International photographer (Jan-Dec 1936)

Twelve T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1936 Dufaycolor by the Negative-Positive Method For 35mm. Professional Use By Walter H. Carson T is the natural sequence that in the development of any art or industry the new sup„ plants the old in the never-ending attempt to reach the ideal of which any medium is capable. The legitimate stage producers looked with disdain upon the feeble efforts of the earlier motion picture producers, little knowing that the crude flickering shadows on the screen of the old time nickelodeon were but the first indications of the development of an industry that would some day far surpass the legitimate stage as a means of dramatic entertainment to say nothing of the place that it would take in industrial, educational, and travel pictures. For a number of years the legitimate stage was able to maintain its position in the amusement field because it had one factor, which up to that time the motion picture could not supply, namely: Sound. From the time of the introduction of sound even in its crudest state it was inevitable that the trend of theatrical productions would have to be changed to meet the ever growing popularity and mass appeal of the talking motion picture. One of the efforts that has been made by the legitimate stage to stem this tide of ever growing popularity is the introduction on the stage of a pageantry of depth and color which the film had not yet attained, but the march of progress is not to be denied and if the entertainment value of the "makebelieve" as interpreted by the motion picture can now attain a comparable step by bringing to the screen color and depth, which to a great degree are synonymous, the ascendancy is bound to remain with the motion picture and sadly as we may view the passing of the legitimate stage it seems inevitable that it cannot withstand the inroads of this latest innovation. It is not the intention of this article to decry the value of hte dramatic efforts of our greatest actors and actresses whose talents have been confined to emotional portrayal behind the footlights. Unfortunately, it is the dollar return as represented by the sale of seats and box office returns as compared to the dollar spent on the production itself that must in the last analysis be the determining factor. Photography, even in the black and white field, is at best a difficult medium with which to work because it is dependent upon the delicate balances of certain chemical equations and constant variations of light. When to this you add the many mechanical complications which the introduction of sound has made necessary to say nothing of the tremendous expense which has been involved in both studio and theatre to accommodate that development, it is not unnatural that the producer is reluctant to accept any new factor which will without question still further complicate production difficulties and again add to the expense. The first question is, assuming that a satisfactory color is available, how much will it add to the production costs and will the added expense be warranted by increased returns in the box office? We do not believe that this question can yet be answered because of the dearth of satisfactory color subjects utilizing narrative and dramatic medium of comparable quality. It is unfortunate that in most cases the use of color on large productions has led to an accentuation of the color itself at the expense of the narrative value of the subject used. In other words, the use of color has been an end to demonstrate what color would do rather than a means to enhance the production itself. Until this technique has been developed so that the use of color will serve its intended purpose we do not believe that we can fairly judge its comparable value as a factor in a successful production or prove its indispensible value as a box office factor. One of the reasons why color has not been utilized more extensively up to the present time is the fact that it involved the use of special cameras and an excessive amount of light for illuminating the set and very highly specialized laboratory equipment to produce duplicate prints. DUFAYCOLOR film is the first photographic medium with which it has been possible to produce a color result on the screen with existing camera equipment, only a slight increase in set illumination, standard laboratory equipment, and no modification of projection equipment or screen illumination. This result has been achieved by the development of a film based on the additive principle wherein the film itself bears a tri-color screen of microscopic finesness in the three primal colors: red, blue, and green, which when loaded into the ordinary camera may be used the same as black and white negative of standard or panchromatic type and with a slight increase of exposure either in shutter speed or aperture secure a negative film in complementary colors which may be developed by ordinary development and fixation such as is now being done in standard developing machines. From this negative any desired number of positive prints can be made in either a projection or contact printer onto DUFAYCOLOR positive stock which differs from the negative material only in the fact that the screen pattern is applied to the base at a different angle and the emulsion so sensitized as to eliminate what is known as the over-laps in the transmission of the three original dyes used in the screen of the taking or negative stock. By the use of a three color additive system applied to the film itself in a pattern of sufficient refinement so that it is not obviously visible on the screen when the film is projected to the size required for theatre use it is possible to meet all of the theoretical problems which have made the use of color impractical in other processes. When to this feature is added a fidelity of reproduction of the entire spectrum in colors which are not garishly objectionable so that the color detracts rather than enhances, we feel sure that the value of color so used will justify the moderate increase in cost and become such an integral and necessary part of every screen production that without it the box office value will be minimized to the point where no producer will seriously contemplate a major production of any sort without the use of this new medium.