American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1942)

as are made by Eastman for use with their Color Temperature Meter, and by Harrison and Harrison for use with their Color-Meter. Essentially, these meters tell the cinematographer which of a matched set of color-correcting filters should be used to compensate for light of an abnormal color. Because quite a bit of skill and a good deal of practice are required to use these meters successfully, I would recommend them only to the more painstaking professionals and to the seriously advanced amateur. Daylight Kodachrome is balanced primarily for photographing subjects in full sunlight. If the subject is in the shade, and lighted by a clear, blue sky (but no direct sunlight) the resulting picture is likely to have a definitely bluish cast. The same thing happens when the sky is hazy. On a day so overcast that no direct sunlight gets through, the color quality of the light may sometimes be bluish, and sometimes a definite reddish, depending on the conditions of the overcast, and these tones — even though invisible to the eye — will be recorded in the Kodachrome scene. In looking at an actual scene under such conditions, our minds subjectively compensate for these slight differences in color-quality; we fool ourselves into seeing the objects in what we know to be their normal color. The color film does not have this automatic mental compensation, so it records the colors of the scene as they actually are. For perfectly accurate color reproduction in Kodachrome, the subject should be in full sunlight and should be photographed at times and under weather-conditions when the sun has essentially constant color characteristics. For shooting close-ups in sunlight, some means of softening the shadows should certainly be used, and if possible, some means of softening the direct sunlight without changing its color, as well. If reflectois are used, the color-temperature or quality of the reflecting surface should be carefully chosen so that it does not upset the normal color balance of the lighting. The reflector should reflect all colors as nearly equally as possible. White is the only color which does this. The familiar silver-surfaced reflectors so often used professionally tend to reflect a disproportionately strong portion of blue light, while the gold foil reflectors so often used by professionals in black-and-white should certainly never be used in Kodachrome because they give the picture as strongly yellowish cast as though the scene had been photographed through a deep yellow filter. Professional units which can take their own portable generators on location with them can simplify this outdoor light-balancing problem by the same method used in Technicolor: employing color-corrected arcs of the same type used in Technicolor lighting as booster lights. Color-reflection from surrounding objects is another source of trouble in Compensation must often be made for the changing color-temperature of natural light when professionally accurate color reproduction is desired. making color exteriors by any process. If the subject is positioned near a large colored reflecting surface, such as the wall of a building, the whole scene may take on a tint of the same color as that of the reflecting surface. Unless such effects are purposely desired for an emotional or story reason, they should be avoided by more careful placement of the subject. The foregoing may be summarized briefly into three simple rules. 1, If you want the best color reproduction possible from daylight Kodachrome, shoot only when the subject is in the sun and the day is clear. 2, Do not attempt to shoot too early in the morning", or too late in the afternoon. 3, Light the subject flatly, using diffusers, reflectors or booster lamps which do not introduce any light not matched to the daylight standard. Important as the color quality of lighting is in Kodachrome production, it is no more important or critical than the quantity required to produce a correct exposure, for this, too, influences color reproduction. Assuming that the exact exposure for correct color reproduction has been determined, an increase or decrease of only 50'r. in the quantity of light reaching the film will upset the true color reproduction to a noticeable degree. An error of 100% will destroy the color balance to the extent that the scene will not be acceptable in professional production. A mild underexposure will increase the colorsaturation of the image, making the colors exaggeratedly bright. A greater underexposure will badly accentuate the colors at the red end of the spectrum. A mild overexposure will soften the colors, rendering all colors more as pastel shades. A bad overexposure will "wash out" most colors, and usually somewhat accentuate the blue end of the spectrum. The primary interest of the professional cinematographer is naturally to expose his Kodachrome original in such a way that he will get a faithful reproduction of color in the duplicates made as release-prints from that original rather than in the original itself. Sjieaking generally, this means a correct exposure, just sufficiently on the full side to aid in softening the increases in contrast and color-saturation which are inevitable in most duping processes. With an emulsion of such limited latitude as Kodachrome, the determination of correct exposure should certainly be entrusted to a dependable photoelectric exposure-meter which measures all the light falling on the subject. While the author has used reflection-type exposuremeters as made by both Weston and General Electric for years, and with uniformly good i-esults, his most recent experience has given definite proof that for professional production in Kodachrome by far the best exposure-meter now available is the Norwood which, outdoors as well as under artificial lighting, makes a reading of incident rather than reflected light and employs a hemispherical collector over the photocell so that it accurately evaluates all the light reaching the subject, making due allowance as well for the angle at which the light strikes the subject. Interior lighting in professional IGinm. Kodachrome is entirely different from professional lighting practice for either 35mm. black-and-white or Technicolor. The color-temperature of the lighting is even more important in Kodachrome interiors than it is in exteriors, for a special type of Kodachrome is used. Known as "Type A," this emulsion is color-balanced to incandescent lighting of a specific color-temperature. It will give absolutely unusable results if used with either the lighting used for professional black-and-white, or that used for Technicolor. The most important single factor in(Continued on Page 377) American Cinematographer August, 1942 349