Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

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DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER JANUARY 1942 TECHNICOLOR BY A NEW PROCESS Reprinted by courtesy of Kinematograph Weekly Warner Bros, have a Technicolor subject King o/ the Turf, which has been made by a new process, the film having been shot on Kodachrome, and enlarged to 35 mm. The technique employed is felt by many people to mean a revolution in colour work in the studio. Ever since the introduction of the improved three-colour Technicolor with its magnificent results on the screen, the Technicolor Corporation has been setting its research workers the task of endeavouring to discover a really efficient taking process which would avoid the huge demand upon film stock and the high lighting costs which the triple film camera requires in the studio. It was obvious to most workers that the integral colour-layer system promised the most hopeful line of research, but that this type of film could not be employed upon costly film studio sets until it had been so far improved as to make certain of correct colour renderings on 35-mm. prints. H>in in. Kodachrome Negative Patience and industry have reaped their reward, and at the present moment 35-mm. release punts are being made from negatives originally shot on 16-mm. Kodachrome in a major studio for general release in moving picture theatres. Experts declare that the technique employed in the new Technicolor process means a revolutionary step in the recording of colour, and that among the results which will follow will be a far sharper picture upon the screen and enhanced colour values. It is generally known that the Kodachrome process, introduced at first to supply amateur kinematographers with a colour film which, upon reversal, would supply a single copy for screening, is of the integral layer type in which three differently sensitised layers are processed with colour formers to produce the resultant colour image. Interlocking Patents The use of Kodachrome in Technicolor was made easier by the fact that Eastman Kodak and Technicolor have an interchange patent agreement which makes it possible for each to use the other"s patents under licence. The new step gets rid of the rather clumsy Technicolor camera with its three negatives, and enables shooting to be done much as in black and white once the correct lighting balance has been secured. "Living Movement" . . . CARLYLE defined Progress in just those two words! In paying due tribute to the aptness of the sage's definition the Kinematograph Weekly translates the spirit into action. Current events are reported for our readers in relation to the general advance, artistic and technical, l>\ which progress in Kinematography is achieved. Keep abreast of progress in your craft — read the <>:j low; acre WEEKLY .ONDON : : W.C.2 At the moment the subjects shot by this method have been theatrical shorts, industrial and documentary films, but there is nothing to prevent its extension to the feature film, the enlarged picture having the inherent optical qualities of the straight 16-mm. picture. Enlarging the Original The Kodachrome negative having been shot the next step is to "blow up" the picture into three selectively filtered colour-separation negatives from which the matrices are made in the usual way in order that the three-colour positive may be printed from it. The resultant 35-mm. picture is stated to have a good tonal range as a result of control in the printing laboratory, blacks and whites being uncommonly good with a worth-while range of colour. It is not claimed that the colour is yet equal to the best 35-mm. Technicolor prints, the lee-way is small and further research will probably make great improvements. Better Depth of Field In one direction an improvement is claimed, viz., depth of field. In the "blown-up" Kodachrome picture the depth of field was far beyond any previous 35-mm. Technicolor print, the result being entirely unexpected. It is stated that the steadiness of picture was also a surprise to many Technicians, who had looked upon the 16-mm. camera as not affording the necessary stability standard for a commercial picture. Another pleasant surprise was in the definition of the picture which it was thought might lose in this respect as the result of the duping and enlarging which the process involved. Whereas with black and white 16-mm. copies blown up to 35-mm. grain difficulties might arise, with Technicolor this does not exist owing to the fact that practically no silver grain is present, the picture being recorded in deposits of the various dyes. SCIENTIFIC FILM SOCIETIES (Continued from page 1 1) Society, as at present, will probably have to go by the board. A half-yearlj or yearly viewing week attended bv representatives from each centre, at which bookings and plans could be made well ahead and co-ordinated where possible, mav form a solution to the difficulty. A second problem lacing each society is lack o\' sound projectors. At the moment each depends on the goodwill of private owners, a situation tolerable to both parties in the initial stages of formation but likely to create difficulties if continued indclinitclv . At present, search is being made for a projector for purchase as the common propei t\ of the centres, so far with little result. The London Scientific Film Society opens its fourth season at 2.M) p.m. on the 31st January at the Imperial Institute theatre. South Kensington. The first show, winch has been organised in conjunction with the Socialist Medical Association, covers "Medicine in War." and further programmes will be announced in due course. I nil p.uiiculars of membership mav be obtained from the Secretary. 30 Bedford Row. W.C.I.