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August, 1953
PROCESS PROJECTION IN COLO
A Symposium presented to a meeting of the Film Production
February 25, 1953
— INTRODUCTION AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS
R. L. Hoult, A.R.P.S. (Member) *
PROCESS projection, or back projection, is now an accepted technique in all major film production studios. It is not proposed to describe in detail the nature of process projection but to consider some of its especial requirements for the production of films in colour.
Fundamentally, the technique is the same whether the film used be colour or black-andwhite. The film used in the process projector may thus be a coloured print which is projected on to a translucent screen. The picture so obtained may be rephotographed with a camera also containing colour film to form, with the addition of artistes and set, a composite scene in colour.
It has yet to be shown whether it is possible to obtain in the composite scene the same quality of reproduction as would have been obtained by any practicable alternative method. It is a recognised fact that when a film is made in colour the audience is more critical of its technical quality than it would be had the film been black-and-white. It seems as though the more realistic the picture becomes, the more is realism demanded and the smaller the tolerances allowed the technician.
To illustrate this point, consider the film The Tales of Hoffmann , which succeeded admirably in parrying any possible criticism of its realism by dispensing with it altogether !
This may well prove a strong argument with those producers who have not as much money as they would wish, and who pass on to their directors just a little less, knowing that whatever is budgeted is sure to prove insufficient !
Perhaps the logical result of this progression will be a return to the type of decor found in the Chinese theatre, where sets and properties were made conspicuous only by their absence.
The Problems to be Overcome
Compared with black-and-white, process projection in colour presents problems of a practical nature which must be overcome if adequate colour rendering is to be obtained from the projected image. These problems are :
(1) The effective speed of colour film is lower than that of black-and-white film, so that to obtain a comparable result, more light is needed for the projected picture ;
(2) When the projected image is rephotographed the result is a dupe, which has been made by the sequence :
Negative— Colour Positive — Negative — Colour Positive.
This is not necessarily the best sequence for making a dupe from colour photographs, but it is the only sequence possible in process projection.
(3) The projected image as seen and rephotographed by the floor camera, must be in correct colour balance to match the live artistes and set which will be included in the composite scene. This colour balance comprises two quantities :
(a) The colour balance of the print being projected, as related to the original scene ;
(b) Any overall colour introduced into the projected image by the projector
* Technical Research Department, J. Arthur Rank Productions, Limited.