Please access detailed information on over 250 individual film color processes via the classification system on this page, display the Timeline of Historical Film Colors in chronological order, search via the tag cloud at the end of this page or directly on the search page, or see the contributing archives’ collections on the header slides.
Out now:
Since the earliest days of cinema, film has been a colorful medium and art form. More than 230 film color processes have been devised in the course of film history, often in close connection with photography. In this regard, both media institutionalized numerous techniques such as hand and stencil coloring as well as printing and halftone processes. Apart from these fundamental connections in terms of the technology of color processes, film and photography also share and exchange color attributions and aesthetics.
This publication highlights material aspects of color in photography and film, while also investigating the relationship of historical film colors and present-day photography. Works of contemporary photographers and artists who reflect on technological and culture-theoretical aspects of the material of color underline these relations. Thematic clusters focus on aesthetic and technological parallels, including fashion and identity, abstraction and experiment, politics, exoticism, and travel.
Color Mania contains a general introduction to color in film and photography (technique, materiality, aesthetics) as well as a series of short essays that take a closer look at specific aspects. An extensive image section illustrates the texts and color systems and continues the aesthetic experience of the various processes and objects in book form.
The publication is also available in German
Edited by Barbara Flückiger, Eva Hielscher, Nadine Wietlisbach, in collaboration with Fotomuseum Winterthur
With contributions by Michelle Beutler, Noemi Daugaard, Josephine Diecke, Evelyn Echle, Barbara Flueckiger, Eirik Frisvold Hanssen, Eva Hielscher, Thilo Koenig, Joëlle Kost, Franziska Kunze, Bregt Lameris, David Pfluger, Ulrich Ruedel, Mona Schubert, Simon Spiegel, Olivia Kristina Stutz, Giorgio Trumpy, Martin Weiss, Nadine Wietlisbach
Design: Meierkolb
This database was created in 2012 and has been developed and curated by Barbara Flueckiger, professor at the Department of Film Studies, University of Zurich to provide comprehensive information about historical film color processes invented since the end of the 19th century including specific still photography color technologies that were their conceptual predecessors.
Timeline of Historical Film Colors was started with Barbara Flueckiger’s research at Harvard University in the framework of her project Film History Re-mastered, funded by Swiss National Science Foundation, 2011-2013.
In 2013 the University of Zurich and the Swiss National Science Foundation awarded additional funding for the elaboration of this web resource. 80 financial contributors sponsored the crowdfunding campaign Database of Historical Film Colors with more than USD 11.100 in 2012. In addition, the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film, Zurich University of the Arts provided a major contribution to the development of the database. Many further persons and institutions have supported the project, see acknowledgements.
Since February 2016 the database has been redeveloped in the framework of the research project Film Colors. Technologies, Cultures, Institutions funded by a grant from Swiss National Science Foundation. Since 2016, the team of the research project ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors has been collecting and adding written sources. All the members of the two research projects on film colors, both led by Barbara Flueckiger, have been capturing photographs of historical film prints since 2017.
Please report errors or suggestions.
Follow the links “Access detailed information ›” to access the currently available detail pages for individual processes. These pages contain an image gallery, a short description, a bibliography of original papers and secondary sources connected to extended quotes from these sources, downloads of seminal papers and links. We are updating these detail pages on a regular basis.
In June 2015, the European Research Council awarded the prestigious Advanced Grant to Barbara Flueckiger for her new research project FilmColors. Bridging the Gap Between Technology and Aesthetics, see press release of the University of Zurich and information on the University of Zurich’s website.
Subscribe to the blog to receive all the news: https://blog.filmcolors.org/ (check out sidebar on individual entries for the “follow” button).
Contributions to the Timeline of Historical Film Colors
“It would not have been possible to collect all the data and the corresponding images without the support from many individuals and institutions.Thank you so much for your contribution, I am very grateful.”
Barbara Flueckiger
Experts, scholars, institutions | Sponsors, supporters, patrons of the crowdfunding campaign, April 23 to July 21, 2012
April 23 to July 21, 2012, $11,175 raised
*Note: Several donors prefer to remain anonymous.
Project Leader and Principal Investigator:
Prof. Dr. Barbara Flueckiger, baflueckiger@gmail.com
Team:
Research Management:
Dr. Evelyn Echle, Scientific Research Manager evelyn.echle@uzh.ch
Software Development:
BSc Gaudenz Halter, Software Development Color Film Analyses, video annotation und crowdsourcing platform VIAN, in collaboration with Visualization and MultiMedia Lab of Prof. Dr. Renato Pajarola, University of Zurich, (Enrique G. Paredes, PhD; Rafael Ballester-Ripoll, PhD) since 07.2017
BSc Noyan Evirgen, Software Development, in collaboration with Visualization and MultiMedia Lab von Prof. Dr. Renato Pajarola, Universität Zürich (Enrique G. Paredes, PhD; Rafael Ballester-Ripoll, PhD), 03.2017–01.2018
Assistants Film Analyses:
BA Manuel Joller, BA Ursina Früh, BA/MA Valentina Romero
Project Leader:
Prof. Dr. Barbara Flueckiger, baflueckiger@gmail.com
Team:
MA Noemi Daugaard, PhD Candidate, noemi_daugaard@access.uzh.ch
MA Josephine Diecke, PhD Candidate, josephine.diecke@uzh.ch
Data Management Timeline of Historical Film Colors:
MA Sabrina Züger, BA Manuel Joller, BA Jamie-Lee Moser, MA Meredith Stalder, MA Valentina Romero
Financing the Timeline of Historical Film Colors?
The development of the project started in fall 2011 with stage 1. Each stage necessitated a different financing scheme. We are now in stage 3 and are looking for additional funding by private sponsors. Please use the Stripe interface to pay conveniently online or transfer your financial contribution directly to
Account IBAN CH2509000000604877146
Account holder: Barbara Flueckiger, CH-8005 Zurich, Switzerland
SWIFT Code / BIC: P O F I C H B E X X X
Bank: PostFinance AG, Mingerstrasse 20, CH-3030 Bern, Switzerland
Clearing Nummer: 09000
Read more about the financial background of the project on filmcolors.org.
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The author has exercised the greatest care in seeking all necessary permissions to publish the material on this website. Please contact the author immediately and directly should anything infringe a copyright nonetheless.
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Thank you very much for your financial contribution! Each sponsor receives a credit on the acknowledgement page: http://zauberklang.ch/acknowledgements.html
Thank you very much for your financial contribution! Each sponsor receives a credit on the acknowledgement page: http://zauberklang.ch/acknowledgements.html
1895
Subtractive 3 color: Chromogenic development
Raphael E. Liesegang
Liesegang, Raphaël E. (1895): Die Farbe der Silberbilder In: Photographisches Archiv, 36, pp. 115-119.
Cauda, Ernesto (1938): Il cinema a colori. Quaderno mensile. Roma: Bianco e nero, anno II, nr. 11, on pp. 54–55. (in Italian) View Quote
“Uno dei procedimenti più interessanti e, se vogliamo, anche uno dei più arditi, e che ha dato in questi ultimi tempi risultati molto lusinghieri è quello dello sviluppo colorante.
Il principio, assai originale, di questo procedimento si basa sopra un’osservazione fatta dall’Homolka. Questi osservò che, quando si sviluppa un’immagine d’argento in determinate circostanze, si viene a sovrapporre all’immagine d’argento un’immagine secondaria, costituita da prodotti organici insolubili provenienti dall’alterazione della costituzione chimica dello sviluppatore. Il Fischer, nei 1911, si servì di uno sviluppatore i cui prodotti d’ossidazione, uniti a talune sostanze organiche solubili, (dette componenti) aggiunte al bagno rivelatore, generavano materie coloranti, e riuscì in tal modo ad ottenere dapprima delle immagini monocrome, costituite, dopo l’eliminazione dell’argento ridotto, da sola materia colorante. Si trattò allora di risolvere il seguente problema: trovare tre componenti che, incorporati nei tre strati sensibili di un film a tre emulsioni e aggiunti ai prodotti d’ossidazione dello stesso rivelatore, dessero i tre colori (azzurro-verde, porpora e giallo) occorrenti per i tre monocromi.
Le ricerche furono lunghe, minuziose, laboriosissime, ma portarono infine ai risultati desiderati. Il Fischer trovò, per esempio, uno sviluppatore alla p-amidodimetilanilina che
1° con l’α-naftolo (componente aggiunto all’ultimo strato, sensibile al rosso) dà un prodotto azzurro-verde, il blu d’indofenolo;
2° col cianuro di metilene (componente aggiunto allo strato intermedio, sensibile al verde) dà un prodotto di color porpora;
3° con l’aldeide acetica (componente aggiunto al primo strato, sensibile al blu) dà un prodotto giallo.
Converrà porre subito in evidenza che questi sistemi a triplice emulsione e a sviluppo colorante consentono la stampa diretta a colori da un controtipo colorato. Vale a dire, ottenuto un primo tipo a colori, direttamente colla macchina da presa, è possibile ottenere per stampa diretta un numero indefinito di copie.”
(Cauda, Ernesto (1938): Il cinema a colori. Quaderno mensile. Roma: Bianco e nero, anno II, nr. 11, on pp. 54–55.) (in Italian)
Timeline of Historical Film Colors by Barbara Flueckiger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
