Academy rfechnicians Branch

TECHNICAL

ULLETIN Hollywood, California May 31, 1935

Tlu Academy builds harmonious relatio

the Motion Picture Production Industry
vances the Arts and Sciences of Motion
 The Technicolor Process
of
Three Color Cinematography
J. A. BALL*

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
the earliest days of the Technicolor development, we recognized
I
N
that the ultimate goal of workers in the field of color cinema·
tography must be a process which would add a full scale of color
reproduction to the existing black-and-white product without sub-
tracting from any of its desirable qualities, without imposing any
complications on theatre projection conditions, and with a minimum
of added burden in the cost of photography and in the cost of prints.
These considerations seemed to clearly indicate a three-color sub-
tractive printing process capable of ultimate low cost of manufacture.
In those days, most other efforts to develop a subtractive printing
process made use of double-coated positive stock, invented about 1912
by Hernandez-Mejia. We found a number of objections to the use
of this stock; particularly, to the spatial separation of the two compo-
nents, to the susceptibility to scratching during processing and projec-
tion, but most of all, to the impediment imposed upon an ultimate
three-color result.
Surveying the field, we chose to work on the multi-layer, or mono·
pack process, and the imbibition process. In a monopack process the
several components are in successive layers all coated on the same side
of the film strip. In the imbibition process, the several components
consist of images formed in water soluble dyes printed onto, or rather
into, a gelatine coated film strip much as colored ink images are
printed onto paper in the process of photo-lithography. A multi-
layer, or monopack, process can theoretically be used as a taking
process and as a printing process; whereas imbibition, being a photo·
mechanical process, is limited to use as a printing process and requires
to be supplemented by a taking method, preferably one providing
distinct separation negatives. As printing processes, both monopack
and imbibition yield a final product containing all components on
one side of the film strip and with no limitation as to their number.
Some fundamental and far-reaching work on the monopack process
by the late Dr. Troland, who at the time of his death was Research
Director of Technicolor, resulted in the issuance in 1932 of Reissue
Patent No. 18,680, containing two hundred and thirty-nine claims,
broadly covering this field both for taking and printing. The imbibi-
tion process seemed to present a less formidable array of processing
problems than did the monopack process, so we pushed its develop·
ment with even greater effort.
*Vice-Pres id~nt and Technical Director, Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation.
2 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

We found it necessary to split the problem into two stages. As the

first step in an imbibition process it is necessary to prepare a film
bearing images consisting of a raised relief of hardened gelatine. This
relief image, or matrix, serves the same purpose as the etched copper
or zinc plate of photo-lithography. First, we had to find out how to
make a gelatine relief suitable for use as a printing plate. We decided
to content ourselves temporarily with two components and to stop
short of actual imbibition by making use of an intermediate process
wherein two gelatine reliefs, produced on thin celluloid, were glued
together back to back and dyed up in complementary colors. Prints
of the Technicolor sequence in "The Ten Commandments," and of
Douglas Fairbanks' all color picture, "The Black Pirate," were made
in this manner.
Then, after having learned how to make gelatine relief matrices
of good quality, we tackled the problem of making adequate trans-
fers from those matrices. We had to learn how to prepare the blank
film so as to permit imbibition without diffusion. We had to devise a
transfer machine capable of handling film in long lengths and in
quantity, and on which blank and matrix could be qrought into
registered contact and held there for several minutes while the dyes
transferred.
Simultaneously with work on these various subtractive printing
processes, we devised a camera which gave two-color separation nega-
tive images free not only from fringing and parallax but also free
from the harmful effects of celluloid shrinkage. In this camera the
two images were in symmetrical pairs, one being the mirror image
of the other. These were arranged on a single strip of negative stock
with both members of the symmetrical pair positioned accurately
with respect to symmetrically adjacent pairs of perforations. The
perfect geometric symmetry of this arrangement is shrinkage-proof .
during the entire life of the negative. The very compact prism system
of this camera permitted the use of relatively short focal length lenses.
The aberrations of the glass path were taken into account in the com-
putations for these lenses.
Two color imbibition prints were brought out commercially in
1928, just about the time that sound swept the industry. We were then
immediately faced with the necessity of combining color with sound.
The only procedure obvious at that time was to make the sound track
identical with one or both.of the picture components; but this would
give a sound track in dye, which would have varying absorption
throughout the range of wave lengths to which photo-electric cells
are sensitive. The response from such a track would then, of course,
be different for one type of cell than for another type of cell, and
especially so in the case of a variable density track. We avoided this
problem by starting, not with a blank film, but with a strip of posi-
tive stock on which the sound track could be printed and developed
in silver while leaving the picture area blank. Imbibition transfer of
the picture components into this blank area could then take place.
This method is capable of giving a sound track absolutely identical
with that used in the black-and-white art. Better yet, because of the
complete separation of the sound track technique from the picture
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 3

technique, the necessity of any compromise between sound and picture

quality is elimina(ed and ideal sound track processing conditions are
possible. Many millions of feet of two-color imbibition prints with a
silver sound track were produced by Technicolor in 1929 and subse-
quent years.
THE THREE-COLOR PROCESS
We were now ready to move on to a three-color process. Since we
had planned on it from the beginning, we encountered no fundamental
impediment in our printing process. Mechanically, we had merely to
combine the imbibition paths in groups of three instead of in pairs.
The proper choice of dyes presented more of a problem. In a two-
color process many colors are compromised, so to speak, and there
is considerable choice as to the manner and extent of compromise.
In a three-color process, the accuracy of reproduction is greatly
increased and the freedom of choice is greatly restricted.
An adequate three-color camera was an exceedingly difficult
problem. Those three-component taking methods which use only a
single aperture (monopack, screen plates, and lenticulated films),
have advantage of economy of light and of mechanism, but they all
have other disadvantages, particularly when it comes to separating
or differentiating between the various components; and some of them
present difficult raw stock manufacturing problems.
On the other hand, cameras which split the light to three separate
apertures, while photographically and optically simple, have the
disadvantage of loss of light in the splitting process, long or compli-
cated optical paths, increased size, and mechanical complexity. We
chose as a favorable middle-grotmd solution an intermediate line of
attack wherein three records are obtained at two apertures.

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FIGURE 1
Fig. 1 shows schematically the arrangement of optical parts and
films in this camera. In making use of a bipack at one aperture, we
4 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

have incorporated means for the practical elimination of halation and

also for the elimination of any dependence on the surface coating
of one of the films for the exact determination of our red light filter.
Thus, two of the most serious faults of ordinary bipacks have been
removed.
To insure that there shall be no differential shrinkage amongst
the three strips of negative, we specify that the celluloid base shall
be of the low shrinkage type as made by the Eastman Kodak Com·
pany. This low-shrink celluloid base is of such quality that after pro·
cessing the negative, including the manufacture of a volume of release
prints, the shrinkage is approximately Ya of 1%, with differences in
shrinkage amongst the members of a group of about Ya of the total
shrin,kage. This amounts to a small fraction of 1/1000" across the
longest dimension of the picture and is therefore entirely negligible.
A group of five lenses ranging in focal length from 35 mm. to 140
mm. have been designed for this camera to our specifications by
Messrs. Taylor, Taylor and Hobson. The chromatic correction of these
lenses has been designed to give, in cooperation with our film arrange·
ment, three images of unusually high correction, thus compensating
for the loss of definition in the red record of the bipack. The most
notable feature of these lenses, however, is the inclusion in the 35 mm.
design of what might be called the inverse telephoto principle
whereby the back focal length is considerably longer than the equiva·
lent focal length.
OPERATION OF THE THREE COLOR CAMERA
However, it is not the purpose of this paper to go into further
detail as to the design and construction of the camera, but to move
on to a discussion of the methods of operation of the camera. First,
however, for the benefit of those to whom the reproduction of color
is somewhat of a mystery, a brief outline of the complete process as
we now work it is perhaps desirable.
The Technicolor three-color camera photographs the three pri·
mary aspects of a scene (red, green, and blue) on to three separate
film strips, simultaneously, at normal speed, without fringe or paral-
lax, in balance, and in proper register with each other. These separate
strips are developed to negatives of equal contrast and must always
be considered and handled as a group.
From these color separation negatives, we print by projection
through the celluloid of a specially prepared stock which is then
developed and processed in such a manner as to produce positive
relief images in hardened gelatine. These three hardened gelatine
reliefs are then used as printing matrices which absorb dye and then
transfer this dye by imbibition printing onto another film strip
which, when it has received all three transfers, becomes the final
completed print ·ready for projection. To carry on the process of
imbibition, it is merely necessary to press the matrix film into close
contact with a properly prepared blank film and hold it there for
several minutes. Matrices, of course, can be used over and over again.
The colors of dyes used in the transfer process must be the sub-
tractive primaries, namely, minus-red (or cyan), minus-green (or
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 5

magenta), and minus blue (or yellow) . The relation of the taking
colors to the printing colors is made clear in the accompanying dia-
gram (Fig. 2) .

MINUS BLU E
• RED lit GREeN
Q - -
=YELLOW

RED BLUE
\ I
\
MINUS GREEN
=RED 8! BLUE
=MA GENTA
uK Note: Solid lines join the fhmllry
Colors. ~ Dotted lines join the
Complementary 5ubtrBctive Colon;.
FIGURE 2
To show the manner in which the final print is built up, we have
prepared a short demonstration reel of a single scene. First you will
see the sound track and the yellow dye component, next the cyan
component, finally the magenta component and then the complete
image.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLES
The process just described is designed to reproduce whatever was
placed in front of the camera, not only as to color but also as to light
and shade. But even the best of reproduction procedures, even that
of oil painting on canvas, is rather severely limited when it comes to
reproducing light and shade. The contrast from whitest white to
blackest bl ack in a painting is perhaps l to 32. Upon projection
from transparencies, as in motion picture work, the range may be
slightly greater, about l to 64, but in no case is the great range of
sensitivity of the eye adequately reproduced. The art of painting and
the art of photography then, have this in common: that they seek to
suggest a great range of visual contrasts by a skillful use of the more
limited contrasts available in the method of reproduction.
In color photography, all very full exposures tend to bleach out
to white and all low exposures tend to drop into black. A high-light
on a face in black-and-white photography can, in the final print,
be merely the bare celluloid and the result will be still entirely
satisfactory; but if, in a color print, such a condition exists, the
delicate flesh tint will, in that area, be bleached out to white and the
face will look blotchy. All areas of the face should, therefore, be
reproduced in such a manner as to yield a good flesh tint. Very light
makeups, and oily makeups having considerable shine are apt to be
troublesome. In any case, it is necessary to control the light and
lighting contrasts accurately and to avoid "hot spots."
6 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

The art of the color cinematographer is intermediate between that

of the painter and that of the stage artist. The painter has to work
with pigments having a limited range of contrast but has great
freedom of choice as to composition. The stage artist works with
light and so does not encounter the pigment limitation, but he must
select his costumes, backgrounds, etc., to be harmonious in a great
variety of arrangements, most of which are more or less out of his
control. In color cinematography the difficulties of both are com·
bined; there is the pigment limitation combined with the compara·
tive lack of control of composition. To illustrate this difference let
us take, for example, a scene wherein a figure clad in white is to be
illuminated by red light, as from a fire which is not visible to the
audience. The stage artist, in arranging such an effect, must have a
suitable background for the figure when it is viewed from a great
many different angles. In arranging his lights, however, he ca'n call
for more and more intense beams of red light until he has achieved
the desired effect. If a painter is endeavoring to get the same effect
in a painting, he can select a favorable pictorial composition, but
to depict the red illumination he can only use the brightest red
pigment in his palette. If he is dissatisfied with his first effort, he
cannot heap on more and more of his red pigment. Obviously noth·
ing is to be gained in that manner. He can only improve his result
by suppression of, or contrast with, the background. Now in color
cinematography, the brightest red that is available is the full value
of red pigmentation in the film, and this is obtained by full value
of the magenta and yellow dyes without any cyan dye. These condi-
tions result from full exposure of the red negative with no exposure
in the green and blue negatives. If the color cinematographer is not
satisfied with this full pigmentation and endeavors to get a more
intense red by piling on more red light in front of the camera, he
merely over-exposes the red negative and begins to get some exposure
in the green and blue negatives. The corresponding areas in the
print tend to bleach out to white. The significance of the pigment
limitation can be summed up in a very few words; if the desired
effect can be shown in a painting, it can be photographed, and if it
cannot be painted, it probably cannot be photographed. While no
such brief statement is ever strictly true, this one contains such a
large percentage of truth that it is worthy of being set up as a
guiding principle.

LIGHTING FOR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY

In color photography, it is necessary to operate at rather high
levels of illumination. If one is not careful, this may lead to a condi-
tion like this: given only relatively weak light sources, one finds it
necessary to use a great many of these sources, in order to attain an
adequate level. The widespread distribution of these units then
tends to kill all shadows and eliminate modeling on faces. If, then,
the attempt is made to provide modeling by superimposing a localized
shaft of light as from a spot light, the face is burned up, blotchy and
generally unrecognizable. The way out of this dilemma is to recog·
nize that modeling should properly be produced by shadows, and to
use fewer and brighter sources or to mass the sources of illumina·
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 7

tion so that shadows have a chance to exist. In other words, it is just

as important for the cameraman to determine directions from which
light shall not CQlne as it is to determine directions from which light
shall come.
While color contrasts will occasionally produce a pleasing result
when flatly lighted, that is not the way to get sharp photography,
nor in general, the most pleasing photography. The Technicolor
process is capable of reproducing a full scale of contrasts aJ;J.d those
effects of light and shade (chiaroscuro) and those directional effects
so striking in black-and-white are even more effective in color.
These considerations apply not only to the lighting of figures and
faces but also to the design and lighting of sets. In the design and
painting of sets, the art director should have in mind the camera-
man's problem of achieving the necessary light levels with a minimum
number of sources of illumination. Under these conditions, it is
always much easier to keep parts of a set in low key by keeping
light away from them, than it is to paint them dark and then be
forced to illuminate them strongly.
ARC LIGHTING
This need for fewer and brighter sources is one of the reasons
why we choose carbon arcs in preference to incandescent tungsten
lamps. Another reason is the fact than only in the white-flame carbon
arc and in sunlight do we find the correct balance of blue and red
components for the photographic emulsions with which we have
to work. If tungsten lamps were to be used, it would be necessary to
throw away the excess red light by the use of blue glass bulbs or
overall filters. An added reason for the use of arcs is that at the high
levels of illumination which we require, the heat rays emitted by
incandescent lamps are a serious problem. Arcs radiate more light
and very much less heat.
If incandescent units were properly filtered to correct the color
of the light and to absorb heat rays they would undoubtedly be
useful on special occasions.
Special arc units have been developed by the National Carbon
Company and Mole-Richardson for use in connection with the Tech-
nicolor three-component process. They have been designed to solve
some of the earlier difficulties with arcs, especially noise and flicker.
The older type of arcs also gave off some smoke which appeared as
carbon dust in the air, hut it is possible to incorporate absorptive
means in the vents to ahsorh this smoke. The only drawback to the
use of arcs is the necessity for "time out" for retrimming, hut this
can usually be made to coincide with other "time out" activities,
particularly if the head electrician works closely with the director.
There is no danger of Kleig eyes when using arcs, providing only
that a sheet of ordinary glass is between each arc and the eyes of the
people. This is a simple enough requirement and entirely eliminates
any danger.
The required level of illumination is not very different from that
which was in use hy many black-and-white cameramen before the
8 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

introduction of supersensitive film. We have devised methods of

measurement of illumination levels for the guidance of the
cameraman.
EXTERIOR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Exterior photography divides itself into four classifications:
(A) Sunlit shots wherein the scenery is of maximum im·
portance. These occur abundantly in travelogues and scenics
and quite frequently in dramatic photography, especially
in the establishing long shots.
(B) Sunlit shots wherein faces are of greatest importance.
(C) Imitation sunlit exteriors built on a dark stage and
artificially illuminated.
(D) Night exteriors.
In group A there are pronounced differences between color pho·
tography and black-and-white photography because color photog·
raphy can reproduce those pleasing color contrasts of sky, water,
blue haze, foliage, beach, etc., which are almost entirely lost in
black-and-white. Furthermore, there is always a strong directional
effect to the sunlight with very pronounced shadows. A front cross·
light is best in color, whereas a side or back cross would generally
be preferred in black-and-white.
In class B it must be realized that few faces will stand the harsh
lighting of the direct sun as in a front cross-lit setting. So gauzes,
diffusers, reflectors, and sometimes ''booster" light, must be called
into use. Conditions are then most favorable if the sunlight comes
from behind the figure. This is true in color or in black-and-white.
The skillful cameraman takes advantage of the changing directions
of sunlight throughout the day to schedule his shots and angles for
best results. Cooperation between director and cameraman in such
cases is even more important than in the case of exteriors.
It is, of course, perfectly obvious that if artificial light is to be
mixed with daylight as in the case of "booster" light, that the color
of the "booster" light must approximate sunlight. Here again the
use of carbon arcs in preference to incandescent lights is clearly
indicated. One might wonder if the change in sunlight quality from
morning to late afternoon might not show on the screen in abrupt
changes in color of successive scenes. We have found it generally
possible to correct for any such differences in the printing. Such
correction, however, is not possible where one encounters simulta-
neously very yellow light from the sun with blue shadows illumi·
nated from a clear sky. Such an effect will, of course, carry through
to the screen and a very beautiful effect it is, too.
The set-ups of group C are very troublesome if the illusion of
reality is of importance. This illusion almost always is important in
a motion picture so that the artificialities of the usual stage lighting
are scarcely acceptable at all. Shadows can perhaps still be painted
on buildings, walls and backgrounds but of course not on people.
Nor can the shade of a tree be so imitated. What is really needed is
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 9

a light source of greater power than any now available. Pending its
development, the well-known California sun promises to return to
its former importance. In other words, sizeable sunlit exteriors to he
photographed in color had best he real. The difficulties of imitating
grass, shrubs, etc., also argue in the same direction.
In the case of night exteriors (class D) , color has one great
advantage over black-and-white in that it is possible to contrast
moonlight and lamplight for example by the use of blue and
amber filters.

RECORDING FOR COLOR PRODUCTION

Technicolor adds practically no complications to sound recording
other than a somewhat noisy camera and the necessity of eliminating
"whistle" from the arcs. If the camera is adequately hlimped, the
problem of camera noise is solved forthwith. The whistle caused by
high frequency ripples in the electric current coming from the
commutator of direct current generators can he practically removed
by the combination of an alternating current filter at the generator
and additional choke coils at the individual arc units.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EFFECTS IN COLOR

When we come to the trick department, however, color has its
special problems. Fades, lap-dissolves, wipe-oft's, etc., can all he made
by duping all three negatives and taking pains to preserve the regis-
ter, exposure, and contrast balance. Those methods of composite
photography which depend on color differences cannot he used in
Technicolor. The projection background process is, of course, ideal
for trick shots in color. However, there is the problem of adequate
illumination of the projection screen. So far, projected backgrounds
have been used in Technicolor only in relatively small areas such as
through the rear window of a taxi or limousine. Eventually, we hope
to he able to work out means for handling projection backgrounds in
very much larger sizes hut at present we are rather restricted.

CONCLUSION
There is a general appreciation of the fact that "color is coming."
When sound swept the industry several years ago, it meant the intro-
duction . of a new and different technique, and of men of new and
different training. The sound engineer was the "big shot." The
cameraman was locked in a padded cell with his camera, and the art
director was told how he could and could not construct his sets to
meet the new acoustic considerations. Conditions will he much more
enjoyable for everyone concerned when color sweeps the industry.
The sound men will not he affected in any way at all hut the camera·
man and the art director will he given new tools to work with
whereby the value and importance of what they can contribute to a
picture will he greatly increased. For these reasons it is to he
expected that the technicians generally will he enthusiastic and
cooperative with the rising tide of color.
10 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

It is the policy of the Technicolor Company to organize and

maintain a nucleus camera department and color art department
for the purpose of accumulating experience and disseminating
information and advice as to the skillful and effective use of Tech-
nicolor. Beyond this nucleus the policy is to invite cooperation from
the studio organizations and especially from those cameramen and
art directors who desire to continue to lead in their respective fields.
These men will generally he surprised first at the extent to which
their conscious sense of color has become atrophied through lack of
use while working in black-and-white, and second, at the speed with
which they can regain it, and third, at the utter inadequacy of black-
and-white photography in comparison with good color photography.
When our color was of inferior quality, we used to hear the
expression "color interferes with the drama." Since the introduction
of the three-component process, the expression has been rapidly
fading out of use. Good color assists good drama. Dr. Herbert T.
Kalmus, President of Technicolor, has supported a liberal policy
of research and development work since the organization of the
company. This policy is continuing and the work involves nearly
all departments. We propose to continue to improve our product
until the last doubter is swept off his feet.

MR. MACGOWAN:
Another paper which was prepared for tonight is "Color Consciousness," by
Natalie M. Kalmus, Color Director of Technicolor. I must read this in her absence.
Mrs. Kalmus has a kind of double job at Technicolor. In the case of certain
color pictures, Mrs. Kalmus has supplied the art direction and supervised the
actual use of color in costumes and settings. In the case of "Becky Sharp,"
Robert Edmond ]ones, the scene designer, did this work, but Mrs. Kalmus was
responsible for the study of what colors and what shades of colors are modified
in reproduction through the color camera, and for the solution of the many
technical problems involved in getting on the screen what we want you to see.
18 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

Some Problems in the Direction

of Color Pictures
RouBEN MAMOULIAN*

T ADIES and gentlemen: As I sit here, I am amazed at the quality and

Lnature of this meeting. I have attended meetings concerning the
arts of the theatre, music and ·literature, but never have I wit-
nessed the overwhelmingly scientific atmosphere that prevails here.
I must say that this unusual atmosphere of the present meeting is
characteristic of the whole industry and art of motion pictures.
No art has ever depended so much on science as the art of motion
pictures. In that sense it is truly the most modern of arts. It hegins
where science ends and it has a hard time, and not always a success-
ful time, in artistically keeping up with the progress of the scientific
and technical achievements that are taking place constantly in
motion pictures.
Seven years ago motion pictures were revolutionized by the advent
of sound. Theretofore silent, the screen acquired the gift of speech.
Today, as another result of scientific achievement, color comes to the
screen and to my mind, it is just as much of a miracle as sound was.
I would like to pay my most respectful tribute to those people whose
names one doesn't hear who work in the silence and solitude of their
laboratories. I refer to the scientists that compose the body of Tech-
nicolor, whose destinies are guided by Dr. Kalmus.

"WILL COLOR LAST?"

Now the main question today is: "Will color last or will it not?"
I have no doubt that color on the screen is here to stay. I have
also no doubt that there will he as much skepticism for the first few
months in regard to color as there was in regard to sound.
They say that what we don't have, we don't miss. No one ever
missed electricity until it came to replace oil and gas. No one missed
dialogue on the screen while the screen was silent. However, let a
dumb man, after thirty years of life acquire the gift of speech, would
he want to give it up and go hack to his silence? Speech came to the
screen and stayed- victorious. Now, let a man with ailing eyesight
wearing black glasses through which the world looks grey, suddenly
recover his sight, throw away his glasses and see the luxury of the
color of the sky, the earth and the flowers, would he ever want to go
hack to his black glasses? We never missed color on the screen
because the very art of the cinema was horn black and white. It was
a convention which had to he accepted, hut once real color comes
on the screen, we shall feel its absence as forcefully as we feel the
absence of sound when looking at a silent film made some years ago.
*Director of "Becky Sharp," the first three color feature motion picture.
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 19

I do not mean to say that necessarily all the films will have to he
in color, hut certainly the great majority of them will he. As in the
art of painting, while we admire and love black and white drawings
and etchings, could we ever do without paintings? So far the screen
has been using a pencil; now it is given a palette with paints.
I don't want to be misunderstood. I don't want to imply that the
black and white film is not beautiful nor that the color film com·
pletely displaces the black and white. As a matter of fact, the black
and white has a beauty of its own that could never fade away. The
very unreality of those pale shadows moving on the screen and that
remote quality of a dream, constitute the attraction and the spell of
the black and white film that could not be destroyed. There will
always be room for certain subjects to be treated in terms of these
fascinating grey shadows. But color comes to the screen now as a
new Spring to the earth. It comes as an inspiring and exciting gift,
which opens new horizons of creation for the artist and enjoyment
for the onlooker.
I am stating this now not merely as a theoretical point, hut as a
result of an actual experience I went through recently. This experi·
ence was directing "Becky Sharp," the first full-length feature in
color. That was a new and wondrous adventure. It had all the thrill
and excitement of pioneering in a new field and discovering a
theretofore unexplored fairyland.

COLOR A VITAL FACTOR OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Color is one of the most powerful and fascinating attributes of
nature. Just imagine what the world would look like if you took color
out of it. What would life be if we were forced to spend it among sky,
trees, flowers and all things black, grey and white? Having known
the living joys of color, we would probably die of melancholia.
Love of color and susceptibility to color is one of the strongest
instincts in human beings. If you want to discover the most organic,
basic elements of the sophisticated human being of today, go to
children and go to savages. You will find that next to food, they love
things of vivid color and sparkle. That instinct is alive and strong in
every one of us.
In relation to motion pictures, our need for color has so far
been ungratified. We accepted the situation just as we had accepted
the fact of moving on solid ground until we learned to fly. But once
color comes to the screen, we will be unhappy without it. It brings
a new terrific power to the screen. Our strongest impressions come
through vision. So far visually, we are dealing with light and shade
and compositions on the screen. Now we have an additional element
of color. This, not merely to superficially adorn the images in motion,
but to increase the dramatic and emotional effectiveness of the
story which is being unfolded to the spectator.
Color, like all power, can be harmful and destructive when used
badly, life-giving and creative when used well. Animals and human
beings have always been and are unconsciously subject to a hypnotic
influence of color. How many times have you walked into a strange
20 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

house and felt depressed because of the color of the wallpaper?

How many times have you found consolation in the rich riot of
shades of a gorgeous sunset?
Apart from pure pictorial beauty and the entertainment value
of color, there is also a definite emotional content and meaning in
most colors and shades. We have lost sight of that because like all
important and inevitable phenomena, it has become subconscious
with us. It is not an accident that the traffic lights of a city street
today are green for safety and red for danger. Colors convey to us
subtly different moods, feelings and impulses. It is not an accident
that we use the expressions: "to see red," "to feel blue," "to be green
with envy" and "to wear a black frown." Is it for nothing that we
believe that white is expressive of purity, black of sorrow, red of
passion, green of hope, yellow of madness, and so on. The artist
should take advantage of the mental and emotional implications of
color and use them on the screen to increase the power and effective-
ness of a scene, situation or character. I have tried to do as much of
this in "Becky Sharp" as the story allowed. To quote an example
of this, I would refer to the sequence of the panic which occurs at
the Duchess of Richmond's ball when the first shots of Napoleon's
cannons are heard. You will see how inconspicuously, but with tell-
ing effect, this sequence builds to a climax through a series of
intercut shots which progress from the coolness and sobriety of colors
like grey, blue, green and pale yellow, to the exciting danger and
threat of deep orange and flaming red. The effect is achieved by the
selection of dresses and uniforms worn by the characters and the
color of backgrounds and lights. There is a little of homecoming
feeling in this for me as the use of color and colored lights was one
of my main joys and excitement in the theatre. Surely, the effective-
ness of productions like "Porgy," "Marco Millions" and "Congai"
which I have done in the theatre would have been sadly decreased
if I were forced not to use color in sets, costumes and lights on
the stage.

SOME STORIES "NATURAL" FOR COLOR TREATMENT

Of course, in each art, different subjects are expressed best through
different forms. Undoubtedly, there are some stories which beg for
color on the screen more than others do. Off-hand, a story of histori-
cal period of the past, when life and clothing were much more color-
ful, or stories with the backgrounds of countries like Spain and
Italy, even of today, would ask for color more than some stories of
our modern age and civilization. The black and white films will still
have their place on the screen, but most assuredly as time goes by,
there will be less of them and more of the color pictures. For even
though our life today is grey (and because of that), we have a great
love and longing for color. Is it not to be more attractive that women
dress their bodies in beautifully shaded gowns and touch their faces
with the subtle magic of a discriminate makeup? Is it not the same
impulse that drives the grey and tired families of working-men out
to Sunday picnics somewhere where there is a touch of blue sky,
a green blade of grass, a tree or a flower?
 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS 21

Everything that is beautiful to the eye is a great gift to humanity.

Color on the screen is such a gift. The only danger of it that I can see
during the first stages of the color picture, would be the danger of
excess. Talking pictures did not avoid it during the first months of
their existence. There was too much talk and too much noise on the
screen. The cinema must not fall into another trap and must 'not go
about color as a newly-rich. Color should not mean gaudiness.
Restraint and selectiveness is the essence of art.

Remarks on the Production

of a Three Color Motion Picture
KENNETH MACGOWAN*

going to start by repeating something I said at the Society of

I
'M
Motion Picture Engineers' luncheon yesterday. I'm not repeating
it for my own benefit but because I want to say it to the members
of the Technicians Branch as well as of the Society. I feel a great deal
of envy for you people who work on the technical end. As a producer
I'm always running up against questions like these: Is it safe to do
this story? Can I do this story as well and as uncompromisingly as
it ought to be done?
So often in the producing end we find that we are restricted by the
public, or at least by what we think the distributors think the public
thinks, and we end by doing a lot of things not nearly as well as they
ought to be done.
I noticed, however, in the first three months I was out here that the
technicians always seem to do their job just as well as it could be
done. They aren't up against the problem of what some picture owner
thinks the public wants. Nobody says that what Ray June is doing
is over the public's head. Nobody says that the sound in "One Night
of Love" is too good for the motion picture audience, nor does anyone
say that "Roberta" is too well cut for the masses to understand.
I envy the fact that you are always allowed to take as your motto,
"perfection pays."
Probably you are laughing up your sleeves because you find youx
equipment a little antiquated or you are up against financial diffi-
culties, but you never have that horrible bug-bear-"what the public
wants"-"the public won't stand for perfection." I know now that
two major companies are debating whether or not they can make
the greatest play in the English language, and that's a pretty dis-
heartening idea.
I want to tell you roughly the history of RKO's contact with
Technicolor. About two years ago Merian Cooper persuaded Jock
Whitney to make motion pictures in the new Technicolor process.
*Associate Producer, RKO-Radio Studios. Producer of "Becky Sharp."
22 THE THREE COLOR PROCESS

At that time he was the head of the studio and I was lucky enough
to be assigned the first picture in color. Then Mr. Cooper was taken
ill. While he was away we determined not to make a long picture
but a short. That was "La Cucaracha." This fall when Mr. Cooper
recovered and was ready to go to work again, he had to make two
pictures in black and white, and again I had the good luck to be on
the job and to do "Becky Sharp." I'm boring you with this history
only to give a bow to Merian Cooper as the father of three color
production on the screen.
Another thing I want to say about technicians is that it seems to
me they are wonderful people to deal with. I've found that true in
the studio and particularly true at Technicolor. As soon as I went
to work on "La Cucaracha" and "Becky Sharp" I came more and
more into contact with these people and I found them quite as
intelligent, quite as farseeing as I had found them twenty years ago
in Philadelphia when, as a motion picture editor, I first came in
contact with Dr. Kalmus and his co-workers. I could name half a
dozen men at Technicolor who have done wonderful work, not only
in devising this new process but in cooperating with and understand-
ing the rather screwy people connected with production.
Before you see the reels of film which we have here to show you,
I would like to point out one thing which seems quite significant
to me. There is some resistance to color due to the fact that we
discovered black-and-white photography first.
Suppose there had never been black-and-white photography or
black-and-white half-tone reproduction. Suppose we had been used
to color photographs and colored pictures for the past fifty or seventy-
five years. Then if someone invented the black-and-white photography
and black-and-white half-tones the result would, I am sure, be fright-
fully disappointing and definitely puzzling. We would have to trans-
late all the tones almost as we translate a foreign language mentally
when we hear someone speaking it. We would have to figure out
mentally what actual color was represented by the grey of a face, the
hlack of a tree, etc. I found somewhat the same effect after I saw a
two-color picture, "The Wax Museum." When a normal black-and-
white picture came on the screen it gave me a curious psychological
shock and the thought, "What is this-a painting in mud?" Experi-
ences like this are going to beat down our instinctive resistance
to color.
One thing that is going to push color very far ahead is television.
I was in the theatre a good many years as a producer, and I saw the
road destroyed by the movies. The silent screen was destroyed by the
talking picture. Then the talking picture had to meet the competition
of the radio. Now they tell us television is coming, and motion picture
producers are beginning to worry about it. People can turn a little
button and sit at home and be entertained, but they are going to get
that entertainment in black-and-white for a good many years. Color
television will come undoubtedly, but it will come late, and in the
meantime the screen will be able. to use color against the competition
of television. There will he an added sense of vividness in the theatre
that will not be apparent on the home screen.