Technicolor No. I
Description
During the capturing of the film a beam-splitter in combination with filters in the camera divided the incoming light into a red and a green separation negative on black-and-white stock. When projected in the cinema the two images were combined simultaneously by additive mixture through corresponding red and green filters into one picture consisting of red and green colored light. The reduction of the whole color range to two colors (and their additive combinations) was necessary because of the complex optical arrangement.
The first Technicolor process was similar to Kinemacolor, the commercially most successful additive process in early film. To avoid the heavy color fringing which was due to time parallax in the Kinemacolor process by successive recording of the color separations, Technicolor invented a beam-splitter. Thus the red and the green record were taken at the same time from the same point of view. In practice, however, it proved to be very difficult to align the two images during projection.
The disappointing experience with this process led to the decision by Technicolor to abandon additive processes and to switch to subtractive ones. The beam-splitter was the most important invention of Technicolor process No. 1 and all the successive color processes invented by Technicolor relied on this optical system.
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The beam-splitter prism. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
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Secondary Sources
Alt, Dirk (2011): “Der Farbfilm marschiert!” Frühe Farbfilmverfahren und NS-Propaganda 1933-1945. München: Belleville, on p. 42. (in German) View Quote
Basten, Fred E. (1980): Glorious Technicolor. The Movies’ Magic Rainbow. South Brunswick: Barnes, on pp. 20–24. View Quote
Behlmer, Rudy (1964): Technicolor. In: Films in Review, 15,6, pp. 333–351, on pp. 333–336. View Quote
Bordwell, David; Staiger, Janet; Thompson, Kristin (1985): The Classical Hollywood Cinema. Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960. London: Routledge, on p. 353. View Quote
Brown, Simon (2012): Technical Appendix. In: Sarah Street: Colour Films in Britain. The Negotiation of Innovation 1900-55. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 259-287, on pp. 284-286 (all Technicolor processes). View Quote
Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI, pp. 37-38. View Quote
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 p. 218. View Quote
Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions, on p. 132. 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. 20. 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 p. 122. View Quote
Haines, Richard W. (1993): Technicolor Movies. The History of Dye Transfer Printing. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland. View Quote
Higgins, Scott (2000): Demonstrating Three-Colour Technicolor. Early Three-Colour Aesthetics and Design. In: Film History, 12,4, pp. 358–383, on pp. 358–359. View Quote
Kalmus, Herbert T. (1938): Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 31,6, 1938, pp. 564-585, on pp. 565-566. View Quote
Kitsopanidou, Kira (2009): “Glorious Technicolor”. La stratégie d’innovation de la couleur de Technicolor dans l’industrie cinématographique Américaine. In: Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard (ed.): Cinéma et couleur. Paris: M. Houdiard, pp. 193–206, on pp. 193–194. (in French) View Quote
Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co. 2nd revised edition, p. 14. View Quote
Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall, pp. 451-479 (all Technicolor processes).
Kuhn, Irene (1937): Rainbow “Round the Screen”. In: Cinema Arts, 1,1, pp. 28–32, on p. 28. View Quote
Layton, James; Pierce, David (2015): The Dawn of Technicolor. Rochester: George Eastman House, on pp. 36–41 View Quote, on p. 59 View Quote, on pp. 70–71 View Quote, on p. 85 View Quote and on p. 114. View Quote
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. 27–28. (in Italian) View Quote
Neale, Steve (1985): The Beginnings of Technicolor. In: Angela Dalle Vacche and Brian Price (eds.): Color. The Film Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006, pp. 13-23, on p. 13. 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. 202-210. View Quote
Ruedel, Ulrich (2009): The Technicolor Notebooks at the George Eastman House. In: Film History, Volume 21, Number 1, 2009, pp. 47-60, on p. 49. View Quote
Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 125–126. (in Italian) View Quote
Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un’archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, on p. 31. (in Italian) View Quote
Films
The Gulf Between (USA 1918, Wray Physioc) lost1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Way Down East (USA 1920, D.W. Griffith) unknown8
1 Bartlett, Randolph; Kelly, Kitty (1917): The Shadow Stage. Reviews of Current Photoplays. The Gulf Between. In: Photoplay, 13,1, p. 118. View Quote
2 Kalmus, Herbert T. (1938): Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 31,6, 1938, pp. 564-585, on pp. 565-566. View Quote
3 Klein, Adrian Bernhard = Cornwell-Clyne (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co. 2nd revised edition, p. 14. View Quote
4 Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions, on p. 132. View Quote
5 Nowotny, Robert A. (1983): The Way of All Flesh Tones. A History of Color Motion Picture Processes, 1895-1929. New York: Garland Pub., pp. 202-210. View Quote
6 Neale, Steve (1985): The Beginnings of Technicolor. In: Angela Dalle Vacche and Brian Price (eds.): Color. The Film Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006, pp. 13-23, on p. 13. View Quote
7 Haines, Richard W. (1993): Technicolor Movies. The History of Dye Transfer Printing. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland. View Quote
8 Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI, pp. 37-38. View Quote
9 Ruedel, Ulrich (2009): The Technicolor Notebooks at the George Eastman House. In: Film History, Volume 21, Number 1, 2009, pp. 47-60, on p. 49. View Quote
10 Brown, Simon (2012): Technical Appendix. In: Sarah Street: Colour Films in Britain. The Negotiation of Innovation 1900-55. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 259-287, on pp. 284-286 (all Technicolor processes). View Quote
11 Alt, Dirk (2011): “Der Farbfilm marschiert!” Frühe Farbfilmverfahren und NS-Propaganda 1933-1945. München: Belleville, on p. 42. (in German) View Quote
12 Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 125–126. (in Italian) View Quote
13 Basten, Fred E. (1980): Glorious Technicolor. The Movies’ Magic Rainbow. South Brunswick: Barnes, on pp. 26–29. View Quote
14 Herring, Robert (1935): Technicolossal. In: Life and Letters Today, 13, Sep., pp. 194–196, on p. 194.
15 Behlmer, Rudy (1964): Technicolor. In: Films in Review, 15,6, pp. 333–351, on pp. 333–336. View Quote
16 Kitsopanidou, Kira (2009): “Glorious Technicolor”. La stratégie d’innovation de la couleur de Technicolor dans l’industrie cinématographique Américaine. In: Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard (ed.): Cinéma et couleur. Paris: M. Houdiard, pp. 193–206, on pp. 193–194. (in French) View Quote
17 Kitsopanidou, Kira (2009): “Glorious Technicolor”. La stratégie d’innovation de la couleur de Technicolor dans l’industrie cinématographique Américaine. In: Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard (ed.): Cinéma et couleur. Paris: M. Houdiard, pp. 193–206, on pp. 195–200. (in French)
18 Pierotti, Federico (2016): Un’archeologia del colore nel cinema italiano. Dal Technicolor ad Antonioni. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, on p. 31. (in Italian) View Quote
19 Layton, James; Pierce, David (2015): The Dawn of Technicolor. Rochester: George Eastman House, on p. 85. View Quote
20 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. 27–28. (in Italian) View Quote
Downloads
Herbert T. Kalmus (1938): Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 31,6, 1938, pp. 564-585
Download PDF
Patents
E.P. 101,972 (Wescott, William Burton; filed Oct. 23, 1916; granted Aug. 16, 1917)
Download PDFE.P. 127,308 (Comstock, Daniel Frost; filed April 11, 1917; granted June 5, 1919)
Download PDFE.P. 131,422 (Comstock, Daniel Frost/Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation; filed Aug. 15, 1918; granted Aug. 15, 1919)
Download PDFE.P. 132,580 (Comstock, Daniel Frost/Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation; filed Aug. 15, 1918; granted Sept. 15, 1919)
Download PDFE.P. 194,971 (Comstock, Daniel Frost/Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation; filed May 2, 1922; granted March 22, 1923)
Download PDFU.S.P. 1,231,710 (Comstock, Daniel Frost; filed Oct. 5, 1915; granted July 3, 1917)
Download PDFU.S.P. 1,390,983 (Comstock, Daniel Frost; filed Dec. 11, 1916; granted Sept. 20, 1921)
Download PDFU.S.P. 1,451,325 (Ball, Joseph Arthur/Comstock, Daniel Frost; filed Oct. 6, 1920; granted April 10, 1923)
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Contemporary Reception
Bartlett, Randolph; Kelly, Kitty (1917): The Shadow Stage. Reviews of Current Photoplays. The Gulf Between. In: Photoplay, 13,1, p. 118. View Quote
Kelley, William Van Doren (1918): Natural Color Cinematography. In: Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 7, Nov. 1918, pp. 38–43, on p. 42. View Quote
