How a Filmmaker Obsessed with IMAX Preserved a Piece of ‘Star Wars’ History — One Frame at a Time

When George Lucas‘ “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones” was given an IMAX 70mm release in the fall of 2002, audiences saw a different version of the movie than what had been seen before — or would ever be seen again. Due to the format’s space limitations at the time — IMAX 70mm film platters would only hold two hours of celluloid — the movie was cut down by about 20 minutes, and the entire movie was reframed from the 2.40:1 aspect ratio of the original release to a Lucas-approved 1.81:1 designed to take maximum advantage of the IMAX screen.

Footage from the 1.81:1 version of “Clones” hasn’t been seen since the 2002 IMAX release. When filmmaker V. Trent came into possession of an IMAX 70mm trailer for the film, he knew he had something special. “Presumably due to the heavy restrictions from Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2002, the IMAX feature prints of ‘Episode II’ are now nonexistent,” Trent told IndieWire. “To have a visual archive of the 1.81:1 IMAX aspect ratio is incredible.”

Trent was further astonished to realize that the print he had acquired was an un-projected theatrical safety print. “Because this reel was an uncut, unprojected backup spare, it completely bypassed the wear, tear, and toil of commercial theater projectors,” Trent said. “The silver halide emulsion is in a completely virgin, factory-fresh state, meaning the digital data and color science captured on these frames are an exact, mathematically perfect match to the master file. Because Lucasfilm strictly mandated the total destruction of these exhibition reels, this virgin laboratory safety copy is an incredibly rare archival survivor that practically shouldn’t exist today.”

Trent became aware of what he had when he started rolling the film and going through the leader and came across the control chart instructions. “A control chart (or LAD / CineCheck strip) is a pre-exposed strip of film containing precise gray scales and color patches,” Trent said. “Lab technicians splice these charts into the front of a film run to calibrate the laboratory’s printing machines and chemical baths. Because my leader tape is completely uncut, it proves the technicians never needed to slice this reel apart to insert a control strip. It was printed, hand-checked against the master source, signed off, and stored away.”

Given that the leader confirmed Trent’s suspicions that this was an unprojected safety print, he realized that it would be risky to send it through the standard industry scanning system for digitization. “That way of preservation risked my print being scratched, losing quality due to the light used for capturing frames, and loosening the sprocket holes,” Trent said. When he decided against this method, Trent came to the conclusion that if he wanted to create a new 4K master, he would need to go through the painstaking process of capturing every single frame manually with photography.

“I used a completely darkened-out room with only a single bright backlight behind the print and a camera in front,” Trent said. “For about three days, I went frame by frame and captured individual frames of my gorgeous IMAX reel. Even with my naked eye, the resolution of the IMAX DMR printed image was absolutely breathtaking. Every single grain of sand, lightsaber glow, and the details in Yoda’s skin were impeccable.”

‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’V. Trent / Lucasfilm Ltd.

The footage from the print and its front-end leader resulted in 983 individual frame captures. “Every so often, I had to reposition the print and camera to achieve the best centered and in-frame capture I could take,” Trent said. “Following every individual frame capture, I loaded the high-res 4K HDR images onto my editing computer and went through an even longer period of going through all 984 captures and cropping every individual frame, one by one, to be as perfect as they could be. That was the most excruciating, but rewarding, part of the process. When all the frames were cropped to the best of their ability, I imported them into my edit suite and retimed them to run at 24fps, creating the magical illusion of movement and bringing this lost piece of cinematic art back to life.”

‘Attack of the Clones’ IMAX release posterLucasfilm Ltd.

Now, Trent hopes his scan can serve as a visual reference for the fans and that he can loan his IMAX 70mm print to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for display. “My first-ever moviegoing experience happened to take place in an IMAX 70mm film theater,” Trent said. “The format, and the filmmakers like Christopher Nolan who have pioneered the true IMAX 70mm film format, greatly inspire me. So, to have contributed to the format in an independent fashion, in any form, has been my great privilege and honor.”