Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by C.B. (A) on August 26, 2008 at 05:26:20

In Reply to: RE: Whatever happened to Technicolor. posted by Self-Inflicted on August 23, 2008 at 15:04:12

Basically, Technicolor is (was) a '3-strip' process that produced three actual negatives used to make the final print, although later on, (2) of the strips were combined. The process is very similar to 'dye-transfer' printing, which is used for the highest quality exhibition prints. Technicolor required a special large camera that made it cost-prohibitive for anything but the largest studios. The dyes used in Technicolor are considered 'archival' and will last indefinitely if stored properly.

Technicolor evidently caught on big with Hollywood in the early '30s, then faded considerably during the Depression, then experienced a resurgence in the '40s and '50s. There are many Technicolor movies from the early '30s (some made with the 2-strip process) that now exist only in black-and-white versions.

The big innovation behind Eastmancolor was that it needed only a single strip (negative) to produce, thus greatly lowering costs. The colors were not as vivid as Techicolor, and not nearly as archival.

• Technicolor   (Open in New Window)