Fujicolor
Description
“The Fujicolor process is a three-color subtractive negative/positive process introduced in 1955 by the Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
When the process was introduced it consisted of two elements that could be used singly or together. A coupler-incorporated three-color negative and a coupler-incorporated three-color print film. Initially the films were only used in Japanese domestic markets. During this period both films were improved several times. Film speed, graininess, sharpness, and color reproduction were improved as the negative films evolved from Type 8511 through 8516 and the print films evolved from Type 8811 through 8818.”
(Ryan, Roderick T. (1977): A History of Motion Picture Color Technology. London: Focal Press, p. 181.)
-
![]()
Don’t Look Now (GBR / ITA 1973, Nicolas Roeg). Credit: BFI National Film Archive. Photographs of the faded Fujicolor HP Positive Film Type 8813 by Joëlle Kost, ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors.
Galleries Open all Galleries ▼
Original Technical Papers and Primary Sources
Takashi Horiguchi (1980): New 16-mm Fujicolor Reversal Films RT 500 and RT 125. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, 89, Sept. 1980, pp. 645-649.
Sadayuki Yamaryo; Shingo Ishimaru; Kazuhiko Takemura (1985): New Fujicolor High-Speed Negative Film and Positive Film. In: Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, July 1985, pp. 735-742.
Secondary Sources
Bergala, Alain (1995): La couleur, la Nouvelle Vague et ses maîtres des années cinquante. In: Jacques Aumont (ed.): La Couleur en cinéma. Milan: Mazzotta, pp. 126–136, on p. 129. (in French) View Quote
Beyer, Friedemann; Koshofer, Gert; Krüger, Michael (2010): UFA in Farbe. Technik, Politik und Starkult zwischen 1936 und 1945. München: Collection Rolf Heyne, on p. 54. (in German) View Quote
Cleveland, David; Pritchard, Brian (2015): In: How Films were Made and Shown. Some Aspects of the Technical Side of Motion Picture Film 1895–2015, Manningtree, Essex: David Cleveland, on p. 397 View Quote and on p. 400. View Quote
Koshofer, Gert (1988): Color. Die Farben des Films. Berlin: Wissenschaftsverl. Volker Spiess, on p. 114 View Quote, on pp. 131–132 View Quote and on p. 147. (in German) View Quote
Merritt, Russell (2008): Crying in Color. How Hollywood Coped When Technicolor Died. In: Journal of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia, 3,2/3, pp. 1–16, on p. 1. View Quote
Pierotti, Federico (2012): La seduzione dello spettro. Storia e cultura del colore nel cinema. Genova: Le Mani-Microart, on pp. 191–192. (in Italian) View Quote
Pinel, Vincent (1992): La forêt des techniques. In: Michel Ciment (ed.): Ciné mémoire. Colloque international d’information (7-9 octobre 1991). Paris: Femis, pp. 17-24, on pp. 21-24. (in French) View Quote
Edge Codes and Identification
Cleveland, David; Pritchard, Brian (2015): In: How Films were Made and Shown. Some Aspects of the Technical Side of Motion Picture Film 1895–2015, Manningtree, Essex: David Cleveland, on pp. 424–425. View Quote
Films
Fujicolor reversal
Adventures of Natsuko (JPN 1953/1954, Noboru Nakamura)3
Karumen Kokyo ni Kaeru (Carmen Comes Home, JPN 1951, Keisuke Kinoshita)2, 3
Fujicolor negative/positive system
Berlin Alexanderplatz (DEU 1979/80, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)4
Chakra (IND 1980)4
Das Boot (DEU 1981, Wolfgang Petersen)4
Die Ehe der Maria Braun (DEU 1973, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)4
Der Westen Leuchtet! (DEU 1982, Niklaus Schilling)4
Le Bal (FRA / ITA / DZA 1984, Ettore Scola)4
Le Dernier Métro (FRA 1980, Francois Truffauts)4
Lili Marleen (DEU 1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)4
Lola (DEU 1981, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)4
Neige (FRA 1981, Juliet Berto/Jean-Henri Roger)1
Querelle (DEU / FRA 1982, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)4
Sugar Hill (USA 1974, Paul Maslansky)4
Super Vixens (USA 1975, Russ Meyer)4
Tausend Augen (DEU 1984, Hans-Christoph Blumenberg)4
The Path of the Pioneer (USSR 1972, US distribution title)4
1 Bergala, Alain (1995): La couleur, la Nouvelle Vague et ses maîtres des années cinquante. In: Jacques Aumont (ed.): La Couleur en cinéma. Milan: Mazzotta, pp. 126–136, on p. 129. (in French) View Quote
2 Tessier, Max (1992): De la couleur dans les films japonais. In: Yann Tobin: Dossier. La couleur du cinéma. In: Positif, 375–376, May, pp. 121–158, on pp. 152–154. (in French)
3 Koshofer, Gert (1988): Color. Die Farben des Films. Berlin: Wissenschaftsverl. Volker Spiess, on p. 114 View Quote and on pp. 162–172. (in German)
4 Koshofer, Gert (1988): Color. Die Farben des Films. Berlin: Wissenschaftsverl. Volker Spiess, on pp. 131–132 View Quote and on pp. 162–172. (in German)
Downloads
Horiguchi, Takashi (1980): New 16-mm Fujicolor Reversal Films RT 500 and RT 125. In: SMPTE Journal, 89, Sept. 1980, pp. 645–649.
Download PDFYamaryo, Sadayuki; Ishimaru, Shingo; Takemura, Kazuhiko; (1984): New Fujicolor High-Speed Negative Film and Positive Film. In: SMPTE Journal, July 1985, pp. 735–742.
Download PDF
Patents
Contemporary Reception
Don’t Look Now (GBR / ITA 1973, Nicolas Roeg):
Canby, Vincent (1973): Film. Don’t Look Now, a Horror Tale. In: New York Times, Dec., p. 56. View Quote
Full text on The New York Times website. View Link
Flashdance (USA 1983, Adrian Lyne):
Maslin, Janet (1983): Pittsburgh And Dance. In: The New York Times, Apr., p. C13. View Quote
Full text on The New York Times website. View Link
Maslin, Janet (1983): When Style Overrides the Content. In: The New York Times, Aug., pp. 15–16, on p. 15. View Quote
Full text on The New York Times website. View Link
Matador (ESP 1986, Pedro Almodóvar):
Canby, Vincent (1988): Almodóvar’s Matador, Surrealist Sex Comedy. In: The New York Times, Sep., p. C8. View Quote
Full text on The New York Times website. View Link
Spindler, Amy M. (1994): Dressed To Thrill. In: The New York Times, Mar., p. 1 and p. 4. View Quote
Full text on The New York Times website. View Link
Selected Analyses
Cyclo (VNM / FRA / HKG 1995, Tran Anh Hung):
Galt, Rosalind (2011): Pretty. Film and the Decorative Image. New York: Columbia University Press, on pp. 31–32. View Quote
Thompson, Andrew O. (1996): Vicious Cycle. In: American Cinematographer, 77,9, pp. 62–68, on pp. 65–66. View Quote
Don’t Look Now (GBR / ITA 1973, Nicolas Roeg):
Watkins, Liz (2015): Don’t Look Now. Transience and Text. In: Screen, 4,56, pp. 436–449, on pp. 336–339 View Quote, on p. 444 View Quote and on pp. 447–448. View Quote
Flashdance (USA 1983, Adrian Lyne):
Fisher, Bob (1984): Academy Award Nominees. Don Peterman and Flashdance. In: American Cinematographer, 65,4, pp. 59–64, on pp. 59–60 View Quote and on p. 64. View Quote
Veze, Robert (1983): Photography for Flashdance. In: American Cinematographer, 64,5, pp. 72–76, 109–113, on pp. 75–76 View Quote and on pp. 110–113. View Quote
Trois couleurs: Bleu (FRA / POL / CHE 1993, Krzysztof Kieślowski):
Hill, Lee (2007): Three Colours Blue. In: Senses of Cinema, 42, p. 3. View Quote
Full text on the Senses of Cinema website. View Link
Wilson, Emma (1998): Three colors blue. Kieślowski, colour and the postmodern subject. In: Screen, 39,4, pp. 349–362, on pp. 349–350 View Quote, on pp. 353–355 View Quote and on pp. 361–362. View Quote
