Prizma II

1919

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William van Doren Kelley (Prizma Company)

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United States of America

Subtractive 2 color: Toning on double coated film

“In its final form Prizma made use of duplitized positive film. As in previous Prizma systems, the original negatives were alternate frame sequential exposures. The Prizma negative was printed on both sides of the positive film in a special ...

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The two colors visible at a splice. Credit: EYE Film Institute Amsterdam. Film: [Kleurenpracht].
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House. Preserved by Carole Fodor, Haghefilm Digitaal fellow and graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Film: A Day with John Burroughs (Prizma, 1919).
Credit: George Eastman House Motion Picture Department Collection. Film: The Land of the Great Spirit (1919).
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: The Orange.

399 Images in 14 Galleries

Cinecolor (subtractive 2 color)

1932

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William T. Crespinel (Cinecolor Corporation)

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, duplitized film

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Credit: Harvard Film Archive, George Huizinga Collection, item no. 10454. Film: Prehistoric Women (1951).
Credit: Harvard Film Archive, George Huizinga Collection, item no. 10454. Film: Prehistoric Women (1951).
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Reflection on Cinecolor print. Credit: Image courtesy of the 20th Century Fox Collection at the Academy Film Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger
Reflection on Cinecolor 16 mm print. Credit: Library of Congress. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger

93 Images in 9 Galleries

Zoechrome

1920

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T.A. Mills

Subtractive 3 color: Multi-layer printing

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.
Credit: Collection Gert Koshofer, Bergisch Gladbach (Germany).

16 Images in 1 Gallery

Magnachrome

1931

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Roy Hunter (Universal Films)

Additive 2 color: Bi-pack, half-size

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Dugromacolor

1952

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Roger Dumas, Georges Grosset and André Marx

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, substandard

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.

1 Image

Audibert

1911

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Rodolphe Berthon and Maurice Audibert

Additive 3 color: Prism

“R. Berthon and M. Audibert patented a method of obtaining a virtual image by means of an anterior lens and prisms or mirrors. This idea was further improved upon in E.P. 17,023, 1913. In F.P. 458,040 Audibert proposed to use a negative front lens ...

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.

2 Images

Chimicolor

1931

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R. Valette (Syndicat de la Cinématographie des Couleurs)

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated film, mordant toning

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.

2 Images

Talkicolor

1917

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Percy James Pearce; Dr Anthony Bernardi (Talkicolor Ltd.)

Additive 2 color: Alternately stained

“Two-colour additive process Talkicolor was developed by Percy James Pearce along with Dr Anthony Bernardi who was also involved in the development of Raycol. The process was funded mainly by the author Elinor Glyn through her company Elinor ...

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Knowing Men (GB 1930, Elinor Glyn), negative. Credit: Courtesy of BFI National Archive. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

3 Images in 1 Gallery

Brewster

1930

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Percy Douglas Brewster (Brewster Color Film Corp)

Subtractive 2 or 3 color: Perforated mirror as beam-splitter, duplitized film

“The Brewster Process. (U.S.P. 1,752,477. 1930-) Camera. – P. D. Brewster, an American inventor, who was one of the first to apply the bipack system to colour cinematography, has a number of patents to his credit covering various cameras and ...

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Dyes of Brewster color. Credit: Brian Pritchard.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

52 Images in 1 Gallery

Brewster

1915

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Percy Douglas Brewster

Subtractive 2 color: Perforated mirror as beam-splitter, duplitized film

“Following the premises of one of William Friese-Greene’s systems, this two-colour subtractive process required that two reels of film be printed in parallel through a lens fitted with a prism that split light in two directions, through red ...

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Prism

1905

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Otto Pfenniger (often referenced as Pfenninger)

Additive 3 color: Prism

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Source: Wall, E.J. (1925): The History of Three-color Photography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

1 Image

Cinemacolor

1934

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Otto C. Gilmore (Cinemacolor Corporation)

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, sub-standard vertical

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. A History of Motion Picture Color Technology.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Cosmocolor

1935

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Otto C. Gilmore

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated

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Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.
Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

2 Images

Russian two-color system

1931

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Nikolai Agokos, Fedor Provorov and Pavel Mershin (Scientific Research Film and Photo Institute NIKFI)

Subtractive two color

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Screenshot from Mayorov, Nikolai (2012): Soviet Colours. Translated by Birgit Beumers. In: Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, 6:2, pp. 241–255. doi: 10.1386/srsc.6.2.241_1 Courtesy of Nikolai Mayorov.

1 Image

Harmonicolor

1935

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Maurice Combes

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, double-coated

“Harmonicoior was developed by French chemist Maurice Combes. It was first formally demonstrated in London by Harmonicoior Films Ltd, of 4 Great Winchester Street, on the 23 March 1936 at the Curzon Soho with the film Talking Hands, produced at ...

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Audibert

1930

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Maurice Audibert

Addtive 3 color: Beam-splitter, mosaic screen, 65 mm

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Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Credit: Cinémathèque française, conservatoire des techniques, Paris.

3 Images

Horst

1924

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Ludwig Horst senior

Additive 3 color: Beam-splitter, 65 mm negative

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Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

4 Images in 1 Gallery

Sirius

1929

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Ludwig Horst (Sirius Kleuren Film Maatschappij)

Subtractive 2 color: Beam-splitter, double-coated

“The Dutch Sirius Color process (1929) used a camera with a beamsplitting system behind the lens to expose a single film, the film passing through two gates at right angles to each other. The double-coated print film was dye-toned. The process ...

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Magnification, 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification, 10x. Credit: Photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification, 5x. Credit: Photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In: Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on the Sirius film, front. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on the Sirius film, back. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

142 Images in 4 Galleries

Rouxcolor 2 color / Cineoptichrome

1932

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Lucien and Armand Roux

Additive 2 color: Beam-splitter

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Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.
Source: Klein, Adrian Bernhard (Cornwell-Clyne) (1940): Colour Cinematography. Boston: American Photographic Pub. Co.

2 Images

Telco color subtractive 2 color

1938

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Leon Ungar and K. R. Hoyt

Subtractive 2 color: Split optics, side by side, duplitized film

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Source: Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press.

1 Image

Douglass Color No. 2

1919

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Leon Forrest Douglass

Subtractive 2 color: Separations, multi-layer prints

“Douglass Color No. 2 (1919). The two negatives of the Douglass Color system No. 1 were printed on a positive. In this updated version of the process, rather than projecting the frames through red and green filters, both latent images were ...

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Fullcolor

1942

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L. S. Trimble (Trimble Laboratories)

Subtractive 2 colors: Bi-pack, duplitized film

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Dascolour

1935

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L. J. Dassonville

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, double-coated print

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Credit: Brian Pritchard.

1 Image

Ufacolor

1931

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Kurt Waschneck (Afifa)

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack, mordant toning

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Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Color chart. Credit: Guido Seeber Nachlass, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92.
Credit: Guido Seeber Nachlass, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Bunte Tierwelt. Studien in Hagebecks Tierpark in Stellingen (1931).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Karneval (1936).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Jeanpaul Goergen. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Bunte Fischwelt (1936).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Karneval (1936).
Credit: Deutsches Filminstitut DIF (Vicas Nachlass), photo: Jeanpaul Goergen. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Potsdam (1934).
Credit: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, photo: Marian Stefanowski. Source: Goergen, Jeanpaul (2010): Rotorange und blaugrün. Das Zweifarbenverfahren Ufacolor 1931-1940. In: Filmblatt, no. 43, pp. 77-92. Film: Farben machen froh (1938).
Magnification 5x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 10x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification of an image area. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Reflection on Ufacolor film. Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
An opened splice of an Ufacolor positive shows the two colors used in the process. Credit: David Pfluger. Source: David Pfluger’s collection.

136 Images in 7 Galleries

Monopack stripping

1903

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John H. Smith

Subtractive 3 color: Monopack, stripping, still photography

“To offset the possible effects of poor contact between the various members of the tripack, J. H. Smith coated the emulsions directly one on top of the other, but with an insulating layer of collodion between them. In this manner there was ...

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Source: U.S.P. 781469, Sept. 13,1904

1 Image

Kodachrome Two-color 1915, after 1930 renamed Fox Nature Color

1915

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John George Capstaff (Kodak Research Laboratories)

Subtractive 2 color process: Beam-splitter, double-coated film

The Kodachrome process was invented in 1913 by John G. Capstaff for still photography and subsequently adapted to motion pictures. For the process two frames were advanced simultaneously, one located above the other. The light passed either through two lenses or through a beam-splitter, fitted with red and green filters. The release print was exposed through a beam-splitter whereby the alternate frames were projected onto either side of double-coated stock. After development by a usual b/w process, the film was tanned to harden the exposed areas. The soft areas were dyed red-orange and blue-green respectively.

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Two-Color Kodachrome Print (USA ca. 1925 to 1927, Anonymous). Credit: George Eastman Museum. Photographs of the Kodachrome two-color double coated stock from 1925 and 1927 by Olivia Kristina Stutz, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Source: Eggert, John (1932): Kurzer Überblick über den Stand der Farbenkinematographie. In:Bericht über den VIII. Internationalen Kongress für wissenschaftliche und angewandte Photographie, Dresden 1931, pp. 214-222. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.
Magnification 5x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 10x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Magnification 20x. Credit: photomicrograph by Silvana Konermann.
Kodachrome Two-color test from 1922, YouTube channel of the George Eastman House.

350 Images in 12 Galleries

British Tricolour / Dufaychrome

1946

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Jack Coote (Dufay-Chromex Ltd.)

Subtractive 3 color: Beam-splitter, three-strip, multiple printing

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Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Credit: Illustration by Sarah Steinbacher, Multimedia & E-Learning-Services, University of Zurich. Source: Cornwell-Clyne, Adrian (1951): Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Coote, Jack (1948): New Three-Color Camera, In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. 50, June 1948, pp. 543-553.
Coote, Jack (1948): New Three-Color Camera, In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. 50, June 1948, pp. 543-553.

19 Images in 3 Galleries

Harriscolor

1929

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J.B. Harris, Jr.

Subtractive 2 color: Beam-splitter, single-coated

“Harriscolor In this method as in other methods of color photography, independent color value negatives are first obtained. The Harriscolor process can employ one of the following two methods: Either a camera wherein the dividing light prisms ...

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Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.
Credit: Technicolor Collection. George Eastman House Moving Image Department. Photograph by Barbara Flueckiger.

3 Images

Hirlicolor

1936

|

George Hirlimann

Subtractive 2 color: Bi-pack

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Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Captain Calamity (1936)
Credit: Geo. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Manager, Library of Congress. Film: Captain Calamity (1936)

2 Images

Procédé Colombier

1908

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F. de Colombier

Subtractive 3 color: Tri-pack

“M. F. de Colombier appears to have been the first to suggest the application of this system to cinematography, and like so many French patents it is a little indefinite in phraseology. Three films were employed representing the same view and ...

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