Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. This article discusses the evolution and technology behind color Photographic film, with specific focus on Motion pictures. ), now a division of Thomson SA. Thomson SA (,) formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is an international provider of solutions for the creation management delivery and access of video for the Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952. Kinemacolor was the first successful colour Motion picture process used commercially from 1908 to 1914 United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century Technicolor became known and celebrated for its hyper-realistic, saturated levels of color, and was used commonly for filming musicals (such as The Wizard of Oz and Singin' in the Rain), costume pictures (such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Joan of Arc), and animated films (such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia). The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 Comedy Musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds The Adventures of Robin Hood is an American swashbuckler film released in 1938 and directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film directed by Victor Fleming; starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American film based on the eponymous German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Fantasia is a 1940 Animated film produced by Walt Disney, and is the third film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics.

The Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1915 by Herbert Kalmus, Daniel Frost Comstock, and W. Herbert Thomas Kalmus (b 9 November 1881 in Chelsea Massachusetts; d Daniel Frost Comstock (born August 14 1883; † ? was an American Physicist und Engineer. Burton Wescott.

Name usage

The term Technicolor historically has been used to describe four separate concepts:

• Technicolor process/format - the several image origination systems used in film production, which culminated in the "three-strip" process. (1922–1954)
• Technicolor dye imbibition printing (aka "dye transfer") - a stable photolithographic system used for the creation of color prints, originally conceived for the Technicolor format but also compatible with standard monopack film. (1928–2002, with differing gaps of availability post-1974 depending on lab)
• Technicolor labs - a collection of film laboratories across the world owned and run by Technicolor for post-production services including developing, printing, and transferring films in all major developing processes, as well as Technicolor's proprietary ones. A film laboratory is a commercial service enterprise and technical facility for the Film industry where specialists develop print and conform film material for classical film Films using these labs thus retain a "Color by Technicolor" credit even though no Technicolor format or printing have been offered recently. (1922–present)
• Technicolor - an umbrella company encompassing all the above as well as other ancillary services. (1915–present)

History

Two-color Technicolor

Technicolor originally existed in a two-color (red and green) system. The RG or red-green color space is a Color space that uses only two colors Red and Green. In Process 1 (1917), a prism beam-splitter behind the camera lens exposed two adjacent frames of a single strip of black and white negative film simultaneously, one behind a red filter, the other behind a green filter. The year 1917 in film involved some significant events Events Foundation of Universum Film AG (UƒA as a propaganda film company in Berlin Because two frames were being exposed at the same time, the film had to be photographed and projected at twice the normal speed. Exhibition required a special projector with two apertures (one with a red filter and the other with a green filter), two lenses, and an adjustable prism that aligned the two images on the screen. Technicolor itself produced the only movie made in Process 1, The Gulf Between, which had a limited tour of Eastern cities, primarily to interest motion picture producers and exhibitors in color. The Gulf Between ( 1917) was the first motion picture made in Technicolor, the third feature-length color movie and the first feature-length color The near-constant need for a technician to adjust the projection alignment doomed this additive color process. An additive color model involves Light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort Only a few frames of The Gulf Between, showing star Grace Darmond, are known to exist today. Grace Darmond ( 20 November 1898, Toronto - 8 October 1963, Los Angeles) was an American actress from the

Frame from the Technicolor picture The Toll of the Sea (1922)

Technicolor became a subtractive color process with Process 2 (1922) (cited by academics originally as "two-strip" Technicolor, although the term is erroneously used for Technicolor's first three formats). The Toll of the Sea is a motion picture produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation and released by Metro Pictures in 1922, featuring Events November 26 - The Toll of the Sea, starring Anna May Wong and Kenneth Harlan, debuts as the first general As before, the special Technicolor camera used a prism beam-splitter to expose simultaneously two adjacent frames of a single strip of black and white film, one behind a green filter and one behind a red filter. The difference came in the creation of the print. The frames exposed behind the green filter were printed on one strip of black and white film, and the frames exposed behind the red filter were printed on another strip. The "green" positive was then toned red and the "red" positive was toned green, thereby coloring each positive with their complementaries to the negative. Film tinting is the process of adding color to black and white film usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film Emulsion The two strips, made of film stocks thinner than regular film, were then cemented together base to base to create a projection print. The Toll of the Sea debuted on November 26, 1922 as the first general release film to use Technicolor. The Toll of the Sea is a motion picture produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation and released by Metro Pictures in 1922, featuring Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Frame enlargement of a Technicolor segment from The Phantom of the Opera (1925). The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 Silent film directed by Rupert Julian adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same The film was one of the earliest uses of the process on interior sets, and demonstrated its versatility.

The second all-color feature in this process, Wanderer of the Wasteland, was released in 1924. Wanderer of the Wasteland is a 1924 silent western film It was the third feature to be photographed entirely in Technicolor. Process 2 was also used for color sequences in such major motion pictures as The Ten Commandments (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), and Ben-Hur (1925). The Ten Commandments is a 1923 epic Silent film directed by Cecil B The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 Silent film directed by Rupert Julian adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same Ben-Hur was a 1925 Silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Douglas Fairbanks' The Black Pirate (1926), became the fourth feature to be filmed entirely in Technicolor. Douglas Fairbanks ( May 23 1883 – December 12 1939) was an American Actor, Screenwriter, director The Black Pirate is a 1926 adventure Silent film shot entirely in two-strip Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" The first sound Technicolor feature (with a synchronized sound track and sound effects) was The Cavalier (1928), which was also the last feature to be photographed in Process 2. The Cavalier is a 1928 Technicolor Western directed by Irvin Willat for Tiffany Studios.

Although successful commercially, Process 2 had technical problems of its own: the film images on the two cemented matrices did not share the same plane, sometimes creating a soft focus, depending on the depth of field of the projector's optics. In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image More destructively, the uneven thickness of the film would cause it to cup irregularly, taking it further out of focus and damaging the film. The presence of the image on both sides of the print could lead to twice the amount of scratches being visible onscreen with normal wear. Prints would buckle as the strip of celluloid nearest the light would contract from the heat, and a great amount of light was needed to project an early Technicolor film. ^[1] Splicing became difficult as both emulsions had to be scraped before applying cement, and the irregular thickness of the base could cause splices that were either too heavy or too weak, breaking the film as it went through the projector. Technicolor had to print up replacement reels that were constantly being shipped between its Boston, Massachusetts plant and exhibitors, with the buckled prints being ironed out by Technicolor employees before being shipped back on the exhibition circuit.

On with the Show (1929), the first all-color, all-talking picture

Based on the Handschiegl Color Process created in 1916 by Max Handschiegl, Technicolor Process 3 (1928) was developed to eliminate the projection print made of double-cemented prints, in favor of a print created by a process similar to lithography called dye-imbibition. The Handschiegl color process ( App Nov 20 1916 Iss May 13 1919 was a stencil color technique used on motion picture film to give the effect of real color Events Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent. Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface The Technicolor camera for Process 3 was identical to that for Process 2, simultaneously photographing two adjacent frames of black and white film behind red and green filters. Every other frame of the camera negative was printed onto one strip of blank film (or "matrix") to create a red record, and the remaining frames were printed onto a second strip of blank film to create a green record. These matrices were coated with a gelatin that hardened in relation to the amount of light that struck it from the negative. The softer gelatin was then washed off the matrix, leaving a relief image created by the hardened gelatin. The matrices were floated in dye baths of complementary colors — the strip containing the red record was dyed green, and the strip containing the green record was dyed red — in which the gelatin would absorb the dye. The thicker the gelatin, the more dye it absorbed. The matrices were then placed in contact with a third, blank strip of film (coated with a substance to absorb dye), and the dye was transferred from the matrices to the new print.

The first sound Technicolor cartoon was a Flip the Frog cartoon called Fiddlesticks (1930). Flip the Frog is an animated cartoon character created by American cartoonist Ub Iwerks.

The first feature made entirely in the Technicolor Process 3 was The Viking (1928), which had a synchronized score and sound effects. The Viking ( 1928) was the first feature-length Technicolor film in an improved process which used dye- imbibition to achieve Redskin (1929), with a synchronized score, and The Mysterious Island (1929), a part-talkie, were photographed almost entirely in this process also but included some sequences in black and white. Redskin is a 1929 feature film with a synchronized score and sound effects that was photographed partially in Technicolor. The Mysterious Island, directed by Lucien Hubbard, is the 1929 film adaptation of Jules Verne's French novel L'Île mystérieuse ( The following talkies were made entirely in Technicolor Process 3: On with the Show! (1929) (the first all-talking color feature), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), The Vagabond King (1930), Follow Thru (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), The Rogue Song (1930), Song of the Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), The Life of the Party (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), The Bride of the Regiment (1930), Mamba (1930), Whoopee! (1930), King of Jazz (1930), Under a Texas Moon (1930), Bright Lights (1930), Viennese Nights (1930), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931) and Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931). On with the Show! ( 1929) is historically important in cinema history as the first modern Sound film photographed Gold Diggers of Broadway ( 1929) is a Warner Bros comedy/musical film which is historically important as the second Talkie (a term used early The Show of Shows was a 1929 lavish Revue film which cost $850000 and featured most of the contemporary Warner Bros Sally is the third sound feature photographed in Technicolor released in 1929 (the first was On with the Show 1929 The Vagabond King is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in two-color Technicolor. For the 1929 Broadway musical see Follow Thru (musical. Follow Thru is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Golden Dawn is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Hold Everything ( 1930) is an All-Talking musical comedy that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The Rogue Song ( 1930) is a romantic Musical film which tells the story of a Russian Bandit who falls in love with a Princess Song of the Flame is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Song of the West is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The Life of the Party is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Sweet Kitty Bellairs is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The Bride of the Regiment is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Mamba is a 1930 Tiffany Pictures film directed by Albert S Rogell Whoopee! was a Broadway Musical comedy which debuted on 4 December, 1928. King of Jazz ( 1930) is a motion picture starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra Under A Texas Moon is a 1930 musical western film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Bright Lights is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Viennese Nights is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Kiss Me Again is a 1931 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Fifty Million Frenchmen is a 1931 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. In addition, scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences. Numerous short subjects were also photographed in Technicolor Process 3, including the first color sound cartoons by producers such as Ub Iwerks and Walter Lantz. Ub Iwerks, ASC ( Ubbe Ert Iwwerks) ( 24 March 1901 &ndash 7 July 1971) was a two-time Academy Award winning Walter Benjamin Lantz ( April 27 1899 &ndash March 22 1994) was an American Cartoonist and Animator, best Song of the Flame became the first color movie to use a widescreen process (using a system known as Vitascope, which used 65mm film). Song of the Flame is a 1930 musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical Vitascope is an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat.

In 1931, an improvement of Technicolor Process 3 was developed which removed grain from the Technicolor film and resulted in a more vivid and vibrant color. ^[2] This process was first used on a Radio Picture entitled: The Runaround (1931). The Runaround ( 1931) is an All-Talking comedy drama that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The new process not only improved the color but also removed specks (that looked like bugs) from the screen, which had previously blurred outlines and lowered visibility. This new improvement along with a reduction in cost (from 8. 85 cents to 7 cents per foot) led to a new color revival. ^[3] Warner Brothers led the way once again by producing three features (out of an announced plan for six features) in the new process: Manhattan Parade (1932), Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Manhattan Parade is a 1931 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Doctor X is a First National / Warner Bros horror and mystery film from 1932. Mystery of the Wax Museum is a mystery / horror Technicolor film released in 1933 and directed by Michael Curtiz. Radio Pictures followed by announcing plans to make four more features in the new process. ^[4] Only one of these, Fanny Foley Herself (1931), was actually produced. Fanny Foley Herself ( 1931) is an All-Talking comedy drama that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. Although Paramount Pictures announced plans to make eight features and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer promised two color features, these never materialized. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. ^[5] This seems to have been as a result of the lukewarm reception of the public to these new color pictures. Two independently produced features were also produced in this improved Technicolor process: Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1934) and Kliou the Tiger (1935). Legong Dance of the Virgins ( 1935) was one of the last feature Films shot using the two-strip Technicolor process

Very few of the original camera negatives of movies made in Technicolor Process 2 or 3 survive. In the late 1940s, most were discarded from storage at Technicolor in a space-clearing move, after the studios declined to reclaim the materials. Those that survived into the 1950s were often used to make black and white prints for television and simply discarded thereafter. This explains why so many early color films exist today solely in black and white.

Warner Bros. , which had vaulted from an extremely minor exhibitor to a major studio by its introduction of the talkies, latched onto Technicolor as the next big thing. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. Other producers followed Warners Bros. ' example by making features in color, with either Technicolor or one of its competitors, such as Brewster Color and Multicolor (later Cinecolor). Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. Cinecolor was an early Subtractive color -model two color Film process based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor However, the aspect of color did not increase the number of audiences to the point where it was economical. This, and the Great Depression severely strained movie studios' finances, and spelled the end of the first Technicolor boom.

Three-strip Technicolor

Development and introduction

As early as 1924, Technicolor envisioned a full-color process, and by 1929, the company was actively developing such a process. Hollywood made so much use of Technicolor in 1929 and 1930, that many believed that Hollywood would soon be turning out color films exclusively. By 1931, the Great Depression took its toll on the movie industry, and they began to cut back on expenses. The production of color films had decreased dramatically by 1932, when Technicolor unveiled its first three-color process in an attempt to entice the movie studios. Light passed through the lens and was then divided 50-50 by a beam splitting prism block. The green aspect of the scene was recorded through a filter on an orthochromatically sensitized film strip, while the light behind a magenta filter was further broken down by a bipack of a film strip panchromatically sensitized for red and a non-sensitized for blue light. In Cinematography, bipacking, or a bipack, is the process of loading two reels of film into a camera so that they both pass through the camera gate together The blue record film bore a red gelatin filter layer. This process accurately reproduced the full color spectrum and optically printed using a dye-transfer process in cyan, magenta and yellow.

Kalmus convinced Walt Disney to shoot one of his Silly Symphony cartoons Flowers and Trees (1932) in Process 4, the new "three-strip" process. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Silly Symphonies is a series of Animated Short subjects 75 in total produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939 Flowers and Trees is a 1932 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released Seeing the potential in full-color Technicolor, Walt Disney negotiated in 1934 an exclusive contract for the use of the process, going to September 1935. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter ^[6][7][8] Competitors such as the Fleischer Studios and the Ub Iwerks studio were shut out — they had to settle for either the two-color Technicolor systems or use a competing process such as Cinecolor. Fleischer Studios Inc is an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City New York. Ub Iwerks, ASC ( Ubbe Ert Iwwerks) ( 24 March 1901 &ndash 7 July 1971) was a two-time Academy Award winning Cinecolor was an early Subtractive color -model two color Film process based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor

Flowers and Trees was a success with audiences and critics alike, and won the first Academy Award for Animated Short Film. The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year The next Silly Symphonies to be shot with the process, Three Little Pigs, engendered such a positive audience response that it overshadowed the features it played with. Three Little Pigs is an animated Short film released on May 27, 1933 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney Hollywood was buzzing about color film again. According to Fortune magazine, "Merian C. Cooper, producer for RKO Radio Pictures and director of King Kong (1933), saw one of the Silly Symphonies and said he never wanted to make a black and white picture again. Fortune is a Global Business Magazine published by Time Inc's Fortune|Money Group Merian Caldwell Cooper ( October 24, 1893, Jacksonville Florida, USA &mdash April 21, 1973, San Diego California King Kong is a landmark Black-and-white Adventure film about a gigantic Gorilla named " Kong " and how he is captured from "

Although Disney's earliest Technicolor cartoons utilized the general three-strip camera, an improved process was adopted in 1934 solely for cartoon work: the camera would contain one strip of black and white negative film, and each animation cel would be photographed three times, on three sequential frames, behind alternating red, green, and blue filters. Three separate dye transfer printing matrices would be created from the red, green, and blue records in their respective additive colors, cyan, magenta and yellow.

Shooting Technicolor footage, 1934–1954

Three-strip Technicolor camera from the 1930s

Technicolor's advantage over most early, natural color processes was that it was a subtractive synthesis rather than an additive one. A subtractive color model explains the mixing of Paints Dyes Inks and natural colorants to create a range of Colors where each such color An additive color model involves Light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort Technicolor prints could run on any projector; unlike other additive processes, it could represent colors clearly without any special projection equipment or techniques. More importantly, Technicolor held the best balance between a quality image and speed of printing, compared to other subtractive systems of the time.

The Technicolor Process 4 used colored filters, a beam splitter made from a thinly coated mirror inside a split-cube prism, and three strips of black-and-white film (hence the "three-strip" designation). A beam splitter is an optical device that splits a beam of Light in two In Optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat polished surfaces that refract Light. The beam splitter allowed ⅓ of the light to shine straight through into a green filter and onto a strip of panchromatic black-and-white film, which registered the green part of the image. Panchromatic film is a type of Black-and-white Photographic film that is sensitive to all Wavelengths of Visible light. The other ⅔ of the light, reflected sideways by the mirror, went through a magenta filter to remove green light, exposed a layer of blue-sensitive orthochromatic film and then onto a red-sensitive strip of panchromatic stock. Orthochromatic refers to any spectrum of light that is devoid of red light Panchromatic film is a type of Black-and-white Photographic film that is sensitive to all Wavelengths of Visible light. The "blue" and "red" films were layered into a "bipack". The "green" film was a separate strip.

To print the film, each colored strip had a print struck from it onto a light sensitive piece of gelatin film. When processed, "dark" portions of the film hardened, and light areas were washed away. The gelatin film strip was then soaked with a dye complementary to the color recorded by the film: cyan for red, magenta for green, and yellow for blue (see also: CMYK color model for a technical discussion of color printing). CMYK (short for '''c'''yan, '''m'''agenta, '''y'''ellow, and k ey ( Black) and often referred to as process color

A single clear strip of black and white film with the soundtrack pre-printed was first treated with a mordant solution and then brought in contact with each of the three dye-soaked colored strips in turn, building up the complete color image. A mordant is a substance used to set Dyes on fabrics by forming an insoluble compound with the dye This process is referred to as "dye imbibition", a technique which was commonly used in conventional offset printing or lithography but which the Technicolor process utilized on film. Offset printing is a commonly used Printing technique where the Inked image is transferred (or "offset" from a plate to a rubber blanket then to the Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface The final strip of film would have the dyes soaked into its emulsion and not simply printed onto its surface. The end result was a bright and clear representation of natural color.

Early in the process, the clear film would be pre-exposed with a 50 percent density black-and-white positive image derived from the green matrix. This process was used largely to cover up fringing in the early days of three-strip printing, and to print frame lines that would otherwise be white. A frame line is the unused space that separates two adjacent images or Film frames on the Release print of a motion picture. Because the layer was of neutral density, the contrast blacks in the picture was increased, but colors were muted to an extent. By the early 1940s, however, Technicolor streamlined the process to make up for these shortcomings and this practice ceased. However, a black-and-white silver image was still used for the frame line and sound track.

Convincing Hollywood

The Wizard of Oz, filmed in 3-strip Technicolor

The studios were willing to adopt three-color Technicolor for live-action feature production, if it could be proved viable. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s Shooting three-strip Technicolor required very bright lighting, as the film had an extremely slow speed of ASA 5. Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to Light. That, and the bulk of the cameras and a lack of experience with three-color cinematography made for skepticism in the studio board rooms. See also Filmmaking Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis κινησις (movement and grapho γραφω (to record is the discipline

Fortune magazine's October 1934 article stressed that Technicolor, as a corporation, was rather remarkable in that it kept its investors quite happy despite the fact that it had only been in profit twice in all of the years of its existence, during the early boom at the turn of the decade. A well-managed company, half of whose stock was controlled by a clique loyal to Kalmus, Technicolor never had to cede any control to its bankers or unfriendly stockholders. In the mid-'30s, all the major studios except MGM were in the financial doldrums, and a color process that truly reproduced the visual spectrum was seen as a possible shot-in-the-arm for the ailing industry.

Live-action use of three-strip Technicolor was first seen in a musical number of the MGM feature The Cat and the Fiddle, released February 16, 1934. For the nursery rhyme see Hey Diddle Diddle. For the Jerome Kern musical see The Cat and the Fiddle (musical. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On July 28, 1934, Warner Brothers released Service With a Smile, followed by Good Morning, Eve! on August 5, both being comedy short films starring Leon Errol and filmed in three-strip Technicolor. Events 1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of Treason. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. Leon Errol ( July 3, 1881 - October 12, 1951) was an Australian born comedian and actor in the United States, popular Pioneer Pictures, a movie company formed by Technicolor investors, produced the film usually credited as the first live-action short film shot in the three-strip process, La Cucaracha released August 31, 1934. " La Cucaracha " ("The Cockroach " is a traditional Spanish language folk song of the genre known as a Corrido Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. La Cucaracha is a two-reel musical comedy that cost $65,000, approximately four times what an equivalent black-and-white two-reeler would cost. Released by RKO, the short was a success in introducing the new Technicolor as a viable medium for live-action films. The three-strip process also was used in some short sequences filmed for several movies made during 1934, including the final sequences of The House of Rothschild (20th Century Pictures/United Artists) with George Arliss and Kid Millions (Samuel Goldwyn Studios) with Eddie Cantor. The House of Rothschild is a 1934 film which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. George Arliss ( April 10, 1868 - February 5, 1946) was an English Academy Award -winning Actor, Author Kid Millions is a 1934 American Film directed by Roy Del Ruth. Samuel Goldwyn ( ca. July 1879 &ndash 31 January 1974) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning producer Eddie Cantor ( January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964) was an American Comedian, Singer, Actor,

Pioneer/RKO's Becky Sharp (1935) became the first feature film photographed entirely in three-strip Technicolor. Pioneer Pictures Inc was a Hollywood motion picture company most noted for its early commitment to making color films Becky Sharp is an American film released in 1935 and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Events Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM In the Film industry, a feature film is a Film made for initial distribution in theaters and being the "main attraction" of the screening Initially, three-strip Technicolor was only used indoors; then, in 1936, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine became the first production to have outdoor sequences, with impressive results. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is a 1936 Romance film based on the novel of the same name. The spectacular success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), which was released in December 1937 and became the top-grossing film of 1938, caused the studios to sit up and take notice. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American film based on the eponymous German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The year 1937 in film involved some significant events Events April 16 - Way Out West premieres in

Limitations and difficulties

One major drawback of Technicolor's 3-strip process was that it required a special, bulky, and very heavy Technicolor camera. Film studios could not purchase Technicolor cameras, only rent them for their productions, complete with a number of camera technicians and a "color supervisor" to make sure sets, costumes and make-up circumvented any limitations imposed by the system. More often than not on many early productions, the supervisor was Natalie Kalmus, ex-wife of Herbert Kalmus and part owner in the company. Natalie Kalmus (née Dunfee or Dunphy) (April 7 1882 Houlton Maine – November 15, 1965, Boston Massachusetts) was

The process of splitting the image reduced the amount of light that reached the film stock. Since the film speed of the stocks used in the camera were fairly slow, early Technicolor productions required a greater amount of lighting than a black and white production. Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to Light. It is reported that temperatures on the film set of The Wizard of Oz frequently exceeded 100 °F (38 °C), and as a result some of the more heavily costumed characters required a large water intake to replace loss by perspiration. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s Some actors and actresses claimed to have suffered permanent eye damage from the high levels of illumination.

Because of the added lighting and triple amount of film necessary, Technicolor's productions demanded a high budget film for its usage.

The introduction of Eastman color and decline

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, an example of Technicolor filming in 1950s Hollywood. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 film adaptation of the 1949 stage musical, released by 20th Century Fox, directed by Howard Hawks

Color film processes that recorded all three primary colors on one strip of camera film had been developed for amateur film gauges (16 mm and 8 mm) in the 1930s by Agfa in Germany and Eastman Kodak in the United States. Eastman Kodak Company ( is an American multinational Public company which produces imaging and photographic materials and equipment Technicolor introduced Monopack, a single-strip color reversal film (actually a 35 mm version of Kodachrome) in 1941 for specialized uses on location where the bulky three-strip camera would be impractical, but the higher grain of the image made it unsuitable for studio work. In Photography, a reversal film is a still positive image created on a transparent base using photochemical means Kodachrome is the trademarked name of a brand of color reversal film sold by Eastman Kodak.

Eastman Kodak introduced its first 35 mm color negative film in 1950, and then in 1952 an improved version of a quality suitable for Hollywood production. ^[9] This change meant that Technicolor prints could be struck from a single camera negative exposed in a standard camera. Foxfire (1955), filmed in 1954 by Universal, starring Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler, was the last American-made feature photographed with a Technicolor three-strip camera. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Jane Russell (born June 21) is an American film actress and Sex symbol. Jeff Chandler may refer to Jeff Chandler (actor Jeff Chandler (boxer Jeff Chandler (kicker

In 1953, Eastman Kodak also introduced a high-quality color print film, allowing studios to produce prints through standard photographic processes as opposed to having to send them to Technicolor for the expensive dye imbibition process. That same year, the Technicolor lab adapted its dye transfer process to derive matrices and imbibition prints directly from Eastmancolor negatives. In the case of post-1953 Technicolor movies, the dye transfer release prints never faded, whereas the color negatives from which they were derived, the cyan record faded in as little as five years.

The same year, Technicolor unveiled their own stereoscopic camera rig for the ever-growing demand of 3-D films. Stereoscopy, stereoscopic imaging or 3-D (three-dimensional imaging is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual See also [[stereoscopy]] In film the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images The rig utilized two three-strip cameras, running a total of six strips of film at once (three for the left eye and three for the right). Only two films were shot with this camera set-up: the Nat Holt production of Flight to Tangier with Jack Palance, Joan Fontaine, and Corinne Calvet, and the Hal Wallis production of Money From Home, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Palahniuk; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an Oscar -winning American Joan Fontaine (born October 22, 1917) is an Academy Award -winning British Actress in American films Corinne Calvet, ( April 30 1925 &ndash June 23 2001) was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7 1917 &ndash December 25 1995 was an American Singer, Film Actor, television personality Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926) is an American Comedian, award-winning actor producer writer and director best-known for his slapstick Previously a similar, but different system had been used by a different company, utilizing two three-strip cameras side-by-side for a short called Royal River.

In 1954, Technicolor made reduction dye transfer prints of the large format VistaVision negative. VistaVision is a variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format created by Paramount Pictures in 1954 based on the Glamorama and Superama Their process was also adapted for use with Todd-AO, Ultra Panavision 70 and Technirama formats. Todd-AO is an extremely high definition Widescreen Film format developed in the mid 1950s Ultra Panavision 70, also known as MGM Camera 65, was the marketing brand used to identify 65/70 mm movies photographed with Panavision Anamorphic optics Technirama is a screen process that was used by some film production houses as an alternative to CinemaScope. All of them were an improvement over the three-strip negatives since the negative print-downs generated sharper and finer grain dye transfer copies.

Technicolor eventually fell out of favor in the United States as being too expensive and too slow in turning out prints. While paying audience numbers were decreasing, the number of movie screens in the US was increasing. And while dye-transfer printing yielded superior color printing, the number of high speed prints that could be struck in labs all over the country outweighed the fewer, slower number of prints that could only be had in Technicolor's labs. The last new American film released before Technicolor closed their dye plant was The Godfather, Part II (1974). The Godfather Part II is a 1974 Crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo.

In 1975, the US dye transfer plant was closed and Technicolor became an Eastman-only processor. In 1977, the final dye-transfer printer left in Rome was used by Dario Argento to make prints for his horror film Suspiria. Suspiria is a 1977 Italian Horror film directed by Dario Argento, and co-written by Argento and actress Daria Nicolodi In 1980, the Italian Technicolor plant ceased printing dye transfer. The British line was shut down in 1978 and sold to Beijing Film and Video Lab in China. A great many films from China and Hong Kong were made in the Technicolor dye transfer process, including Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou and even one American film, Space Avenger (1989, director: Richard W. Zhang Yimou (born November 14 1951 is an internationally acclaimed Chinese Filmmaker and former Cinematographer. Ju Dou ( is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang (though it is almost universally considered to be a product Events Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton Georgia for $20 million Haines). The Beijing line was shut down in 1993 for a number of reasons, due in part to inferior processing.

Recent developments

The Technicolor company remained a highly successful film processing firm and later became involved in video and audio duplication (CD, VHS and DVD manufacturing) and digital video processes. MacAndrews & Forbes Group acquired Technicolor, Inc. in 1982 for $100 million,^[10] then sold it in 1988 to the British firm Carlton Communications PLC for $780 million. Carlton Communications Limited (previously Carlton Communications plc was a British media company ^[11] Technicolor, Inc. acquired the film processing company Consolidated Film Industries in 2000. Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory and film processing company and was the leading film laboratory in the Los Angeles area for many decades The year 2000 in film involved some significant events Events Top grossing films Please note that following the tradition of the ^[12] Technicolor is now part of the French-headquartered electronics and media conglomerate Thomson. Thomson SA (,) formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is an international provider of solutions for the creation management delivery and access of video for the

Dye transfer Technicolor in archival work

Technicolor label on the opening credits of a Looney Tunes cartoon. Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros Animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969

By the late 1990s the dye transfer process still had its advantages in the film archival community. Because the dye transfer process used stable acid dyes, Technicolor prints are considered of archival quality. Acid dye is a member of a class of Dye that is applied from an acidic solution A Technicolor print from the dye transfer era will retain its original colors virtually unchanged for decades with proper storage, whereas prints printed on Eastman color stocks produced prior to 1983 may suffer color fading after exposure to ultraviolet light and hot, humid conditions as a result of less stable photochemical dyes. Fading on some prints is so rapid that in many cases, after as little as five to ten years, only the magenta record is perceivable on the film.

Furthermore, Technicolor's negatives before 1954 are all on silver-based black and white stock, which have stayed unaltered over the course of time with proper handling. This has become of importance in recent years with the large market for films transferred to video formats for home viewing. The best color quality control for video transfer by far is achieved by printing from Technicolor negatives onto low-contrast Color Reversal Internegatives.

In 1997, Technicolor reintroduced the dye transfer process to general film production. It was also used on the restorations of films such as The Wizard of Oz, Rear Window, Funny Girl, and Apocalypse Now Redux. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s Rear Window is a Suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on Cornell Woolrich 's Short story It Had to Be Murder Funny Girl is a Musical film based on the stage musical of the same name. An article on the restoration of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (original version, 1977) claimed that a rare dye-transfer print of the movie, made for director George Lucas at the British Technicolor lab during its initial run, had been used as a color reference for the restoration. Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (originally released as Star Wars) is a 1977 Space opera George Walton Lucas Jr (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award -winning American Film director, producer, Screenwriter The article claimed that conventional color prints of the movie had all degraded over the years to the extent that no two had the same color balance. However, because of the variation in color balance per print, dye-transfer prints are used in the professional restoration world as only a rough guideline.

Reintroduction of the dye transfer process

After its reintroduction in 1997, the dye transfer process was (somewhat unexpectedly) used in several big-budget, modern Hollywood productions. United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century These included Bulworth, Pearl Harbor, and Toy Story. Bullworth redirects here For the fictional town and school see Bully (game Bulworth is a 1998 Academy Award -nominated American Pearl Harbor is a 2001 War film directed by Michael Bay. It features a large Ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-generated Comedy film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks The distinct "look" this process achieves, often sought after by film makers looking to re-create the period of time at which Technicolor was at its most prominent, is difficult to obtain through conventional, high-speed printing methods and is one explanation for the enduring demand and credibility of the process.

The latest motion picture dye IB (imbibition) transfer process developed during the 1990s is greatly superior to the process used during the 1970s and of much higher quality than modern Eastmancolor stocks. The prints exhibited a higher color gamut and color satauration than modern Eastmancolor stock and could be made consistently and accurately for large numbers of prints. There were no longer visible density and contrast variations that occurred most often with earlier three color Technicolor. The new process was also about as sharp as modern Eastmancolor process with slightly higher contrast, but they appeared sharper due to the higher contrast.

Technicolor was purchased by French company Thomson in 2001 from the British company Carlton Communications,^[13] which discontinued the dye-transfer process in 2002. Thomson SA (,) formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is an international provider of solutions for the creation management delivery and access of video for the Carlton Communications Limited (previously Carlton Communications plc was a British media company

The visual aesthetic of dye transfer Technicolor continues to be used in Hollywood, usually in films set in the mid-20th century. Parts of The Aviator, the 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, were digitally manipulated to imitate color processes that were available during the periods each scene takes place. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The two-color look of the film is incorrectly cited as looking like Technicolor's two-color systems, and is in fact a facsimile of Hughes' own color system, Multicolor. Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. The "three-strip" Technicolor look begins after the newsreel footage of Hughes making the first flight around the world.

References

Further reading

• Fred E. Basten, Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow. Easton Studio Press, 2005. ISBN 0-9647065-0-4
• Richard W. Haines, Technicolor Movies: The History of Dye Transfer Printing. McFarland & Company, 2003. ISBN 0-7864-1809-5
• John Waner, Hollywood's Conversion of All Production to Color, Tobey Publishing, 2000.

See also

• Color film (motion picture)
• List of film formats
• List of color film systems
• Dye-transfer process
• Imbibition

External links

• Technicolor official site
• Kulturblog: Technicolor, An Explanation
• Technicolor History at the American WideScreen Museum
• Thomson Corporate Website
• List of All Feature Films Made in Color 1917–1935
• Database of 3-strip Technicolor Films