Hand coloring
Description
Coloring of individual frames by the use of very fine brushes. The process was previously applied to lantern slides. Any water based translucent dye was suited for the process, most often the coloring was done with acid dyes.
The process was very time-consuming and tedious, depending on the framerate 16 to 20 frames per second were to be colored manually. Therefore it was mostly abandoned when stencil coloring was introduced.
In contrast to stencilled films, hand-colored ones often have soft outlines and the application of color varies from frame to frame.
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Loïe Fuller (FRA 1905, Anonymous). Credit: BFI National Archive. Photographs of the hand colored nitrate print by Olivia Kristina Stutz, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
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Métamorphoses du papillon (FRA 1904, Gaston Velle). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph of the nitrate prints by Barbara Flueckiger.
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Credit: Turconi Collection by courtesy of George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Collection. Film: Zara.
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Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI.
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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
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Original Technical Papers and Primary Sources
Brock, Gustav, F. O. (1931): Hand-Coloring of Motion Picture Film. In: JSMPE, Vol. 16, June 1931, pp. 751-755. View Link
Cleveland, David; Pritchard, Brian (2015): How Films were Made and Shown. Some Aspects of the Technical Side of Motion Picture Film 1895-2015. Manningtree, Essex: David Cleveland, on pp. 187–189. View Quote
Forch, Carl (1921): Die Herstellung kolorierter Kinematografien. In: Kinotechnik, 3,7, pp. 248–252, on p. 248. (in German) View Quote
Nicholson, Charles F. (1928): Coloring Film With Brushes. In: Movie Makers. The Magazine of the Amateur Cinema League, Inc., III,7, Jul., pp. 466, 475–476. View Link
Street, Sarah; Yumibe, Joshua (2019): Chromatic Modernity. Color, Cinema, and Media of the 1920s. New York: Columbia University Press, on pp. 251–252. View Quote
Secondary Sources
Abel, Richard (1996): Pathé’s “Heavenly Billboards”. In: Monica Dall’Asta, Guglielmo Pescatore and Leonardo Quaresima (eds.): Il colore nel cinema muto. Bologna: Clueb, pp. 56–76, on p. 57 View Quote and on p. 61. View Quote
Alt, Dirk (2011): “Der Farbfilm marschiert!” Frühe Farbfilmverfahren und NS-Propaganda 1933-1945. München: Belleville, on pp. 36–37. (in German) View Quote
Cherchi Usai, Paolo (1996): The Color of Nitrate. Some Factual Observations on Tinting and Toning Manuals for Silent Films. In: Abel, Richard (ed.): Silent Film. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, pp.21-30, on p. 23. View Quote
Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI, pp. 21-22. View Quote
Everett, Wendy (2007): Mapping Colour. An Introduction to the Theories and Practices of Colour. In: Wendy Everett (ed.): Questions of Colour in Cinema. From Paintbrush to Pixel. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 7–38, on p. 18. View Quote
Fossati, Giovanna (1998): When Cinema Was Coloured. In: Luciano Berriatúa et al.: Tutti i colori del mondo. Il colore nei mass media tra 1900 e 1930. = All the colours of the world. Reggio Emilia: Edizioni Diabasis, pp. 121-132, on pp. 122-123 View Quote and p. 127 View Quote.
Hertogs, Daan; De Klerk, Nico (1996): Disorderly Order. Colours in Silent Film. The 1995 Amsterdam Workshop. Amsterdam: Stichding Nederlands Filmmuseum, on p. 12. View Quote
Layton, James; Pierce, David (2015): The Dawn of Technicolor. Rochester: George Eastman House, on p. 126. View Quote
Ledig, Elfriede / Ullmann, Gerhard (1988): Rot wie Feuer, Leidenschaft, Genie, Wahnsinn. Zu einigen Aspekten der Farbe im Stummfilm. In: Der Stummfilm. Konstruktion und Rekonstruktion. Hrsg. v. Elfriede Ledig. München: Schaudig, Bauer, Ledig, pp. 89–116. (in German)
Malthête, Jacques (1984): Méliès et la couleur. In: Madeleine Malthête-Méliès (ed.): Méliès et la naissance du spectacle cinématographique. Paris: Klincksieck, pp. 185–197, on pp. 186–197. (in French) View Quote
Mazzanti, Nicola (2009): Colours, audiences, and (dis)continuity in the ‘cinema of the second period’ In: Film History. Vol. 21, No. 1, 2009, pp. 67–93.
Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 14–17. (in Italian) View Quote
Nowotny, Robert A. (1983): The Way of All Flesh Tones. A History of Color Motion Picture Processes, 1895-1929. New York: Garland Pub, pp. 10–14. View Quote
Oliveira, Joao S. de (2002): Black-and-White in Colour. In: Roger Smither (ed.): This Film is Dangerous. A Celebration of Nitrate Film. Brussels: FIAF, pp. 117-122, on p. 118.
Pinel, Vincent (1992): La forêt des techniques. In: Michel Ciment (ed.): Ciné mémoire. Colloque international d’information (7-9 octobre 1991). Paris: Femis, pp. 17-24, on p. 18. (in French) View Quote
Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on p. 20 View Quote, on p. 27 View Quote, on pp. 28–29 View Quote, on pp. 30–31 View Quote, on p. 33 View Quote and on pp. 35–36. (in Italian) View Quote
Read, Paul (2009): ‘Unnatural Colours’. An Introduction to Colouring Techniques in Silent Era Movies. In: Film History, 21.1, pp. 9-46, on pp. 13-14. View Quote
Read, Paul; Meyer, Mark-Paul (2000): Restoration of Motion Picture Film. Oxford, p. 181.
Stokes, Melvyn (2009): Colour in American Cinema. From The Great Train Robbery to Bonnie and Clyde. In: Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard (ed.): Cinéma et couleur. Paris: M. Houdiard, pp. 184–192, on pp. 184–185. View Quote
Yumibe, Joshua (2007): Silent Cinema Colour Aesthetics. In: Everett, Wendy (ed.): Questions of Colour in Cinema. From Paintbrush to Pixel. Peter Lang: Oxford, pp. 43-44. View Quote
Yumibe, Joshua (2012): Moving Colors. Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism. New Brunswick et al.: Rutgers University Press, pp. 3-4. View Quote
Films
Annabelle Serpentine Dance (USA 1895, William K.L. Dickson/William Heise)2, 5
Umbrella Dance (USA 1895, Alfred Clark)2, 5
An Eastern Dance (GBR 1896, Robert William Paul)6
Giochi di prestigio (Fregoli in palcoscenico) or Fregoli Prestigiatore (ITA 1897-1899, Leopoldo Fregoli) (sequences)5
Cendrillon (FRA 1899, Georges Méliès)6
Jeanne d’Arc (FRA 1900, Georges Méliès)1, 6
Le voyage dans la lune (FRA 1902, Georges Méliès)2, 4, 6
Le royaume des fées (FRA 1903, Georges Méliès)6
Métamorphoses du papillon (FRA 1904, Gaston Velle) (sequences)6
Le voyage à travers l’impossible (FRA 1904, Georges Méliès)6
Le Palais des mille et une nuits (FRA 1905, Georges Méliès) (sequences)6
La peine du talion (FRA 1906, Gaston Velle) (sequences)
Les quatre cent farces du Diable (FRA 1906, Georges Méliès)6
La conquête du Pôle (FRA 1912, Georges Méliès)6
Lonesome (USA 1928, Paul Fejos) (sequences)3
1 Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 96–97. (in Italian)
2 Yumibe, Joshua (2013): L’espace de la couleur comme espace de jeu dans la littérature enfantine, le cinéma des premiers temps et les fééries. In: 1895. Revue d’Histoire du Cinéma, 71, pp. 33–46, on pp. 37–46. (in French)
3 Yumibe, Joshua (2013): The Illuminated Fairytale. The Colors of Paul Fejo’s Lonesome (1928). In: Simon Brown, Sarah Street and Liz Watkins (eds.): Color and the Moving Image. History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive. New York, London: Routledge, pp. 127–137. View Quote
4 Elliott, Eric (1934): Wither colour? In: Cinema Quarterly, 2,3, Spring, pp. 161–165.
5 Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 12–14. (in Italian) View Quote
6 Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 14–17. (in Italian) View Quote
Links
Hand-colored images from the Davide Turconi collection
Brock, Gustav, F. O. (1931): Hand-Coloring of Motion Picture Film. In: JSMPE, Vol. 16, June 1931, pp. 751-755. View Link
Nicholson, Charles F. (1928): Coloring Film With Brushes. In: Movie Makers. The Magazine of the Amateur Cinema League, Inc., III,7, Jul., pp. 466, 475–476. View Link
Restoration
Aubert, Michelle (1992): Pour une déontologie de la restauration des films en couleur. In: Ciné mémoire. Colloque international d’information (7-9 octobre 1991). Org. et prés. par Michel Ciment. Paris: Femis, pp. 25-28. View Quote
Boarini, Vittorio (1992): La couleur dans le cinéma muet. Des techniques anciennes pour une restauration moderne. In: Michel Ciment (ed.): Ciné mémoire. Colloque international d’information (7-9 octobre 1991). Paris: Femis, pp. 33–36, on p. 36. (in French) View Quote
Desmet, Noël; Read, Paul (1998): The Desmetcolor Method for Restoring Tinted and Toned Films. In: Luciano Berriatúa, Manlio Brusatin, Noël Desmet, Enrico Fornaroli, Giovanna Fossati, Bertrand Lavedrine, Bob Mabberley, Nicola Mazzanti, Ruggero Pierantoni, Paul Read and Sonja Snoek: Tutti i colori del mondo. Il colore nei mass media tra 1900 e 1930. = All the colours of the world. Reggio Emilia: Edizione Diabasis, pp. 147–150, on p. 147. View Quote
Hertogs, Daan; De Klerk, Nico (1996): Disorderly Order. Colours in Silent Film. The 1995 Amsterdam Workshop. Amsterdam: Stichding Nederlands Filmmuseum, on pp. 6-7 View Quote, on pp. 12-14 View Quote, on pp. 18-19 View Quote, on pp. 23-25 View Quote, on pp. 71-76 View Quote and on pp. 87-88. View Quote
Read, Paul; Meyer, Mark-Paul (2000): The Duplication of Early Coloured Films. In: Restoration of Motion Picture Film. Oxford, pp. 191-193. View Quote
Contemporary Reception
Brock, Gustav (1930): Artist Explains Hand Color Role. Pioneer in Work Sees This Method as Indispensable to Treatment of Fire Sequences. In: Motion Picture News, Vol. 41, No. 9, 1930, p. 62. View Quote
Coustet, Ernest (1914): La cinematografia a colori. In: La Tecnica Cinematografica, I,3, ottobre 1914, pp. 71–78 published in Grifo, Marco (2006): Dal film colorato al cinema a colori. In: Michele Canosa, Giulia Carluccio and Federica Villa (eds.): Cinema muto italiano. Tecnica e tecnologia. Volume primo. Roma: Carocci, pp. 173–182, on p. 174. (in Italian) View Quote
Coustet, Ernest (1921): Le cinéma. Paris: Librairie Hachette, on pp. 162-163. (in French) View Quote
Fossati, Giovanna (1998): When Cinema Was Coloured. In: Luciano Berriatúa et al.: Tutti i colori del mondo. Il colore nei mass media tra 1900 e 1930. = All the colours of the world. Reggio Emilia: Edizioni Diabasis, pp. 121-132, on pp. 126-131. View Quote
The King of Kings (USA 1927, Cecil B. DeMille; H. B. Warner; Dorothy Cumming; Ernest Torrence; Joseph Schildkraut):
Anonymous (1926): The King of Kings. In: Variety, Dec. View Quote
Full text on the Variety website. View Link
Opus I (GER 1921, Walter Ruttmann):
Diebold, Bernhard (1921): Eine neue Kunst. Die Augenmusik des Films. In: Frankfurter Zeitung, 242, Apr. (in German) View Quote
Selected Analyses
Annabelle Serpentine Dance (USA 1894, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson):
Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 12–14. (in Italian) View Quote
Der Aufstieg (GER 1926, Walter Ruttmann):
Street, Sarah; Yumibe, Joshua (2019): Chromatic Modernity. Color, Cinema, and Media of the 1920s. New York: Columbia University Press, on pp. 126–127. View Quote
Giochi di prestigio (Fregoli in palcoscenico) or Fregoli Prestigiatore (ITA 1897-1899, Leopoldo Fregoli):
Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 12–14. (in Italian) View Quote
Le chaudron infernal (FRA 1903, Georges Méliès):
Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 37–38. (in Italian) View Quote
Le royaume des fées (FRA 1903, Georges Méliès):
Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 44–46.) (in Italian) View Quote
Lonesome (USA 1928, Paul Fejos):
Yumibe, Joshua (2013): The Illuminated Fairytale. The Colors of Paul Fejo’s Lonesome (1928). In: Simon Brown, Sarah Street and Liz Watkins (eds.): Color and the Moving Image. History, Theory, Aesthetics, Archive. New York, London: Routledge, pp. 127–137. View Quote
Métamorphoses du papillon (FRA 1904, Gaston Velle):
Yumibe, Joshua (2012): Moving Colors. Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism. New Brunswick et al.: Rutgers University Press, pp. 78 f. View Quote
Umbrella Dance (USA 1895, Alfred Clark) (Program at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall, New York, USA, 1896):
Montesanti, Fausto (1954): Lineamenti di una storia del film a colori. In: Giuseppe Sala (ed.): Bianco e Nero. Il colore nel cinema. Rassegna mensile di studi cinematografici, XV,2-4, pp. 11–51, on pp. 12–14. (in Italian) View Quote
