You guys got it all wrong!

The orignal version WAS toned. Many silent films were, back then. Blue for night. Green for danger. etc. Even the original B/W "Frankenstein" was toned European style. That's part of what made it shocking. But the Germans were doing it from early on. Post-Caligari but definitely Nosferatu. Long ago, I knew a man who saw both Nosferatu and Metropolis in their first (American) run (in New Yawk) and he remembered their toning. He died in 1990. I was there to close his eyes. Great man.

But I digress. By our standards, the toning WAS done by amateurs. But don't be like those British antiquarians who cleaned all the paint off the ancient Greek statues so that they'd look more like the way we remember ancient Greek statuary. When Hutter crosses the bridge, he's SUPPOSED to be blue.

But there are about 10 different versions of Nosferatu out there on DVD. All of them flawed in some way or another. But at least the newer ones give you the whole film.

And none has good music. I do occaisional scoring work for an indie film distributor and I've been on them for years to do a GOOD Nosferatu. I've written half the score already while waiting.

My biggest complaint about ALL of the DVDs is the inter-titles. None of them ever even tries to match to the film, so they just jar you out of the mood you're in when you're watching. I just wish someone would fix that. But with so many versions out there, the DVD community treats it as a disposable "Cheezy Vampire Flick."

I sprung for the Black-Hawk Films version on 16mm film last year. It's the edited-down American release in true B/W. I haven't found an occaision to screen it yet, but I can hardly wait.... when I do, I'll post so that those of you in L.A. can see it projected.

Im just curious Sandro...how would someone become a digital artist? What kind of schooling is involved? Sounds like a fun profession!