The Cine Technician (1939)

March-April, 1938 T HE C I N E T E ( ' 1 1 \ I ( ' 1 A N LOG GEORGE PEARSON, doyen of directors, states colour is the saving of shorts The film in natural colour is as inevitable as to-morrow's dawn. The history of the fight by the colour experts to perfect their varying systems, from the old days of Kinemacolour to the present days of Technicolor and Dufay-Colour is a magnificent record of inventive effort. What the public loudly demands, the industry must supply ; none tan deny the demand is increasing in persistence. When it becomes insistent also, the film without colour will die as surely as the silent film. Inventive genius will overcome the commonly expressed objection that the colours now are often too garish; our Northern eyes are accustomed to the kindly veil of atmosphere that softens tint to tone. That will come, maybe through further experiment with dyes or perhaps by some screen device. With its coming I think there will he another Godgiven opportunity to the .British industry similar to the lost opportunity when speech came to the screen. f refer to the short-film, for there is amazing material. entirely neglected now. for short subjects of rare entertainment value, so novel and so purely British in character, fictional and otherwise, crying for colour to enhance their appeal, that Britain might well lead the world in the coloured-short market if she would hut seize the moment. 1 think that the short film will return again, via colour, to the screen and will become as inherent and entertaining a part of the programme as in the early days of the industry. British film producer, SINCLAIR HILL, calls for discretion in colour It seems to me al ninda n 1 1 \ (dear that the popularity ol colour still depends largely on the discretion with which it is used. The present tendency to exaggeration in settings and costume merely causes eye-strain and a vague consciousness of had taste as the main audience reaction. Colour, in most pictures, should surely he kept veiy severely in its place, and do little more than provide an attractive relief to the more or less subdued hall-tones of our normal surroundings. One of the most effective colour pictures I have seen (Dufay-Chromex — a British system incidentally) had little or no colour in it at times, since the subject -the china (day industry in Cornwall — lies in more or less black and white setting — with occasional trees, or coloured walls, ships' sails, etc., as highlights standing out in striking contrast to the picturesque drabness of the rest of the scene. In costume subjects, the use of pastel and delicate hues generally in materials and backgrounds, discreeth blended and softly harmonising, will bring to the screen a fresh sense of beauty that seems to have eluded those who have had the opportunity to experiment with colour so far. In conclusion, the stereoscopic value of colour cinematography is already most clearly to he observed, and here again is a fresh opportunity for our lighting experts to study and develop this important improvement — that is. as soon us the prices for stock and processing can he brought down to a level within the means of the commercial producer. Mi ALBERT H. ARCH now director of RADIANT FILMS LTD. First Avenue House, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.I Phone : Chancerv 8191 COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION IN BLACK AND WHITE OR COLOUR A BRITISH PROCESS WITH ITS OWN LONDON LABORATORIES