.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The three-strip Technicolor camera was the product of nearly two decades' work by the Technicolor Corporation to try to develop a realistic colour system for theatrical film exhibition. It was ready for use in 1932 and became the first truly successful colour process for motion pictures. The camera's design and construction was the work of 'Mr. Technicolor' himself, Dr. Herbert Kalmus, J. Arthur Ball, his student at M.I.T., Henry Prouch and George Mitchell of The Mitchell Camera Co. The system employed three separate strips of black and white 35mm. film which were exposed simultaneously through two gates, one of which ran two strips of film (bi-pack). Light from the lens would pass through a specially constructed beam splitter made of two prisms with a partial mirror coating of flecked gold that would divert part of the light to the second gate. The resulting negatives would be three separate red, green and blue records of the photographed scene which would then be used to produce matrices which could in turn be used to make Technicolor release prints using the dye-transfer or imbibition process.
With the advent of Kodak's dye-coupler technology and their first colour negative film in 1950 the three-strip means of originating a camera negative fell into obsolescence but was still used on select feature productions for some years. The Technicolor print process continued as a means of producing high quality, richly coloured release prints.
In America, Technicolor built the cameras themselves using only claws and sprockets manufactured by Mitchell as bought-in parts. The DE series of cameras, DE signifying Drama England, were constructed by Newall to the same design and again using Mitchell claws and sprockets. Only 30 three-strip cameras were made in total and the Technicolor Corporation have retained ownership of all of them. DE13 was given to the Samuelson brothers by Technicolor and is the only known example in a private collection. Technicolor Ltd. have wished the Samuelson Brothers success with the sale. The blimp, which weighs an impressive 700lbs, was acquired in a separate transaction from a vendor in Los Angeles.
The photograph shows Paul Beeson and Belinda Lee on the set of The Feminine Touch (BR1956) with camera DE13. This production, completed in September 1955 for Ealing Studios was the very last British film to be shot in three-strip Technicolor.
With the advent of Kodak's dye-coupler technology and their first colour negative film in 1950 the three-strip means of originating a camera negative fell into obsolescence but was still used on select feature productions for some years. The Technicolor print process continued as a means of producing high quality, richly coloured release prints.
In America, Technicolor built the cameras themselves using only claws and sprockets manufactured by Mitchell as bought-in parts. The DE series of cameras, DE signifying Drama England, were constructed by Newall to the same design and again using Mitchell claws and sprockets. Only 30 three-strip cameras were made in total and the Technicolor Corporation have retained ownership of all of them. DE13 was given to the Samuelson brothers by Technicolor and is the only known example in a private collection. Technicolor Ltd. have wished the Samuelson Brothers success with the sale. The blimp, which weighs an impressive 700lbs, was acquired in a separate transaction from a vendor in Los Angeles.
The photograph shows Paul Beeson and Belinda Lee on the set of The Feminine Touch (BR1956) with camera DE13. This production, completed in September 1955 for Ealing Studios was the very last British film to be shot in three-strip Technicolor.