A three-strip Technicolor camera.
Museum of the Moving Image.
Queens, New York.
A three-strip Technicolor camera. Museum of the Moving Image. Queens, New York. (Photo by Marcin Wichary.Wikimedia Commons[CC BY 2.0])
Thousands of large, comfortable theaters appeared by 1915.
New multi-reel feature films were imported from Europe and embraced by the American middle-class.
By the 1920s, the lead actors ofsilent filmswere movie stars in the modern sensewell-paid and nationally recognized.
A surviving frame fromThe Gulf Between Them(1917). (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public domain])
The movies had quickly become an important part of American cultural life.
At that point, limited color technology existed for motion pictures.
However, another process known asKinemacolorwas introduced in a 1908 trial film.
Scan of a 35 mm Technicolor film strip fromThe Phantom of the Opera(1925). (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public domain])
It projected images onto a movie screen through colored filters.
However, only red and green filters were used, limiting the color range produced.
The projecting equipment was also quite costly.
Poster forThe Adventures of Robin Hood(1938) citing use of Technicolor process. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public domain])
A surviving frame fromThe Gulf Between Them(1917).
Neither change to the industry was immediately accepted by all, though.
Filmmakers and actors expressed concern that color and sound could become garish and distract from the storytelling.
Scene shot in Technicolor fromGentlemen Prefer Blondes(1953) starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russel. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public domain])
Technicolor’s true breakthrough arrived in 1922.
Each of the two reels would be toned red or green, with gradients and shade.
The two reels would then be glued together to form one strip which combined the colors in each slide.
Poster forSingin' in the Rain(1952). Technicolor was popular for musicals from its early days. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public domain])
All that was required to project a color image was the standard white light already used in theaters.
Despite the refinement of this ground-breaking development, the Technicolor process was expensive.
Scan of a 35 mm Technicolor film strip fromThe Phantom of the Opera(1925).
Technicolor also received credit forThe Wizard of Ozin 1939.
In fact, the iconic ruby slippers wereoriginally silver, but producers decided the jewel tone would appear better.
Horses were also dyed with Jello powder to produce vibrant hues.
Technicolor employees were on set to ensure best results.
So much studio lighting was used that temperatures could riseover 100 degrees on set.
The Wizard of Ozmarked a shift in how filmmakers and the general public related to color.
In the beginning, Dorothy lives in sepia-toned Kansas.
The entire setand Dorothy’s costumeswere created in sepia tones.
When Dorothy steps out of her tornado-blown house into Oz, a sepia-covered body double gazes out in wonder.
She then steps aside, and a colorfully costumed Judy Garland emerges.
The early worries of filmmakers that color might distract the audience proved incorrect.
Color became part of the story itself and an important narrative unit.
Scene shot in Technicolor fromGentlemen Prefer Blondes(1953) starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russel.
Color movies had become much more popular, and cheaper processes became available.
Color by Technicolor remained the gold standard, butEastmancolor by KodakandAnscocolor by Anscooffered cheaper filming alternatives.
Rather than three reels, these methods required only one reel oftriple-emulsion film.
To remain relevant, Technicolor capitalized on its superior colors and clarity.
The company began converting movies shot on other brands of film to Technicolor reels ready for distribution.
Technirama offered high-quality, compressed color images that could be expanded through projection.
After an almost 50-year run, Technicolor’s dye-transfer process finally phased out of use in the 1970s.
However, during the 1980s the company popularized a silver-retention chemical process for film known asENR.
The company that came to define bold, brilliant color remains a household name.
Legacy
Spearheaded by Technicolor, the development of color motion pictures spanned three generations of movie goers.
The rapidly shifting technology of cinematography often visibly dates films, provoking nostalgia or amusement at technologies past.
Technicolor influenced American movies for a century and the company’s name has evolved beyond itself.
Poster forSingin' in the Rain(1952).
Technicolor was popular for musicals from its early days.
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