Question regarding a Restoration Studio

[Mirosae]

Thanks. Very helpful. Really stunning looking, posters and pressbook. Yessssir.

[erik1925]

Has anyone ever heard of or used a studio called Fourth Cone? I received an email from them and checked out their site. Curious to know if anyone is familiar. Their FAQ states two troubling things: they dont assume responsibility/loss for your material while in their possession and they expect full payment before releasing the material.

Peter, did you ever opt to give them a try? If so, how were your results?

[Starling]

Once again, I need to sing the praises of the women at Fourth Cone Restoration.  They recently worked on my Marked Woman window card, and I couldn't be happier with the results.  They took a very light approach to the restoration, and listened to every concern I had after the TRULY AWFUL experience I had with Mario Cueva.  I think the results speak for themselves.  The piece still looks old, which was important to me, but it has been given new life.  Seriously, you should all consider using them for your restoration needs!   

[erik1925]

Looks great, Brian. 

Was there a reason you didn't want to retain any of the info that was written in the imprint space at the top?

[Starling]

If it had been a stamp or at least well-written, I most definitely would have made an effort to keep it.  But half of it was missing, and it was just kind of chicken scratch anyway.  In the end, I decided that it detracted from the piece, so I had them cover it. 

Thanks, I'm super pleased with how it turned out.  They definitely do amazing work.

[erik1925]

I see what you are saying, and it's all about how it feels, visually, at the end of the day.

'Tis beautiful, indeed.  

[Starling]

Yeah, I gave it a lot of thought, and you know, the HISTORY of the piece and the story it tells matters a lot to me.  I love when a window card has the theater info and play date at the top.  That's what usually makes the piece so interesting to me.

[erik1925]

Yeah... knowing, and appreciating the history of a piece, and those added details which can give added dimension.

What caught my eye was the handwritten dates, and I also really liked the handwritten: "-Also- Pathe' News And Selected Shorts," too.

[erik1925]

They did a really nice job on the bottom section, too.

Were all of the borders airbrushed to match the top imprint area?

[Starling]

No, they just did spot touch ups with the airbrush.  You can tell if you hold it at an angle, but not if you look dead on.  I just wanted as much of the original paper to show through, even if it meant not having a seamless restoration. 

[Charlie]

Starling, who it the woman in your avatar?

[Starling]

The lovely and talented Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara. 

[Charlie]

The lovely and talented Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara. 

Wow!  She played Lizbeth.  Hardly recognized her here - beautiful.  Your av always strikes me when I see it...

[Mirosae]

Once again, I need to sing the praises of the women at Fourth Cone Restoration.  They recently worked on my Marked Woman window card, and I couldn't be happier with the results.  They took a very light approach to the restoration, and listened to every concern I had after the TRULY AWFUL experience I had with Mario Cueva.  I think the results speak for themselves.  The piece still looks old, which was important to me, but it has been given new life.  Seriously, you should all consider using them for your restoration needs!  

Perfect, just perfect. Perfection. And yes, if a restorer doesn't do  the work quite right for you....move on... next!

There are good people out there and you clearly  found the right team.

[Starling]

I loved her as Lizbeth.  I wish they could make the other 2 with Fincher, but that seems like a long-shot at this point.

Thanks so much Rosa!  I am truly lucky I began using their services, and want everyone to know how great they are so they can have a similar experience.  Great work and customer service should be celebrated! 

[erik1925]

Brian, it looks like your pics in this thread and all your other posts, have vanished.

Did you have a technical photobucket calamity, similar to what happened to our Mr Waines?

If you need help getting pics plugged back into your posts, let me know.  

[laikaislost]

So I struggled with picking who to have linen back and restore my 3-sheet, and wound up with Fourth Cone.  Figured I would chime in and add some good words for others thinking about them.  Overall, I am thrilled with how good it looks, and felt they listened to what I wanted fixed, didn't do more than I asked for, and really knocked it out of the park in my opinion.  The Linen is really thick, was shipped very well, and hangs in it's new frame great. 

Post Linen Backing:



Final Product (I wanted to keep the fold lines):

[erik1925]

Looks like they did a really nice job. 

Keeping some of the fold lines visible was a nice touch, too, to show some of its history. Restore-wise, what did you ask them to do, and leave alone (aside from the fold lines)? Bits of retouching here and there?

[laikaislost]

Unfortunately, I was pretty vague in what I wanted I think.  I mostly just blabbered on about keeping some of the 'wear and age'...   

To be a little more specific, I asked them to clean up some pen marks on the back from the theater that showed through, patch some missing paper along the bottom edge, and fill in the holes along the corner folds making sure it matches the printing patterns.  For a perfect restoration, they recommended spraying a lot of the bottom section to make the patched paper match the rest of the border and to cover up the stains along the folds, but I declined to save a little money.  And with how it came out before the spraying I was happy enough just leaving it as is.  Even without the spray, the paper infill along the edge looks great to my eye.

I was really impressed with the patching on the sea serpent's face and in the sea below the boat.  In both of those places, there is a lot of printing texture (dots of color - whatever those are called) and they made sure that the patches matched really well.  It's not 100% perfect, but definitely a solid A+ quality work. 

From normal viewing distance, it looks flawless, from 2-6 feet away, it has just the right amount of character, and at 1 foot, it takes a while to find the patches.

[erik1925]

Unfortunately, I was pretty vague in what I wanted I think.  I mostly just blabbered on about keeping some of the 'wear and age'...   

To be a little more specific, I asked them to clean up some pen marks on the back from the theater that showed through, patch some missing paper along the bottom edge, and fill in the holes along the corner folds making sure it matches the printing patterns.  For a perfect restoration, they recommended spraying a lot of the bottom section to make the patched paper match the rest of the border and to cover up the stains along the folds, but I declined to save a little money.  And with how it came out before the spraying I was happy enough just leaving it as is.  Even without the spray, the paper infill along the edge looks great to my eye.

I was really impressed with the patching on the sea serpent's face and in the sea below the boat.  In both of those places, there is a lot of printing texture (dots of color - whatever those are called) and they made sure that the patches matched really well.  It's not 100% perfect, but definitely a solid A+ quality work. 

From normal viewing distance, it looks flawless, from 2-6 feet away, it has just the right amount of character, and at 1 foot, it takes a while to find the patches.

I would have declined the additional airbrushing, too, unless the staining caused a MAJOR eyesore. The "dipped in paint" look with airbrushed borders looking like a freshly painted wall was never my cuppa tea, either. Some restorers seem to do this, almost as matter of fact. Not good, imho, unless it's specifically asked for or wanted.

I think the touch ups you had them do to the offset printed (the dot pattern you mentioned) artwork itself (the dragon's face, the couple areas in the water etc) while allowing hints of the fold lines to show through was a great choice, too.

You didnt have them make it look pristine or like some reproduced print.

Bravo! 

[Chris9000]

Fourth Cone did an awesome job for me as well on a Taxi Driver B2.

I'm a stickler for detail, so I emailed them a lot attempting to explain what I did and did not want done to the poster. They were very accommodating, with killer customer service everytime. I never got the feeling they were annoyed, or tired of my mail in anyway.

The poster had some discoloration around the edges, most notably the upper left, and a decent sized ink blot in the middle of the "I" in driver. I asked them to back it, fix the discoloration, and fix the ink blot. A very light restor all-in-all. They did an excellent job in every regard. Where the discoloration was blended seamlessly into the the body of the poster, the inkblot stain isn't noticeable at all, and the poster was well backed and evenly cut.

On top of all that, I asked them to take photos during the process, just b/c I thought it would be interesting and they were happy to oblige. Here are a few of them...










I'd use them again in a heartbeat!

[erik1925]

Awesome "in progress" pics there, Chris!

[erik1925]

Fourth Cone did an awesome job for me as well on a Taxi Driver B2.

I'm a stickler for detail, so I emailed them a lot attempting to explain what I did and did not want done to the poster. They were very accommodating, with killer customer service everytime. I never got the feeling they were annoyed, or tired of my mail in anyway.

The poster had some discoloration around the edges, most notably the upper left, and a decent sized ink blot in the middle of the "I" in driver. I asked them to back it, fix the discoloration, and fix the ink blot. A very light restor all-in-all. They did an excellent job in every regard. Where the discoloration was blended seamlessly into the the body of the poster, the inkblot stain isn't noticeable at all, and the poster was well backed and evenly cut.

On top of all that, I asked them to take photos during the process, just b/c I thought it would be interesting and they were happy to oblige. Here are a few of them...










I'd use them again in a heartbeat!

Chris, How did this one look and turn out, when all was said and done? Any post- Fourth Cone pics?? 

[Chris9000]

The post backing poster looks fantastic, couldn't' be happier. I'll have to take some pics soon.

[erik1925]

Awesome, Chris. Sounds like you are totally jazzed by the work they did for you.

I look forward.