Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Prologue: Questions of Colours: Taking Sides
- NONFICTION AND AMATEUR CINEMA
- NATURAL-COLOUR PROCESSES: THEORY AND PRACTICE
- INTERMEDIALITY AND ADVERTISING
- ARCHIVING AND RESTORATION: EARLY DEBATES AND CURRENT PRACTICES
- Archival Panels (Edited Transcripts)
- Authors’ Biographies
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgements
- Index
12 - A Material-Based Approach to the Digitization of Early Film Colours
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Prologue: Questions of Colours: Taking Sides
- NONFICTION AND AMATEUR CINEMA
- NATURAL-COLOUR PROCESSES: THEORY AND PRACTICE
- INTERMEDIALITY AND ADVERTISING
- ARCHIVING AND RESTORATION: EARLY DEBATES AND CURRENT PRACTICES
- Archival Panels (Edited Transcripts)
- Authors’ Biographies
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgements
- Index
Summary
ABSTRACT
While the digitization of archival films has been practiced for more than a decade, there is still a lack of academic rigour in this field, both on a scientific as well as on an interdisciplinary level. Therefore, we are in need of a better understanding of basic principles, both technological and aesthetic, that guide the many decisions taken throughout the process. This paper presents three interconnected research projects that investigate these topics with a comprehensive approach. Based on thorough analyses of the technology, physics, and aesthetics of film colours, this material-based approach connects these diverse disciplines with the aim to translate the appearance of analogue film colours into the digital domain.
KEYWORDS
film, colours, aesthetics, technology, digital, restoration
While the digitization of archival films has been practiced for more than a decade, there is still a lack of academic rigour in this field, both on a scientific as well as on an interdisciplinary level. In the specific case of translating early colours into the digital domain, curators and service providers have found practical solutions to the many related obstacles and diverse requirements. However, we are in need of a better understanding of basic principles, both technological and aesthetic, that guide the many decisions to be taken along the process. This paper presents three interconnected research projects that investigate these topics.
In her recent text The Archival Life of Early Color Films, Giovanna Fossati writes with regard to the digitization of tinted material:
As not many laboratories are working on the ‘digital Desmet’ method, there is still very limited experience and the results are not yet as successful as in the case of the photochemical method. In particular, the reproduction of the original tints is not always accurate, while the reproduction of the black and whites, instead of remaining neutral, acquires an undesired tint.
One of the main causes of this problem is the complexity of the task. Research in this field has to consider a wide array of disciplinary approaches, from chemistry, physics, and IT, to aesthetic and historical aspects, and not the least, psychophysical questions of colour perception and colour appearance.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Colour FantasticChromatic Worlds of Silent Cinema, pp. 237 - 260Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018