https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-technicolor-definition/ Skip to content StudioBinder Search * FeaturesOpen menu + Call Sheet Builder + Call Sheet Templates + Shot Lists + Storyboards + Shooting Schedules + Script Breakdowns + Production Calendar + Screenwriting + Film Crew Management + Client Approvals + File Sharing + Script Sides * CustomersOpen menu + Indie Filmmakers + Photographers + New Media & Corporate * BlogOpen menu + All + Directing + Producing + Scriptwriting + Post-Production + Product * Pricing * Login * Sign Up Free type in your search and press enter [ ] What is Technicolor - StudioBinder Image * Cinematography * Directing * Film Theory What is Technicolor? Definition and History Explained By Chris Heckmann on August 22, 2021 * Color BasicsOpen menu + Insert Image Color Grading vs. Color Correction + Insert Image What is Color Space + Insert Image What is Color Temperature + Insert Image What is a Vectorscope + Insert Image What is LUT + Insert Image What is a Colorist + Insert Image What is a Color Checker + Insert Image What is Technicolor + Insert Image First Color Movie + Insert Image Film Colorization Process * Color SchemesOpen menu + Insert Image What is a Color Scheme + Insert Image Triadic Color Scheme + Insert Image Monochromatic Color Scheme + Insert Image Analogous Color Scheme + Insert Image Complementary Color Scheme * Color TheoryOpen menu + Insert Image How to Use Color in Film + Insert Image How Stanley Kubrick Uses Color + Insert Image How David Fincher Uses Color + Insert Image How Wes Anderson Uses Color * Color PalettesOpen menu + Insert Image Ridley Scott + Insert Image Denis Villeneuve + Insert Image Akira Kurosawa + Insert Image Guillermo del Toro + Insert Image Zack Snyder * FREE Ebook: How to Use Color in Film What is Technicolor? Whether you knew at the time or not, you've probably seen a Technicolor movie. If you're trying to recall an example, just think, color, color, color. Technicolor changed the course of cinema forever with bright and bold visuals, saturated to the point of near-surreality. We're going to look at some examples of Technicolor in films like The Wizard of Oz and The Godfather but, first, let's check out a quick video to see where it started. [yH5BAEAAAA][series-col] Watch: Color Theory in Film [yH5BAEAAAA][youtube-lo] Subscribe for more filmmaking videos like this. Subscribe on YouTube History of Technicolor Bringing color to cinema Did you know that development of Technicolor began in the early 20th century? It took some time for the developers to iron out the kinks, but by the time they did, a new vision of motion pictures emerged. Let's check out a great video that shows us how Technicolor was founded and how it was used by filmmakers: Technicolor Examples * Video Essay Now that we've refreshed our memory with a look at some Technicolor examples, let's just jump into a Technicolor definition. TECHNICOLOR DEFINITION What is Technicolor? Technicolor is a series of processes used to first produce color in motion pictures. From 1916 to 1932, the Technicolor company tinkered with its system so that the process of coloring films became accessible to Hollywood. Today, Technicolor is perhaps more known for the end result of the coloring process than the process itself. Technicolor films are known for their bright, bold, saturated colors. How Does Technicolor Work? * Process 1 (1916-1917): + An additive prism beam-splitter was used to expose one red and one green filtered image onto a single strip of film. * Process 2 (1917-1928): + A two-color process that used subtractive complementary colors onto a single strip of film. * Process 3 (1928-1932): + A two-color process that used dye imbibition to chemically color two complementary images onto a single strip of film. * Process 4 (1932-1952): + A three-color process that used a split-cube prism to expose three independent strips of film that would capture either red, green or blue. Technicolor Meaning Putting the 'tech' in 'Technicolor' When did color movies come out? When did movies get color? These are the questions that many of us asked as kids, after seeing our first black and white movie. Technically speaking, the first movie in color, Cupid Angling, came out in 1918. But the process used to colorize the picture, the Douglass natural color process, was incredibly hard to pull off. It took a long time for Technicolor to settle on the best process for getting the full spectrum of color in its pictures. One reason for this is that the company was using a two color system in their cameras which only produced one strip of negatives. Looking back, it's pretty remarkable that this system worked at all. In this next video, we'll see how Technicolor used processes 1-3 to achieve revolutionary, but painstaking results: What is Technicolor * Processes 1-3 It's amazing how many films from this era have been lost to time. Although it is great to see that some of them are being restored. If you're still wondering about how Technicolor used the dye-transfer process to color its films, check out this next video: Two Strip Technicolor * Dye Transfer Printing Although the dye-transfer process was incredible for its time, it proved to be a logistical nightmare. If Technicolor was going to move forward, it was clear it needed a new system. By the early 1930's, Technicolor developed a brand-new camera, which utilized a three-color system (otherwise known as three strip Technicolor) rather than a two-color system. And instead of recording only one negative, this new camera recorded three. Each of the three negatives were responsible for either red, blue, or green. Still confused? Don't worry, this next video does a great job of showing us how the process was done: Technicolor * Three Strip Technicolor The three strip process required a gargantuan amount of work from the Pre-Production process all the way through Post-Production. Just think about how big that "blimp" camera was! It's easy to forget just how different the filmmaking process was then compared to now. Today, everybody with a smartphone has an HD camera at their disposal. It's entirely mobile, operable, and easy to use -- meanwhile the "blimp" required an insane amount of knowledge and technical skill to operate. But by this point, and for the first time, Technicolor filmmaking was made widely possible. Color in Cinema What was the first Technicolor movie? The first Technicolor film shot entirely in Technicolor's three color process was Becky Sharp in 1935. At the time, this was viewed as a quantum leap forward for cinema. From 1920 to 1935, the cinema industry had gone through enormous change, institutionally (from Pre-Code to Hays-code), structurally (silent to "talkies"), and technologically (black and white to color). But although many knew about the changes, few had seen them all put together in a single picture. There were two movies that changed everything for color in film and the world of animation: these were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Wizard of Oz. It's no secret that Walt Disney put his career on the line with his remake of the famed Brothers Grimm fairytale. Snow White wasn't the first Technicolor film, but it's largely synonymous with the company's foray into the limelight. It was also the first full-length cel-animated film and first animated feature in the English language. This video shows how Disney pulled off a miracle through technical expertise: Technicolor Movies * Making of Snow White There's no doubt about it, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a masterpiece of its time and one of the best animated movies of all time. But many film-goers were still curious to see how three color Technicolor would look in live-action. Enter The Wizard of Oz -- perhaps the most famous Technicolor movie of all time. The Wizard of Oz doesn't start in color though. All of the scenes in Kansas are shot in sepia. But when Dorothy is whisked into the land of Oz, the visuals saturate with color, which brings us with her into another world. Let's remind ourselves of how it all came together: Technicolor Movies * The Wizard of Oz For many, this was the first time they had seen a film in color. It's easy to forget just how difficult the process of coloring films was. A lot of studios didn't think it was worth the time or energy. But after The Wizard of Oz, things started to change. Not only is The Wizard of Oz enshrined in the annals of cinema history for its production design, but for its technical brilliance as well. The visuals are perhaps more immersive and more staggering than any of its contemporaries. However, it's no secret that they came at a cost. At the time, Technicolor cameras required incredibly bright lights to work as intended. Numerous reports say that throughout filming, the sound stage was hotter than 100degF. On top of that, many of the actors were in elaborate costumes, especially Ray Bolger (The Scarecrow), Bert Lahr (The Cowardly Lion), and Jack Haley (The Tin Man). It got so hot in those costumes that the crew feared for their safety. Fortunately, the cast and crew made it through production mostly unscathed. But many were left traumatized or sick -- including the original Tin Man actor Buddy Ebsen, who was poisoned from the silver make-up. Mass Adoption Moving into the Technicolor age After the release of The Wizard of Oz, studios around the world rushed to get their hands on Technicolor. During the 1940s, hundreds of Technicolor films were made -- and people loved them. However, the difficulty of producing them continued to annoy studios and filmmakers. By 1950, there were more than a few competitors carving out Technicolor's market share. Films were starting to be shot in widescreen through processes like Cinemascope and VistaVision . If Technicolor was going to survive, it needed to adapt. Enter Technirama: an anamorphic process with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This next video shows us how the Technirama process was done and how it was different from its competitors: What is Technicolor * The Technirama Process End of an Era The death of Technicolor Technirama worked for a time, but it didn't solve the challenges that the dye-transfer process presented. As the years went by, fewer and fewer movies used Technicolor. Two of the last movies to use the process were The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II -- two of the best mafia movies of all-time. Here's director Francis Ford Coppola talking about his perspective on Technicolor. He reflects on what it was like to work with the company on films like Apocalypse Now and their instrumental aid in the restoration of his film The Cotton Club: Ford Coppola on Technicolor So, what is Technicolor? To Coppola, "Technicolor was synonymous with quality." The aesthetic of technicolor is one of the most revered in cinema history. Coincidentally, Technicolor faded away around the same time as the Hollywood New Wave did, which was a movement Coppola helped start. In the end, Technicolor simply became a relic of another age. Today, dozens of Technicolor cameras still exist, dormant and rusty from lack of use. Most of the dye-transfer plants throughout the world have been shut down. Only a few still exist for archival purposes. In the 21st century, color in film typically falls under the domain of color grading and color correction. Perhaps it's nostalgia, perhaps it's the colors, perhaps it's the films themselves. Whatever it is, this much remains certain: cinema wouldn't be what it is today without Technicolor. Related Posts * When Was the Camera Invented? - * Color Grading vs. Color Correction - * How to Use Color in Film [w/ Free E-book] - UP NEXT How to use color in film (FREE Ebook) You may not be able to make a film in Technicolor anymore, but that doesn't mean that there aren't tools available to make great use of color in your films. Today, it's easier than ever before to put your signature touch on the visuals. In this article, we look at 50+ examples of color palettes with films from David Fincher, Wes Anderson, and more. Up Next: How to Use Color - Solution Icon - Shot List and StoryboardSolution Icon - Shot List and Storyboard Showcase your vision with elegant shot lists and storyboards. Create robust and customizable shot lists. Upload images to make storyboards and slideshows. Learn More GET STARTED FOR FREE [yH5BAEAAAAAL][play-purple-] Tags: Francis Ford Coppola, History of Film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, The Wizard of Oz * Chris Heckmann Chris Heckmann graduated from Emmanuel College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing, Editing, and Publishing. He now lives in Los Angeles where he writes about sports, film, and television. Leave a comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment [ ] Name [ ] Email [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] Post navigation Previous Post What is CGI? 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