Hicrography / Hicrome

1915

|

Frederic Eugene Ives

Subtractive 3 color: dye imbibition process, still photography

“In 1915 the company launched a hybrid dye imbibition color printing system called Hicrography. From the separation negatives, positive impressions were made through the base on the presensitized dichromated film (Hicro Film), which also ...

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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 134.

1 Image

Agfacolor Screen Plate

1916

|

Agfa

Additive 3 color: mosaic screen, still photography and film

“During the war, an important new screen plate appeared, based on patents taken out by J. H. Christensen in 1908. He proposed to make a concentrated solution of gum in alcohol. Divided into three parts, the gum solutions were dyed red, green ...

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Magnification. Source: Coe, Brian (1978): Colour Photography. The First Hundred Years 1840-1940. London: Ash & Grant.
Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.
Source: Heymer, Gerd (1943): Die neuere Entwicklung der Farbphotographie. In: Ergänzungswerk zum Handbuch der wissenschaftlichen und angewandten Photographie. Wien: Julius Springer 1943, pp. 337-463.
Source: Finger, Ehrhard (1998): Die Pioniere des Wolfener Farbfilms. In: Industrie- und Filmmuseum Wolfen e. V. (ed.), Die Filmfabrik Wolfen. Aus der Geschichte, Heft 2, pp. 16-36. (in German) [quote id='4']
Source: Finger, Ehrhard (1998): Die Pioniere des Wolfener Farbfilms. In: Industrie- und Filmmuseum Wolfen e. V. (ed.), Die Filmfabrik Wolfen. Aus der Geschichte, Heft 2, pp. 16-36. (in German) [quote id='4']
Source: Finger, Ehrhard (1998): Die Pioniere des Wolfener Farbfilms. In: Industrie- und Filmmuseum Wolfen e. V. (ed.), Die Filmfabrik Wolfen. Aus der Geschichte, Heft 2, pp. 16-36. (in German) [quote id='4']
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 73.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 73.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 72.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 76.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 42.

11 Images

Handschiegl / DeMille-Wyckoff / Wyckoff Process

1916

|

Max Handschiegl and Alvin Wyckoff

Applied color: Imbibition

Similar to stenciling, the Handschiegl process was applied mechanically to manually defined image parts. Therefore it is an applied color process. After the film was shot and edited, for each color applied a separate print was made. In contrast to ...

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Black-and-white with Handschiegl in Lights of Old Broadway (USA 1925, Monta Bell). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).
Credit: Paolo Cherchi Usai. Source: Cherchi Usai, Paolo (2000): Silent Cinema. London: BFI. Film: Greed (USA 1925, Erich von Stroheim).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Forbidden Fruit (USA 1921, Cecil B. DeMille).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Forbidden Fruit (USA 1921, Cecil B. DeMille).
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, p. 24.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Trail of '98 (USA 1929, Clarence Brown).

142 Images in 8 Galleries

Douglass Color No. 1

1916

|

Leon Forrest Douglass

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“This two-color additive system for color cinematography was invented in 1916 by Leon Forrest Douglass of San Rafael, California. A special beam splitter camera would advance each roll of film two frames per exposure with its double frame pull down ...

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press. Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press. Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.

3 Images

Technicolor No. I

1916

|

Herbert Kalmus, Daniel Frost Comstock and William Burton Westcott (Technicolor)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter

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.

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The beam-splitter prism. Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.

6 Images in 1 Gallery

Prizma I

1916

|

William van Doren Kelley (Prizma)

Additive 3 color: Rotary filter

“The color experiments were conducted in the basement of a house at 1586 E. Seventeenth St., Brooklyn, N. Y. During this time a double-coated stock and a bleach formula which had much to do with the success of the later Prizma process were ...

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Urban-Joy Process, improvement of Kinemacolor, later called Kinekrom

1916

|

Henry W. Joy (Urban)

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“In the design of apparatus Urban was assisted after 1905 by Henry W. Joy. The Urban-Joy perforator appeared in 1906. The Urban-Joy anti-firing device, a shutter to prevent the firing of inflammable film when projectors broke down, was another ...

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Panchromotion

1917

|

William van Doren Kelley (Panchromotion)

Additive 4 color: Rotary filter

”Kelley’s first color process was a four-color additive system introduced in 1913. Called Panchromotion, Kelley formed a company which would exploit the process commercially and, he hoped, provide strong competition for Kinemacolor. He apparently ...

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Versicolor-Dufay

1917

|

Louis Dufay (Versicolor)

Additive 3 color: line screen plate, still photography and film

“The most successful of all the screen processes was the one initiated by Louis Dufay. Today the product is known as Dufaycolor, but it was first introduced about 1910 as the Dioptichrome plate. The first Dufay patents were assigned to an ...

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Talkicolor

1917

|

Percy James Pearce; Dr Anthony Bernardi (Talkicolor Ltd.)

Additive 2 color: Alternately stained

“Two-colour additive process Talkicolor was developed by Percy James Pearce along with Dr Anthony Bernardi who was also involved in the development of Raycol. The process was funded mainly by the author Elinor Glyn through her company Elinor ...

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Knowing Men (GB 1930, Elinor Glyn), negative. Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

3 Images in 1 Gallery

Gilmore Color

1918

|

Frederic Eugene Ives and Otto C. Gilmore

Additive 2 color: Rotary filter

“Gilmore’s two-color additive process was based on a patent granted to F. E. Ives in 1918. A unique optical system exposed two images in pairs, and quarter-turned them lengthwise side by side on standard 35 mm film stock. One of the images was ...

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Source: U.S.P. 1,262,954 (Ives, Frederic Eugene; filed Feb. 18, 1914; granted Apr. 16, 1918)

1 Image

Kesdacolor

1918

|

William van Doren Kelley, Carroll H. Dunning and Wilson Salisbury (Kesdacolor)

Subtractive 2 color: Line screen filter, duplitized film stock

”The process as illustrated in USP 1431309 was a two-color additive process, but it is stated that it could be a three- or four-color process. For the original photography, the negative was exposed through a line screen composed of alternate bands ...

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

1 Image

Polychromide

1918

|

Aaron OR Aron Hamburger

Subtractive 2 color: beam-splitter, later bi-pack, mordant dye, still photography and film

“Polychromide, a two-color subtractive process invented in 1918 by Aron Hamburger, achieved limited commercial success overseas, and was occasionally employed in England as late as 1933. Originally an orthochromatic and a panchromatic negative were ...

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Polychromide samples from the Kodak Film Samples Collection at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. Credit: National Science and Media Museum Bradford. Photographs by Barbara Flueckiger in collaboration with Noemi Daugaard.
Credit: Brian Pritchard
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 279.

66 Images in 2 Galleries

Prizma II

1919

|

William van Doren Kelley (Prizma Company)

|

United States of America

Subtractive 2 color: Toning on double coated film

“In its final form Prizma made use of duplitized positive film. As in previous Prizma systems, the original negatives were alternate frame sequential exposures. The Prizma negative was printed on both sides of the positive film in a special ...

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The two colors visible at a splice. Credit: EYE Film Institute Amsterdam. Film: [Kleurenpracht].
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Film: The Land of the Great Spirit (1919).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.

399 Images in 14 Galleries

Douglass Color No. 2

1919

|

Leon Forrest Douglass

Subtractive 2 color: Separations, multi-layer prints

“Douglass Color No. 2 (1919). The two negatives of the Douglass Color system No. 1 were printed on a positive. In this updated version of the process, rather than projecting the frames through red and green filters, both latent images were ...

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Cinekrome

1919

|

(Kuz, Wheeler & Moffat Corp.)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter

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Zoechrome

1920

|

T.A. Mills

Subtractive 3 color: Multi-layer printing

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Credit: Collection Gert Koshofer, Bergisch Gladbach (Germany).

16 Images in 1 Gallery

Gorsky Process

1921

|

Prof. Gorsky and R. G. Booth (Manager of Messrs. Gaumont's Scottish branch)

|

France / Scotland

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Autotype Trichrome Carbro

1921

|

H. F. Farmer, Autotype Company

Subtractive 3 color: pigment process, still photography

“As in previous versions of the process, pigment papers were soaked in a sensitizing bath and then squeegeed firmly onto the surface of wet bromide prints to harden the pigmented gelatin in proportion to the amount of silver contained in the ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 103.

1 Image

Triadochrome

1921

|

J. F. Shepherd

Subtractive 3 color: dye mordanting and silver toning process, still photography

“After the war, in 1921, J. F. Shepherd introduced in England a printing method called the Triadochrome Color Process, which was very similar to Hamburger’s Polychromide. To make a print, a cyan impression obtained from an iron-toned ...

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Colorcraft

1922

|

(Colorcraft)

Additive 2 color: Bi-pack, double-coated

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Russian Ideas in Clothes! (USA 1922). Credit: UCLA Film & Television Archive. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.

21 Images in 1 Gallery

Keller-Dorian

1922

|

Albert Keller-Dorian and Rodolphe Berthon (Société du Film en Couleurs Keller-Dorian / Société Française Cinéchromatique Paris)

Additive 3 color: Lenticular screen

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ede, François (1994): Jour de fête ou la couleur retrouvée. Cahiers du Cinéma: Paris.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Principle of capturing and projecting lenticular film. Credit: Joakim Reuteler and Rudolf Gschwind, Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel, Switzerland. Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich.
Microscopic image of a piece of Keller-Dorian lenticular film embedded in epoxide resin. The 3-dimensional structure of the lenticules is visible as well as the thin emulsion layer on the other side of the acetate base. Credit: Sample preparation and imaging by the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.
Lenticular surface of the acetate plastic base of Keller-Dorian lenticular film. On the back plane of the acetate layer and therefore out of focus in this image, structures defined by the silver image in the emulsion layer can be perceived. Credit: David Pfluger, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors. Imaging was performed with support of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.
Hexagonal structure of the lenticules of Keller-Dorian lenticular film. Credit: David Pfluger, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors. Imaging was performed with support of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.
Microscopic images of the Keller-Dorian lenticular structure with the focus set at different points. The images have been chained to show a travelling through the 3-dimensional structure of the bee-hive shaped lenticules. Credit: David Pfluger, conversion to video by Martin Weiss, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors. Imaging was performed with support of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zurich.

14 Images in 2 Galleries

Technicolor No. II

1922

|

(Technicolor)

Subtractive 2 color: 2 toned films cemented

The first subtractive 2 color process introduced by Technicolor captured the incoming light through a beam splitter with red and green filters also. However, in contrast to the first Technicolor process, the two b/w images were recorded on one negative strip. This was achieved by the pull-down of two frames simultaneously, a process that required the double speed in the camera. These two frames were arranged in pairs, whereby the green record was inverted up-side down (see image).

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The Phantom of the Opera (USA 1925, Rupert Julian). Credit: UCLA Film & Television Archive. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Images courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Apparently test pieces, these clippings may well be the oldest surviving samples of the process in existence. Ruedel (2009: 55). Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Source: Ruedel, Ulrich (2009): The Technicolor Notebooks at the George Eastman House. In: Film History, Volume 21, Number 1, 2009, pp. 47-60.
Apparently test pieces, these clippings may well be the oldest surviving samples of the process in existence. Ruedel (2009: 55); color reconstruction of the images shown above. Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Source: Ruedel, Ulrich (2009): The Technicolor Notebooks at the George Eastman House. In: Film History, Volume 21, Number 1, 2009, pp. 47-60.
Apparently test pieces, these clippings may well be the oldest surviving samples of the process in existence. Ruedel (2009: 55). Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Source: Ruedel, Ulrich (2009): The Technicolor Notebooks at the George Eastman House. In: Film History, Volume 21, Number 1, 2009, pp. 47-60.
Arrangement of the two records on the camera negative. Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress.
Film: Stage Struck (USA 1925, Allan Dwan). Credit: Nitrate Frame Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Collection. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Nitrate Frame Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Collection. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Film: Irene (USA 1926, Alfred E. Green). Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

133 Images in 8 Galleries

Traube / Uvachrome

1922

|

Arthur Traube (Uvachrom)

Subtractive 3 color: mordanting, dye transfer, wash-off relief, still photography and film

“In 1916 Traube found that copper toning baths were especially suitable for dye mordanting and patented the Uvachrome process. At the time, Germany was at war with most of Europe, and little commercial progress was made until the end of ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 103.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 277.
Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 138.

3 Images

New Agfa Color Plate

1923

|

Agfa Company

Additive 3 color: mosaic screen, combined system, still photography

“New Agfa Color Plate (1923–1932): colored particles very small and not visible to the naked eye, but clumps of particles of the same color give the image a pointillist effect (Fig. 2.62). Unlike with the autochromes, in which the grains ...

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Source: Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 73.

1 Image

Kelleycolor

1923

|

William van Doren Kelley (Kelleycolor Company)

Subtractive 2 color: Dye transfer

“In 1919 Kelley produced a series of coloured cartoons which were drawn by Pinto Colvig. In 1924 he introduced “Kelleycolor,” which was an imbibition process. Two colours were imbibed on a black-and-white key image. In 1926 he ...

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Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Film: The Old Family Toothbrush (USA 1925).

1 Image

Chromo-Film

1923

|

Adolf Hnatek (Chromo-Film Ges. mbH)

Additive 3 color: Double-sized film, rotary filter

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Horst

1924

|

Ludwig Horst senior

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, 65 mm negative

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

4 Images in 1 Gallery

Szczepanik

1924

|

Jan Szczepanik (Emil Busch AG)

Additive 3 color: Moving lenses

“The process of J. Szczepanik in 1925 was impracticable. He used a non-intermittent camera having a chain of eighteen lenses moving together with the film behind a collimating lens, three pictures being simultaneously exposed.” (Klein, ...

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Thornton

1924

|

John E. Thornton

|

England

Additive two-color or four-color process: beam splitter and mosaic screen, films

In this process, two positives, one orange-red one blue-green, were cemented together. Several specifications and modifications exist, for instance the strengthening of the perforated film margins via a second exposure, in an attempt to overcome wear ...

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