Business screen magazine (1938)

cost, as has already been mentioned, is therefore neghgible. At this point it would be well to summarize some of the types of color processing now in favor for the commercial film: SLIDE FILMS IN COLOR • The demand for color in slide film productions is gaining momentum. Slide film producers as well as the advertising and sales promotional heads of large corporations are quickly sensing the added appeal of color. However, the desire is more easily reached than satisfied. Existing methods of slide film color are few, and those in use are characterized by high production costs, various complexities, and lengthy time schedules necessary to completion of the production. Thus, to many in the field today, color is synonymous with headache tablets and hours of lost sleep. Kodachrome, shortly after its inception, was destined to become the answer to some of these problems. It was not long after 35mm. Kodachrome became a reality that duplicating processes were heard of and various trick cameras for multiple exposures began to form on the drafting board. However, it was some time before any worth while results were reached. Recently a favorable process has been perfected for utilizing Kodachrome in slide films. The simplicity of the process speaks for itself. From Kodachrome originals made with any of the well known "candid" cameras, single frame copies are made in sequence on a strip of 35 mm. perforated Kodachrome film. A system of color filtering has been devised whereby accurate reproduction is maintained even though variations in the film stock or processing are apparent. Presently the film is obtainable in 15 foot lengths which allows for some two hundred odd frames, ample in the great majority of cases. Certain defects in originals can be overcome by color balancing and undesirable portions excluded in the final result. The process allows for remarkable flexibility and ease of operation. Original Kodachromes are made quickly and inexpensively. The finest of a collection of slides are selected for use, and without much ado a test color strip is submitted for approval. Any necessary changes are made and within the space of one week finished strips are ready for use. Although tests have shown that the film will wear as well as black and white stock, a chemical treatment insures prolonged life and minimizes any chance of color fading. THE CINECOLOR PROCESS • The Cinecolor Process covers a method of processing color motion pictures from virtually any type of color separation negative. Bi-pack or Du-Pac is most generally used to date. The Bi-pack system consists of a pair of negatives, one being substantially orthochromatic, the other panchromatic. On the emulsion surface of the ortho negative is a red filter in the form of a dye, this filter being equivalent to a Wratten 'iSA filter. The two negatives are threaded through the camera with their emulsion surfaces in contact and are photographed in that manner. Colors of the blue-green end of the spectrum are recorded onto the ortho negative and colors of the red-orange end of the spectrum are photographed onto the panchromatic negative at one time. The negatives are developed to a definite gamma and printed onto what is termed duplitized positive film. This is a positive film having an emulsion on either side of its transparent base. The emulsions are impregnated with a water soluble yellow dye to prevent the rays from the printer lights from penetrating to opposite emulsions. During the development of the film, the yellow dye washes out and is of no further use. After the positive images are developed, fixed and washed, they are subjected to certain selective coloring solutions which convert the silver images into color lakes. The images from the ortho negative are colored yellow to red and the images from the panchromatic negative are colored blue-green. After the positives are processed and dried, they are submitted to a process which renders the emulsions impervious to projection scratches, while not affecting the life of the celluloid base. Prints made from negatives made with beam splitter cameras or those made with straight Wratten filters are also processed by Cinecolor, the results in the main being akin to those made by Bi-pack negatives. Although Cinecolor is, at present, what is termed a two-color process, it is able to obtain a great range of colors with true fidelity. "FILMED IN TECHNICOLOR" • In the earliest days of the Technicolor development, it was recognized that the ultimate goal of workers in the field of color cinematography must be a process that would add a full scale of color reproduction to the existing black-and-white product without subtracting from any of its desirable qualities, without imposing any complications upon theater projection conditions, and with a minimum of added burden in the cost of photography and in the cost of prints. These considerations seemed clearly to indicate a three-color subtractive printing process capable of ultimate low cost of manufacture. The Technicolor three-color camera photographs the three primary aspects of a scene (red, green, and blue) upon three separate film strips, simultaneously, at normal speed, without fringe or parallax, in balance, and in proper register with each other. These separate strips are developed to negatives of equal contrast and must always be handled as a group. From these color-separation negatives, we (Please turn to Page 38) THE COLOR CAMERAMAN IS THE IMPORTANT LINK BETWEEN THE BEAUTY OP FINE PHOTOGRAPHY and the jiriict ical reatism of the best "sellhig angles" ill commercial Khii proiluction. Tcthnicolor animation subjects courtesy of the Jam Handy Organization. The photo above is from the Cosmocolor set of Wilding Picture Productions. 19