The Stunning Evolution of Color in Film | WIRED

Before they figured out how to shoot film in color, filmmakers were painting their footage, frame-by-frame. Fast forward a century and the HDR technology available to colorists means we are to see more detail than ever on our screens. From technicolor to color grading, color in the movies has had a fascinating 116 year history.



ABOUT WIRED
WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. Through thought-provoking stories and videos, WIRED explores the future of business, innovation, and culture.

The Stunning Evolution of Color in Film | WIRED

[alexandrecotetessier]

2:00 So people should know that despite the fact it looks like the movie goes from sepia to color, they actually shot the whole shot in color. They painted the interior of the house and use a double for Dorothy with a sepia colored costume. You can actually see the trick: Dorothy's double, after opening the door, gets out of the frame for letting Judy Garland's Dorothy getting into it.

[TheStockwell]

Worth mentioning: the earliest surviving color footage - which begins this film - was never seen until recently. The inventor shot it with a camera which placed a different colored filter in front of every third frame. He managed to get images on film, but never came up with a way to project the film with three different filters on the projector.

A few years ago, his film was scanned and digitally "projected" following his instructions. It worked - but it took a over a century to get it to.

[patrickroelant]

That wizard of oz scene was amazing to look at

[Nuklen]

Not gonna name that Japanese movie at 2:32? Ok...

[ToonGrizzly]

we have a Dolby theater in Arlington Texas! and the colors are absolutely amazing

[RustyB]

guys remember that time we tried doing 360 videos on youtube?? ohhh man... wtf were we thinking?!?!! ... those were the days....

[timchalamet]

I thought when I was young the world was black and white in the 1900s lol 🤦‍♂️😂

[FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

That was pretty groovy; I always wondered why movies looked so different as a kid, the just suddenly completely changed in viewing quality

[PaulGPixelBike]

Why didn't they mention teal and orange trend in color grading? Essentially all recent blockbusters are graded like that.

[alexlandherr]

At 1:45, Technicolor did make a two-strip color system before what’s shown here. It’s the three-strip system that’s most associated with the “Technicolor” name.

Also worth noting that the way the color print was done with the three-strip process meant that the colors have *EXTREMELY* low color fade over time. You can still find excellent Technicolor Imbibition prints on eBay of old cartoons that have great color after >60 years.

[brothaNblue]

Something good came out the Mario Bros. movie? Shocking.

[christantoseno]

This is why old movie are better than modern movie, no shaky cam and no over-graded like orange and teal look, cyan-ish look, yellow-ish warm look, green look like matrix, or a low contrast and underexposure, old movie looks colorful

[eddie]

I'm sure I noticed improved film around the early 2000s. I remember watching Black Hawk Down and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) thinking that the blacks look really black, not a sort of grey black like I had seen in previous movies!

[TheMovieMyLife]

So much in this video that I didn't fully know about before.
This video also makes me wonder about how long the list of jobs for any given movie must be. Crazy long is my thought.
I'm certainly happy to live during this time in the evolution of film; not that I'd have known too much about what I was missing had I been born much earlier in the 20th century, of course. :-)

[theproanimator]

2:37, so there was a little bit of competition

[TommyDoesSh]

The wizard of oz is one of my favorite colored film because it look too good for it's time.

[leopoldopetrieska]

what was that japanese movie at 2:37? looks damn amazing

[mehulkoshti]

I realized its not a cinefix video after I watched it.

[davidatovar]

The wizard of oz color transition was in color too, just earth tones, the setting and costume was made in earth tones.

[AwestaKhalid]

what's the name of the samurai movie being shown at 2:32 ?