American Cinematographer - January 2020 - 20

what remains is only red wavelengths.
The final separator has a cyan filter,
which blocks out the red light, and in the
final chamber there is no light at all. Each
gel cuts out some wavelengths of light,
making each chamber darker than the
previous because light has been filtered
out - and in the end, we have complete
darkness.

The savvy reader will note that red, green and blue are a ubiquitous aspect of
our cinematographic world. Film contains three layers, which are sensitive to red,
green and blue light, respectively. Bayer-pattern color-filter arrays on digital cinema
cameras have red, green and blue filters. If you're reading this on a computer screen,
then the red, green and blue pixels are forming the images you see. We are deeply
intertwined with the physics of additive color mixing. An intimate understanding of
how additive and subtractive colors work are a significant part of the cinematographer's job.

An example of subtractive color mixing through incremental filtering of white light.

January 2020

American Cinematographer - 100 Years

Vintage Views on Color

In discussing color theory, it's only
appropriate that we look at the 1930s
and the evolution of color film. While
the use of color has been a part of
motion pictures since the very invention
of film - first achieved by painting or
tinting prints - the processes by which
color was achieved back then were in a
primordial state and were generally
inaccurate. Technicolor had the most
success, particularly with their threestrip imbibition process, a complex
camera and print system widely introduced in 1928 with The Viking (shot by
George Cave), the first feature filmed
and released with it.
I found it fascinating to read an AC
story from 1934 - a lightly edited
excerpt of which you can peruse on page
22 - in which discussions about color
film mirrored almost verbatim the
discussions I heard about high-definition
video 20 years ago, or that I hear now
about high-dynamic-range imagery. Do
audiences really want it? Is it hard and
uncomfortable on the eyes?
There was caution in 1934 to not
overdo the use of color, and to employ it
strictly as a storytelling tool - again, the
same things we discuss today about high
resolution and HDR. It's amazing to me
that we have the same arguments again
and again as technology advances.
➔

Magazine cover image from the AC archives.

box with four chambers in it, and holes,
like little doorways, in each separation
between chambers. The base of the box
is lined with white paper. A white light,
which has equal amounts of red, green
and blue wavelengths, shines into the
first chamber, and the first separator has
a yellow gel in it. This turns the light
yellow by blocking out blue wavelengths
so only green and red pass through. The
next separator has a magenta filter,
which blocks out the green light, so now

American Cinematographer - January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2020