Technicolor is a patented process for making motion pictures in color. It involves producing three separate black-and-white negatives of the scene being filmed. Each negative is exposed to one of the primary colors of light–red, blue, or green–from the scene. The negative images are then printed on film to produce positive images. Technicians dye the positives to reproduce the red, blue, and green areas recorded on the negatives. Next, the dyed positive images are transferred onto blank film to make the final print. The transferred colors blend to produce all the original colors of the filmed scene. Technicolor results in color reproduction of high quality. But the process is difficult and costly to produce.
Herbert T. Kalmus, an American chemical engineer, developed Technicolor in the early 1900’s. The first full-length film made with the process, The Gulf Between, appeared in theaters in 1917. Originally, Technicolor was a two-color system. The improved three-color process was introduced in 1932. Many Technicolor films were made in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Since then, however, Technicolor has largely been replaced by simpler and less expensive color film processes.
