A history of colour as it came into film

Coloured Movies go back very much further than most people imagine. Experiments in trying to make coloured movies star not long after moving pictures themselves were invented, though those early examples, and there were many, refer to colouring of each frame with the use of various stencil systems. Now full colour films are taken for granted, but in the early days there were many hundreds of patents taken out on different processes throughout the world.

In 1908, a process was developed in Germany by Ficher using three superimposed layers of emulsion, each sensitive to a different primary colour. But it was not until 1930 that large laboratories became interested. Kodak and Agfa developed the system from the early patent so that it became a practical reality. The amazing point is that a system thought of early in the twentieth century eventually led to what is a very advanced process. Agfacolor, Gevacolor, Kodachrome etc, to name a few, also negative or positive, using different chemical processes, are now commonplace. Although emulsions have improved, film is much faster, processing remarkably quick and the colours have improved through continual research, it is still basically the same idea.

Now, what of all the patents? The answer is that most of the ideas can be almost discounted as non starters. Not wishing to sound unkind to inventors with

ingenious ideas. For it is easy to be wise now that anything to do with film has long reached a peak. Let us look at them.

One method used to produce the effect of colour was by exposing the film in the camera behind alternative green and red filters. Then projected through similar filters. This however resulted in a dull, flickering picture. Other methods used three rotating filters on the camera and projector.

One ingenious idea was by using a quadruple lens. Four pictures on each 35mm frame projected through a rotating disc containing the filters, merged together, (we hope) when focused onto the screen. What a setting up performance! Worse than video projection?

Then, just as the most satisfactory colour system was being researched, (TECHNICOLOR), along came SOUND!

Unfortunately the quest for colour was interrupted at that point by the great race arid breakthrough in sound. In the 1930s, all that seemed to matter was the realism of sound films. It was almost as if colour on film was just a gimmick. So there was a setback. But still photographers were enthusiastic and there was much research and experimentation.
The One Shot, Three Plate camera made
 

three negatives at a time with filters for each colour.

The first Technicolor films used a camera not dissimilar to the ‘One Shot Camera’ system. I remember looking at a monster, on a day trip to Pinewood Studios. The monster camera had to accommodate separate spools of film that went though gates with focal planes made the same with prisms etc and take up spools. This was enclosed in a very large blimp to keep the sound out. The results were good but it was hardly a practical piece of equipment to take on location.

Various systems were tried. Later, the negative was made by the Eastman color system. It is a complicated method where three copies are made with different emulsions that are respectively sensitive to blue, green and red. There is no point in going into this in detail, but the results were really stunning.

There is not much more that can be done now to improve film, colour or otherwise, it has reached its peak, but have they finished playing with formats? I wonder!

Now, all seems to be in the hands of electronic engineering, which is going though an evolutionary period of definition verses digital verses price. A whole lot more research is stretching away into the future!

John Woolmer