Technicolor and Technological Advances in in Film Making

The history of the film industry is marred with advances that have revolutionized the art of movie making since time immemorial. Notably, the development and complexity of motion picture have been triggered by a continuing evolution in technology, manipulated and ignited by human inventiveness and initiative, which has offered filmmakers the chance to practice a craft that is more complex in the course of coming up with stories that are subsequently complex. This analysis aims to explore the invention and value of Technicolor in filmmaking. In the contemporary world, one of the most significant impacts that have been initiated by technology includes the creation of superior cameras that make it possible for cinematographers to achieve high definition shootings. Going digital has insinuated that stakeholders of the film industry have to forgo primary canisters of movies that were formerly synonymous with the making of films. It is also an indication that production firms can finalize their shooting schedules with limited waste while ensuring that the entire project is as close to the budget as possible.

One of the most valuable techniques in the seventh art includes the idea of Technicolor, which made it possible for filmmakers to make films in color. The concept of Technicolor is a rather significant turning point for the sector, which was realized as a result of the introduction of the processes of photographic that introduced color in frames of movies. The invention is associated with two individuals, namely, Burton Wescott and Daniel Comstock who are affiliated with Technicolor Corporation (Betancourt 390). Their discovery led to some substantial achievements, such as the conversion of white and black films into color. The invention was based on the Kinemacolor system, and it ensured that filmmakers were able to record images in double colors, including teal and red while making use of a single lens. Technicolor was operational in that colored, and light filters made of beam splitters made the process functional, even though its initial operation was characterized with underlying difficulties during projection theatres. The technology of Technicolor was first tested in the film The Gulf Between (1917), and as a result of the novelty of the process, the projectionist failed to adjust the machine as per the stipulations in the process of correctly registering the colors that were displayed on the screen (Betancourt 401). This led to undermining the quality of display that was cast on the screen.

Technicolor includes a series of processes of pictures of color motion that has enhanced the experience of both viewers and filmmakers. In the wake of the cinema age, adding color to white and black films was next to impossible because it had garish, disastrous outcomes. This explains why the celebrated director, Parker Albert referred to the phenomenon of adding color to motion pictures in the late 1920s (Mcnamara & Sheldon 339). All in all, care was taken to ensure that the color does not dominate the narrative and filmmakers strove to achieve some satin gloss while consistently avoiding the effects of prismatic. They banked on the notion that excessive color is violent; thus there was the need to refrain from overusing it. Presently, filmmakers are accustomed to perceiving the choices of color establish the tone for some scenes, including the whole body of tasks.

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Despite the various technological developments in movie making, Technicolor features as the most influential in the field of movie making. The innovation is mostly associated with the movie Wizard of Oz, even though it existed long before the film was written. There are two types of Technicolor, including three strips and two strips that have both revolutionized the industry and shaped the appearance of cinema in the 20th century (Harmetz 130). The innovation is also associated with notable impacts because of its corporate control, since there are people, such as Kalmus Natalie, who contributed immensely to the aesthetic of colored films, including the directors who refocused their sets and movies depending on the technicolor preferences and tastes that viewers and the associated companies demanded. This approach was formerly regarded as the sense of adding color to film, and it was an incredible technology that was solely devoted to the extraction of individual color themes and tones from classic film tones. In such places, it was possible to find the kind of films that were devoted to deconstruction into swatches that were bright

The process of double color functioned by filming using a prism of beam-splitting behind the camera lens that would partition the light into two segments, including one that was filtered into red color and the other into green color. Filmmakers were able to give priority to exact colors with the aim of promoting naturalness-they opted for the red color concerning the skin whereas the green was associated with green foliage (Karwatka 8). This improvement insinuated that the skies were not able to accurately reproduce. Despite the progress, movie makers did not mind the kind of color being thrown off a bit because in the situation that actors appeared natural than the viewers willing to make a bit of a compromise, or even accept the rest as a natural phenomenon also thought it was not (Karwatka 22). There exist some notable examples, for instance, a scene in the beach where the sky appears as rather vivid green; something that is somewhat unnatural. In the beginning, there were only short sequences that were five to six minutes long, and it was possible to colorize them into black and white films. Technicolor features as a process of proprietary, and it was an expensive affair. In more than one ways, fashion shows were produced in color. It was also a usual thing to have when lovers got married in a film; the wedding was presented in color though it was not ordinarily subtle or a work of art despite the fact that there exists only a single process in a lengthy history of coloring methods, from mechanical and chemical means to hand-tinting, technicolor features as one of the most influential of all of them. In the course of the 1930s-40s; a period known as the Golden Age, Technicolor was an innovation that was most striking during the said era, and it rose to domination through massively hitting some of the films that are aforementioned in this analysis. Movie makers were highly fond of this idea to the extent that this approach monopolized the art of movie making, supplying all lenses, offering supervisors for every production, and printing and processing films.

Technicolor did not just emerge overnight. In the early 19th century, the companies associated with Technicolor produced films that were colored for two decades, and which were in the state of being tested, at times reaching the point of being absurd. By the wake of the mid-1930s, the technology-which made use of prisms to divide the light into three film strips for the three significant colors-could come up with hyperreal, notably beautiful images. By the end of 1939, when viewers witnessed the road that was brick yellow, scarecrows, lion, witches that were green faces, including those ruby slippers that were sparkling, came alive before their naked eyes, technicolor had appeared as a successful innovation (Betancourt 399). In a specific video essay that was authored by Edwards Phil, technicolor seemed to determine the appearance of movies in the 20th century, including the debunking of three misconceptions concerning The Wizard of Oz. This view also includes the ideology that the move was the first application of the technology of technicolor.

Edward explains the origins of the firm with four colleagues that were affiliated with M.I.T., out of which the “tech” identity of the film was derived from, including how the process of three-strip appeared into its own eight years before production of the movie The Wizard of Oz. In 1933, Disney produced an interesting animation called Flowers and Trees, and it was the first to apply the innovation of three-strip, which made use of an insanely difficult process of dye-transfer (Harmetz 119). In spite of the advances that were realized by technicolor iv, there were films of live-action in the 1930s that were also applied features of technicolor, further promoting the contrast with layers of white and black of movie underlying color. Other technical disadvantages led to the distinctive nature of technicolor, with looks that were eye-popping (Betancourt 403). For instance, The Wizard of Oz does not seem to move from white and black color when the leading actor, Dorothy leaves her house and gets into Oz. Instead, movie makers painted the background sepia and made use of Judy Garland more than two times. Massively loud, there were cameras, including other significant expenses that added extra burdens to technicolor in the course of filmmaking, although the benefits outweighed these limitations, including the ability to make adjustments to the dye while making use of color in ways that were strikingly different from one movie to the other.

Over-saturated, brilliant yellows, red, and greens in films, such as Singing in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz led to brand new ways of making use of color to produce movies while telling stories at the same time, including those that were perfected by producers, such as Kubrick Stanley, in the 19402 after the debut of technicolor IV. After the process of three-color, there was the creation of punctuated films that were presented in colors that were rather electric since they were surreal. One could imagine the impact of such effects on the affiliated visions on audiences who were young and impressionable during the 1940s and 50s (Karwatka 16). These were also responsible for the improvements in technicolor designs that were witnessed in the 1960s and other years. Imperatively, the dawn of the technology of Technicolor was independently a significant reflection of the processes of filmmaking that were responsible for the color-flooded, richer version that reflected the real world. Despite this, both the design and film of the actual world emerged from the appearances that were primarily associated with technicolored films. With the further development of technicolor, experts were highly concerned with the task of establishing a spectrum of emotion that could reflect the manner in which various colors enriched the emotional capacity of viewers.

Consequently, researchers came up with a kind of Technicolor that was based on the application of technicolor that was used in playhouses. The makers of technicolored films, inevitably, are interested in how color can trigger some emotions (Karwatka 28). The affinity features as a natural emotion that is also the primary colors of the related movies. For instance, purple, grey, and blue are linked with tragic incidences, whereas orange, yellow, and red come in handy while complementing humor and comedies. Red was the most potent color when it came to accentuating scenes that were marred by intensities that were dramatic, with purple and grey emerging as the next most influential.

Movie makers were able to prioritize some color types for the sake of naturalness-they decided to make films using this colors to make them as real as possible. Initially, there were only brief sequences, most of which were only five minutes in length. The kind of eye-popping, mouthwatering technicolor that was applied in classic movies, such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind has never been assumed; though their reign was able to last for 20 years since 1935. There has never been such an incidence before, but it was costly for movie makers, thereby it did not continue for a long time. Presently, it is very confusing to some stakeholders since everything was not in technicolor the technicians and cameras associated with technicolor were in limited supply, and studios were ill-equipped since they only realized about eight films in technicolor per a given year. For instance, Columbia Pictures desired to make Gilda in the technology of Technicolor because of the red hair of the leading actor, Hayworth Rita, despite the fact that they initially planned to make it in white and black so that they could have the opportunity of renting out the cameras, including their staff members for A Song to Remember. According to Karwatka, there are some musical stars, such as Gramble Betty, Williams Esther, and Miranda Carmen who did not have huge cameras that exposed the trio strips that come with black and white, each having a filter that permitted them to capture primary colors that were different (29). The process of using the trio strip was cumbersome and expensive, including the fact that it demanded vast amounts of flight. The studios were also expected to hire cinematographers who were working for technicolor.

The technological advancements that were realized in moviemaking are mainly an indication that production firms can finalize their shooting schedules with limited waste while ensuring that the entire project is as close to the budget as possible. This analysis opted to explore the form and nature of technicolor, including the contributions that the innovation has achieved in the art of movie making. This concept made it possible for movie makers to produce films that were colored; in contrast to the former approach that made use of only black and white colors. This was a very significant turning point for the sector that emerged as a result of photographic processes that were introduced into frames of movies. The invention is associated with two individuals, namely, Burton Wescott and Daniel Comstock who are affiliated with Technicolor Corporation. This discovery led to significant achievements, such as the conversion of films that were black and white into multiple colors. It was also possible to use colors to represent emotions and events, such as happiness, tragedy, and others.

Works Cited

• Betancourt, Manuel. Being in the picture: the movie fan and queer literature. Diss. Rutgers University-Graduate School-New Brunswick, 2015.
• Harmetz, Aljean. The Making of the Wizard of Oz. Chicago Review Press, 2013.
• Karwatka, Dennis. “Herbert Kalmus and His Technicolor Motion Pictures.” Tech Directions, vol 75, no. 6, 2016, pp. 10-40
• Mcnamara, Martha, and Karan Sheldon, eds. Amateur Movie Making: Aesthetics of the Everyday in New England Film, 1915–1960. Indiana University Press, 2017.