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Kodachrome Two-color 1915, after 1930 renamed Fox Nature Color

Description

The Kodachrome process was invented by John G. Capstaff in 1913 for still photography and subsequently adapted to motion pictures. For the process two frames were advanced simultaneously, one located above the other. The light passed either through two lenses or through a beam-splitter, fitted with red and green filters. From the camera negative a master-positive was produced on an optical printer. During this step, optical problems caused by the arrangement were also corrected. The release print was exposed through a beam-splitter whereby the alternate frames were projected onto either side of double-coated stock. After development by a usual b/w process, the film was tanned to harden the exposed areas. The soft areas were dyed red-orange and blue-green respectively.

Due to the loss of light caused by the filters and by the optical set-up, the speed of the process was rather low.







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Original Technical Papers and Primary Sources

Anonymous (1916): The Kodachrome Process. In: The British Journal of Photography, Colour Supplement, 10, p. 234 View Quote and 485. View Quote

Kelley, William Van Doren (1925): Color Photography Patents (cont.). In: Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 24, Oct., pp. 149–161, on p. 156. View Quote, View PDF

Secondary Sources

Alt, Dirk (2011): “Der Farbfilm marschiert!” Frühe Farbfilmverfahren und NS-Propaganda 1933-1945. München: Belleville, on pp. 41–42. (in German) View Quote

Busch, L. (1930): Das Kodachrome-Verfahren. In: Die Kinotechnik, 12,11, Jun., pp. 312–313. (in German) View Quote

Dr. N. (1937): Mehrschichten-Film. In: Film-Kurier, 27.8.1937, Serie “Farb-Film-Fibel”. (in German) View Quote

Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In: Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931. Leipzig: J. A. Barth, pp. 214–221, on pp. 215–218. (in German) View Quote

Guiralt Gomar, Carmen (2014): Two-color Kodachrome and Its Incorporation at The Light in the Dark (Clarence Brown, 1922). First and Only One Public Exhibition of This Experimental Process in a Commercial Feature. In: Fotocinema, 9, pp. 83–116, on pp. 91–97 View Quote and on pp. 109–115. (in Spanish) View Quote

Ives, F.E. (1930): Something More About Progress in Subtractive Process Color Cinematography. In: Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 15, pp. 211–212. View Quote

Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.. 2nd revised edition, pp. 14.  View Quote

Koshofer, Gert (1996): Early Colorfilm Processes for the Cinema. In: Monica Dall’Asta, Guglielmo Pescatore and Leonardo Quaresima (eds.): Il colore nel cinema muto. Bologna: Clueb, p. 43. View Quote

Koshofer, Gert (1965): Jubiläum für einen Farbfilm. 30 Jahre Kodachrome. In: FM, 9, pp. 40–42, on p. 40. (in German) View Quote

Layton, James; Pierce, David (2015): The Dawn of Technicolor. Rochester: George Eastman House, on p. 59 View Quote, on pp. 61–62 View Quote, on p. 63 View Quote and on p. 180. View Quote

Layton, James (n.d.): Two-Color Kodachrome Test Shots No. III. In: Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, n.p. View Link

Matthews, Glenn E. (1930): A Motion Picture Made in 1916 by a Two-Color Subtractive Process. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 15,5, 1930, pp. 624-626. View Quote

Mees, C.E. Kenneth (1929): The Processes of Color Photography. III. Color Cinematography. In: The Journal of Chemical Education, 6, pp. 44–51, on p. 48. 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., p. 152. View Quote

Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, pp. 66 ff. View Quote

Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on p. 129. (in Italian) View Quote

Measurements

Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

 

Loyd A. Jones Kaleidoscope (mid-1920s), sample from the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (UK).
Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

 

Loyd A. Jones Kaleidoscope (mid-1920s), sample from the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (UK).
Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

 

Kodachrome Two-color, 1920s. Credit: Gert Koshofer Collection. Sample No. 58. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

 

 

Kodachrome Two-color, 1920s. Credit: Gert Koshofer Collection. Sample No. 58. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Absorbances measured with a multispectral imaging system from film areas with pure dyes. Credit: Giorgio Trumpy, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.

See the specific sample from which the spectra were measured.

Contemporary Reception

Anonymous (1926): Ein Farbenfilm nach dem Kodachrome-Verfahren. In: Die Kinotechnik, 8,10, p. 270. (in German) View Quote