Amateur Cine World (June 1934)

GIVE YOUR FILMS THE, WARMTH: AND REALISM OF WAS watching some amateur sub-standard films with the Editor of Amateur Cine World the other day and was particularly impressed by two reels photographed in colour. Seeing these prompted me to write this article, for I am sure every amateur cine enthusiast will be interested to learn of the present position in the colour film world. Those who know little of colour films usually resort to one or both of two methods which to some extent give an effect of colour. The most popular is the use of a colour wheel which is, in effect, sections of coloured Infra-red photography serves to show how fascinating this photograph of St. Michael’s Mount would appear in colour. celluloid cemented together and fixed in front of the lens. If a sea scene is to be shown then a blue or green shade is placed in the path of the light stream. Similarly, for a sunset the red section of the colour wheel is used. Where Tinted Film Scores. A very similar scheme is the tinting of the actual film with film tints of whatever colour is desired. These tints can be bought in a variety of shades and are easily applied to the film backing. I had cause to use one of them the other day and it gave an effect which it would have been practically impossible to portray in black and white. I was filming a girl dancer during an actual performance at a well-known London theatre. A green spotlight was focussed on her and it was, of course, impossible for me to film this on account of the fact that the film which I was using was not sufficiently sensitive to the colour. _ I therefore filmed her in a later sequence in which a white spotlight was used and afterwards tinted this portion of the processed film to a green shade. It gave 114 COLOUR Says THE CINEMAN who in this article discusses inexpensive methods which give the effect of colour and also simple colour processes. exactly the effect that was obtained on the stage. This illustrates very well the uses to which film tints can be put and provides an example of how colour can be added to your movies at low cost. The Technicolour process is one which is used by professionals to a fair degree and readers will probably remember one of the first experiments (the film ‘‘ Whoopee’’ starring the inimitable Eddie Cantor) in this system was used. Since then films in technicolour have been reduced down to the 16mm. size, a number of subjects now being available through dealers in this country. The colours produced by the technicolour process are actually in the film itself, which can be shown on any 16mm. projector fitted with a reasonably good illuminant. It is interesting to learn that the famous Walt Disney Silly Symphony colour cartoons are produced by this method. Tinting by Hand. There was a section in the last I.A.C. competition for colour films, the one which carried off the trophy being a remarkable effort. It was produced by a Jugo-Slavian enthusiast and was made by the Vitacolour system. But what was most astonishing was that it was produced on 9.5mm. stock. The system is one of the simplest of colour arrangements <A two-bladed filter (with blades coloured red and green respectively) is rotated in front of the lens in synchronisation with the shutter when the film is taken. Then comes the difficult part of the proceeding —and one which marks the effort of our Jugo-Slavian friend as a really remarkable achievement. He tinted each individual frame of his 300ft. of film alternately red and green—by hand. I am afraid there are not many enthusiasts in this country who would care to process a 3-reel film by this method ! This particular film had to be passed through the projector gate at a speed of 40 frames per second and hence was liable to severe strain. Furthermore, the operator was nearly driven to the mad house through the necessity of keeping his eye closely on the film loops in case they were lost and the film damaged. The (Continued on page 126)