The motion picture projectionist (Nov 1931-Jan 1933)

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December, 1931 Motion Picture Projectionist 15 a color print must have proper treatment as to type of arc lamp and its adjustment, good quality projection lenses, a clean white screen, and other details which already obtain in a decently run theatre. Special Attachments Undesirable It is extremely undesirable to require any special filters, lenses, shutters, or other special equipment on the projector, since means must be provided for furnishing the special attachment to every theatre, and for instructing every projectionist in its attachment, adjustment, and operation. There is the further disadvantage that, where special attachments are used, the color film may not be intercut or spliced together with ordinary black and white film, and even if it is handled on separate reels, there is an added duty for the projectionist to sandwich in with threading, trimming, rewinding, and changeover. Proponents of certain processes involving such special projecting apparatus have countered arguments of this type with the assertion that the results obtained would be of such perfection that all film would be made in color by this process, and the projectors, once altered would be left that way. Even the most partisan of inventors must admit that there would have to be a long transition period, and it is extremely doubtful that any color process will attain a degree of perfection to which other methods will not attain or surpass, as has been so well exemplified in the parallel developments in methods of sound recording and reproduction. Laboratory Methods The desirability of standard operation in studio and theatre is apparent. On the other hand, it matters very little whether or not standard equipment and methods may be used in developing the color negatives or in the positive operations leading up to the print. The necessity for close and specialized control in handling color film makes it almost imperative that these operations be performed in a special laboratory by specially trained technicians. Existing laboratories for black and white film have not been highly successful in handling color. If the plant and personnel of the laboratory must be separate, the added expense of special machinery is not of paramount importance. This is indeed fortunate, since all color processes in commercial use today require special printing and wet processing machinery, each process having its own type of equipment. The methods in use differ so radically that standardization of equipment would be impossible. However, all of this special machinery, for accomplishing the intermediate operations, is safely in the laboratories of the several color companies, and so does not constitute a complication for the film industry. These same processes produce prints which are handled in the standard manner, and so may be intercut or spliced with each other or with black and white film. This situation leaves the producer free to use whichever process appears most suitable for the particular subject matter. In the subsequent discussion of various color methods, first consideration will be given to the application to standard 35 mm. film, followed at a later date with a general discussion of the 16 mm. field and the ease of adaptation of the various methods. Inasmuch as three color motion picture film has not been marketed in the professional field, that will also be treated separately as to probable future. The Color Spectrum It will be assumed that the reader has a general conception of what constitutes the visible spectrum, starting with red, and on through orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and the hybrid purple. The last named is not actually in the spectrum as produced by analysis of sunlight, but is found in nature, and is a mixture of red and blue-violet light. It should be remembered that we are working in terms of colored light, rather than in pigments, the results of mixing colors being entirely different under the two conditions. For the sake of simplicity, the spectrum will be considered as a circle of color, as shown in Fig. 1. This representation is not in agreement with the wave theory of light, but is of value in visualizing the effect of mixing colors, and has the further advantage of including the purples between the red and the violet. Since this article is intended as a practical approach to color, the circle diagram will be used as a reference. No Direct Method Available There has not been marketed a practical method of registering color directly on a light sensitive film. In other words, there is no way in which a single photographic layer may be exposed to light of various colors so that the developed image represents the original in color. The nearest approach to this condition might be considered a truly panchromatic emulsion, on which the various colors register in proportion to their apparent intensities, but without regard to the actual color. Thus a red and a yellow-green of equal brightness to the eye would register as equal negative densities after development. All existing color methods are built upon applications of this principle, with artificial methods of separating the images which represent the original colors. Fig. 2. The Color Pyramid It was discovered very early that any color could be produced by mixing certain other colors, this fact being an unexplainable phenomenon. From childhood we have been familiar with the expression "primary colors," and take them for granted. However, the phenomenon of primary colors is a mystery, in view of the well founded wave theory. We might as well expect that we could choose three pure tones in sound, and by proper proportions of these three tones produce any tone in the entire band of audio frequencies. The availability of primary colors may be considered somewhat of a blessing, since without it we could not produce color images which would have a definite relation to the original. A System of Analysis and Synthesis Color photography may be considered as adaptation of ordinary photography to the successive steps of color analysis and color synthesis. Color analysis leads to the production of "color separations" in place of the usual single negative of the subject. Color synthesis covers all methods of utilizing the color separations in order to reproduce the colors from the separations. Usually there is very little relation between the two methods combined into a single process, but in some cases they are closely related. It may be stated in general that any synthesizing method may be utilized to produce a print from any analyzing method, regardless of the trade name used to blanket the two, provided the color separations have been produced with essentially the same division of the spectrum. This limitation is particularly applicable in the case of three color separations, where a number of combinations are