.
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
- Surround and mono options
- Isolated scores
- Purist versions
- Subtitles for Sinbad and the Oracle
- Isolated scores
- Purist versions
- Subtitles for Sinbad and the Oracle
Editing Details:
As this is a recreation of a naturally jarring source, I wanted to strike a balance between the nature of the original cut and providing a relatively smooth experience in terms of audio. There is a very jarring flash frame in 'Sinbad and the Oracle', which I chose to retain for purity. The audio on that episode is particularly jarring, and I chose to retain the original audio, but also recreate it approximately, staying true to where the cuts were, but just smoothing them over for a slightly less jarring experience.
The other 3 cuts have no audio, but my choices of audio cuts are largely driven by the same vibe. I did not spend vast amounts of time trying to create very smooth audio to go along with jarring visual scene transitions inherent in the original cut, but I did try to make it reasonably smooth all things considered. Where dialogue overlaps, for example, I let the dialogue finish and overlap into the next scene, rather than having it cut off abruptly. One of the more liberal changes was to place the dialogue about the prophecy in 'Sinbad Battles the Monsters' over the battle, so as to coincide with the on-screen text. I did not go out of my way to alter dialogue that was clearly different to the on-screen text, however.
The other 3 cuts have no audio, but my choices of audio cuts are largely driven by the same vibe. I did not spend vast amounts of time trying to create very smooth audio to go along with jarring visual scene transitions inherent in the original cut, but I did try to make it reasonably smooth all things considered. Where dialogue overlaps, for example, I let the dialogue finish and overlap into the next scene, rather than having it cut off abruptly. One of the more liberal changes was to place the dialogue about the prophecy in 'Sinbad Battles the Monsters' over the battle, so as to coincide with the on-screen text. I did not go out of my way to alter dialogue that was clearly different to the on-screen text, however.
Cuts and Additions:
The gist:
- Used the Indicator release to recreate frame-accurate versions of the original super-8 cuts
- Re-arranged film narrative to conform to super-8 cuts
- Enhanced animation and other fx (not in purist or 'Sinbad and the Oracle')
- recreated burned-in dialogue
- corrected typos (not in purist)
- Applied cuts individually across all audio options
Since this is a frame-accurate preservation, there are no "cuts" per se, but I will list timecodes for when visual changes/shifts occur in the video in order to recreate the super-8 cuts. I won’t list all the audio changes, since they are numerous and are different across the different audio options. Subs I will only mention where I have corrected an error.
An asterix (*) indicates something that is not in the purist cut
SINBAD AND THE ORACLE
This is largely a tighter cut of Sinbad's encounter with the oracle, with some shots repurposed and some changes to the order of the events. In some cases where the film would normally cut away to the Prince's bat-spy, we instead cutaway to the Prince. A curious change, given that the bat-spy is still present in the cut, although arguably presented more as a general pest as opposed to a minion of the prince. In general, this seems to be the episode that has had the most chopped and changed in comparison to the original cut. There were lots of minor changes to adjust single frames. I’m not sure if I remembered to note them all.
0:00 - recreated titles
0:14 - episode starts
So many adjustments were made that it’s easier just to list a series of timecodes for most changes. The following were an instant of either cutting shots, trimming frames, or moving shots:
0:16, 0:18, 0:19, 0:23, 0:24, 0:28, 0:29, 0:30, 0:35, 0:42, 044, 0:52, 0:58, 1:00, 1:01, 1:03, 1:42, 1:47, 1:58, 2:01, 2:04, 2:08, 2:11, 2:23, 2:37, 3:06 (2 cuts - kept flash frame), 3:28, 3:30, 3:37, 3;39, 4:27, 4:29, 4:47, 4:50, 4:53, 4:56, 5:00, 5:02, 5:05, 5:13, 5:16, 6:06, 6:41, 7:22
7:47 - end reel/copyright notice
Since this was the only episode originally in colour and with sound, and the amount of stop motion is so minimal, I decided against doing both a purist and main version, and also against any tweaks to animation. So the version available is the purist version. It can be watched with the original jarring audio, a smoother version using the cleaned up audio, or isolated score.
SINBAD BATTLES THE MONSTERS
0:00 - recreated titles
0:11 - episode starts with shots of tribe threatening the Prince (off-screen. the footage was clearly repurposed to look as though they were threatening sinbad and his crew)
0:17 - footage cut/moved
0:23 - footage cut/moved
1:39 - 2:34 - footage cut/moved. Animation enhanced*
2:34 - footage cut/moved.
2:49 - footage cut/moved
3:06 - footage cut/moved. Animation enhanced*
3:12 - footage cut/moved
3:31 - 3:51 - animation enhanced*
3:33 - footage cut/moved
3:36 - Animation enhanced*
3:52 - 6:43 - animation enhancements accompanied by selectively applied motion blur for fast movements.*
4:15 - footage cut/moved
4:29 - footage cut/moved
4:40 - footage cut/moved. Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:47 - footage cut/moved. Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:52 - Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:55 - footage cut/moved
5:00 - footage cut/moved
5:28 - footage cut/moved
5:40 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - footage cut/moved
6:47 - end reel/copyright notice
SINBAD DUELS THE MAGIC SWORD
0:00 - recreated titles
0:06 - fixed typos*
0:15 - episode starts
0:40 - footage cut/moved
0:43 - footage cut/moved
0:45 - footage cut/moved
0:47 - footage cut/moved
0:52 - footage cut/moved
1:00 - footage cut/moved
1:29 - footage cut/moved
1:40 - the sub here is different to the original dialogue but clearly an intentional choice rather than a typo, so this has been left as is.
2:16 - footage cut/moved
2:46 - footage cut/moved
2:53 - corrected “a shield of darkness of the mind” to “…shall be mine” *
3:33 - 3:53 - frame adjustments between shots to keep accuracy to original cut. Added subtle distortion to enhance invisibility effect. *
4:36 - frame adjustment
4:46 - frame adjustment
4:50 - corrected sub “now” to “no”
5:05 - subtle invisibility effect*
5:14 - subtle invisibility effect*
5:49 - footage cut/moved
5:53 - footage cut/moved
6:02 - footage cut/moved
6:07 - footage cut/moved
6:12 - footage cut/moved
6:22 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - footage cut/moved
6:48 - end reel/copyright notice
SINBAD BATTLES THE IDOL WITH MANY ARMS
The simplest in terms of cuts, this episode is almost entirely the Kahli battle untouched, only with a trimmed opening and part of the film’s ending tagged on at the end. In terms of animation, however, easily the hardest and most time consuming. Kahli’s arms were hard to create non-glitchy frames for, and it’s hard striking a balance between letting the motion blur seem natural and also creating more of a sense of speed.
0:00 - recreated titles
0:07 - rephrased intro text for smoother reading*
0:12 - episode starts
0:29 - footage cut/moved
0:34 - 1:38 - animation enhanced*
1:39 - 4:10 - animation enhancements accompanied by selectively applied motion blur for fast movements.*
4:18 - footage cut/moved
4:53 - restored ellipses cut off by original aspect ratio*
4:55 - restored ellipses cut off by original aspect ratio*
4:57 - added question mark*
6:18 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - end reel/copyright notice
- Used the Indicator release to recreate frame-accurate versions of the original super-8 cuts
- Re-arranged film narrative to conform to super-8 cuts
- Enhanced animation and other fx (not in purist or 'Sinbad and the Oracle')
- recreated burned-in dialogue
- corrected typos (not in purist)
- Applied cuts individually across all audio options
Since this is a frame-accurate preservation, there are no "cuts" per se, but I will list timecodes for when visual changes/shifts occur in the video in order to recreate the super-8 cuts. I won’t list all the audio changes, since they are numerous and are different across the different audio options. Subs I will only mention where I have corrected an error.
An asterix (*) indicates something that is not in the purist cut
SINBAD AND THE ORACLE
This is largely a tighter cut of Sinbad's encounter with the oracle, with some shots repurposed and some changes to the order of the events. In some cases where the film would normally cut away to the Prince's bat-spy, we instead cutaway to the Prince. A curious change, given that the bat-spy is still present in the cut, although arguably presented more as a general pest as opposed to a minion of the prince. In general, this seems to be the episode that has had the most chopped and changed in comparison to the original cut. There were lots of minor changes to adjust single frames. I’m not sure if I remembered to note them all.
0:00 - recreated titles
0:14 - episode starts
So many adjustments were made that it’s easier just to list a series of timecodes for most changes. The following were an instant of either cutting shots, trimming frames, or moving shots:
0:16, 0:18, 0:19, 0:23, 0:24, 0:28, 0:29, 0:30, 0:35, 0:42, 044, 0:52, 0:58, 1:00, 1:01, 1:03, 1:42, 1:47, 1:58, 2:01, 2:04, 2:08, 2:11, 2:23, 2:37, 3:06 (2 cuts - kept flash frame), 3:28, 3:30, 3:37, 3;39, 4:27, 4:29, 4:47, 4:50, 4:53, 4:56, 5:00, 5:02, 5:05, 5:13, 5:16, 6:06, 6:41, 7:22
7:47 - end reel/copyright notice
Since this was the only episode originally in colour and with sound, and the amount of stop motion is so minimal, I decided against doing both a purist and main version, and also against any tweaks to animation. So the version available is the purist version. It can be watched with the original jarring audio, a smoother version using the cleaned up audio, or isolated score.
SINBAD BATTLES THE MONSTERS
0:00 - recreated titles
0:11 - episode starts with shots of tribe threatening the Prince (off-screen. the footage was clearly repurposed to look as though they were threatening sinbad and his crew)
0:17 - footage cut/moved
0:23 - footage cut/moved
1:39 - 2:34 - footage cut/moved. Animation enhanced*
2:34 - footage cut/moved.
2:49 - footage cut/moved
3:06 - footage cut/moved. Animation enhanced*
3:12 - footage cut/moved
3:31 - 3:51 - animation enhanced*
3:33 - footage cut/moved
3:36 - Animation enhanced*
3:52 - 6:43 - animation enhancements accompanied by selectively applied motion blur for fast movements.*
4:15 - footage cut/moved
4:29 - footage cut/moved
4:40 - footage cut/moved. Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:47 - footage cut/moved. Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:52 - Dialogue added to reflect on-screen subtitle
4:55 - footage cut/moved
5:00 - footage cut/moved
5:28 - footage cut/moved
5:40 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - footage cut/moved
6:47 - end reel/copyright notice
SINBAD DUELS THE MAGIC SWORD
0:00 - recreated titles
0:06 - fixed typos*
0:15 - episode starts
0:40 - footage cut/moved
0:43 - footage cut/moved
0:45 - footage cut/moved
0:47 - footage cut/moved
0:52 - footage cut/moved
1:00 - footage cut/moved
1:29 - footage cut/moved
1:40 - the sub here is different to the original dialogue but clearly an intentional choice rather than a typo, so this has been left as is.
2:16 - footage cut/moved
2:46 - footage cut/moved
2:53 - corrected “a shield of darkness of the mind” to “…shall be mine” *
3:33 - 3:53 - frame adjustments between shots to keep accuracy to original cut. Added subtle distortion to enhance invisibility effect. *
4:36 - frame adjustment
4:46 - frame adjustment
4:50 - corrected sub “now” to “no”
5:05 - subtle invisibility effect*
5:14 - subtle invisibility effect*
5:49 - footage cut/moved
5:53 - footage cut/moved
6:02 - footage cut/moved
6:07 - footage cut/moved
6:12 - footage cut/moved
6:22 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - footage cut/moved
6:48 - end reel/copyright notice
SINBAD BATTLES THE IDOL WITH MANY ARMS
The simplest in terms of cuts, this episode is almost entirely the Kahli battle untouched, only with a trimmed opening and part of the film’s ending tagged on at the end. In terms of animation, however, easily the hardest and most time consuming. Kahli’s arms were hard to create non-glitchy frames for, and it’s hard striking a balance between letting the motion blur seem natural and also creating more of a sense of speed.
0:00 - recreated titles
0:07 - rephrased intro text for smoother reading*
0:12 - episode starts
0:29 - footage cut/moved
0:34 - 1:38 - animation enhanced*
1:39 - 4:10 - animation enhancements accompanied by selectively applied motion blur for fast movements.*
4:18 - footage cut/moved
4:53 - restored ellipses cut off by original aspect ratio*
4:55 - restored ellipses cut off by original aspect ratio*
4:57 - added question mark*
6:18 - footage cut/moved
6:44 - end reel/copyright notice
User reviews
2 reviews
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(2)
Audio Editing
10.0(2)
Visual Editing
10.0(2)
Narrative
10.0(2)
Enjoyment
10.0(2)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
You have done a fantastic work recreating these Super 8 films.
The quality and editing of them is great, especially viewing them with the original mono audio.
By releasing this classic it gives a new audience the opportunity to view them and hopefully they will fall in love with the charm
of viewing a Ray Harryhausen movie.
For us cinephiles it transports us to another time and place, filled with wonder and excitement.
The quality and editing of them is great, especially viewing them with the original mono audio.
By releasing this classic it gives a new audience the opportunity to view them and hopefully they will fall in love with the charm
of viewing a Ray Harryhausen movie.
For us cinephiles it transports us to another time and place, filled with wonder and excitement.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
C
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
These are a blast! Lovingly polished and spruced up without losing any of their original charm.
Excellent work!
Excellent work!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B