Zprávy památkové péče 2016, 76(1):91-97
A race against time
The author addresses one of the important problems of restoring silent color films from the period 1895-1930. In a short detour, she emphasizes the importance of this issue, since the majority of silent films, according to various historical studies, were colored by one of four or five processes: manual coloring, coloring using templates, monochrome photographic print toning and shading, or a combination thereof. To a greater extent, the study focuses on the efforts of the National Film Archive in Prague and the Research Institute of audio, video and reproductive techniques (VÚZORT) on the rehabilitation and modernization of old photochemical methods of coloring and creating the conditions for rescuing the oldest film color images. Cooperation between the two institutions was successful, and since the 1980's, these color processes have become an important part of restoration projects. Despite the dozens and dozens of films restored in their original forms, collections still hold a large amount of rare film material from the early decades of cinematography whose existence is threatened by the influence of time. This is why the National Film Archive in 2012 began to take action, the results of which may contribute to the rescue of information on the color nature of these films. At issue is a detailed measurement of the density and color saturation by a densitometer and data recorder. This concerns the process of photographic print toning, shading, and the combinations thereof; in these cases, a black and white copy is first made and color is applied afterwards. The data records can then be used at any time in the future.
Keywords: Cinematography; coloring processes in the years 1897-1930; hand coloring; coloring using templates; photographic print toning, shading, and their combinations; research of photographic print toning in NFA and VÚZORT; application of research on modern film materials; measuring density and color saturation of silent films; color in Czech silent films; sources of information about film color
Published: March 1, 2016 Show citation
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