I find gone with the wind very interesting. Because that movie was shot in color in 1939. Were there movies shot in color before 1939? Is there any list about it?
1939 also brought us The Wizard of Oz, which starts in black-and-white and then after the tornado deposits Dorothy in Oz, switches to glorious color, amazing the audience.
But I dont understand why almost every films were not in color. I mean there are only 2 films in color in 1939. Why werent other films shot in color if there was this tecnology? Almost every films were not in color until the mid 1950s. Why is it so then if movies were able to be shot in color in 1930s or 1920s?
Every new technology is very expensive. Only a few studios could afford it at first, until there were more processing labs and the price of the film came down. That's my guess
There is something about black and white movies that seem to make them more interesting and maybe more believable. Frankly, I enjoy them more than color movies, in many cases. I just watched - The Last Picture Show- last night. Wouldn't have worked in color. I'm sure Skip is correct about the cost of shooting in color, but also the state of the art --that is--trying to perfect the rendering of color true to life.
A passing observation, during WW2 the USN insisted that all their Pacific War footage be shot in colour. Nevertheless i think I have seen some B & W, and do not know why this is so as most by far is in colour, probably 16mm. There exists a very well done private civilians documentary shot in London during the BoB and the 'Blitz', 1940/41. Anyway, they probably bought in colour as I was born in 1939, and they needed colour to record the historic event.
'World at War' was all black and white and is one of the best, if not THE best docs about WW11. I think it's available from Time-Life. Very good and another one that wouldn't have worked in color,IMO. B&W gives a sense of timeliness.
Funny you mentioned that, because I have a DVD of "France is Free: They Filmed the War in Color". "For years the world has watched films of World War II in black and white. Now for the first time, follow alongside those who experienced the war first hand in this remarkable and moving portrait revealing never-before-seen footage shot in full color."
But sound film tecnology became common immediantly. The first full sound movie was in 1928 and it became common in 1929 which means a year later. From 1929 on, almost every movies were sound movies.
"mammy--the sun shines east the sun shines west----" Eddie Cantor. Silents were made back in the very late 1800s until the one you mentioned. One of the very first was that French guy with a movie with a rocket stuck in the moons' face. Or at least that's what I remember about it.
Oops. Learn something every day. First film with sound --1900 in France. The sychronization was difficult was why sound was a not a feasable commercial success until 1927, with Eddie Cantors -The Jazz Singer in 1927. There were, along the way early in the last century--short films with sound.
The jazz singer is not a sound film.The song part is only sound,other parts are all silent. It doesnt count as a sound film. The first real sound film is lights of new york which was in 1928. And in 1929 most of the films were sound movies. Sound movies had become common immediantly unlike movies in colour. Gone with the wind was shot in colour in 1939 but Dr.Strange Love was shot in uncolour in 1964. There were movies being shot in uncolour even in 1960s. Maybe it was because colour film tecnology was not as important as sound film tecnology so people did not care as much. I dont know.
OK. I haven't seen the Jazz Singer, so I certainly can't dispute what you say. I think B&Ws are still being made independent of the studio system. Check out Wiki on this subject.
Thank you....... I have always wondered about this!!! Its a shame,you cannot find the movie 'GONE WITH THE WIND' I dont think ANYWHERE in its original PURE ANALOGUE FORMAT!! (Even the videodisc is fucked up (DIGITALLY ENHANCED FOR STEREO)) Its very sad.......
Here is a history of Film technology. Briefly: Hand colored films before 1900 cost 2 to 3 times as much per foot to make verses black and white. First color film process, circa 1900, the Lee Turner system needed a special camera consisting of three rotating color filters. Rapidly moving objects would blur and color registration problems caused all images to jump about Kinemacolor, 1906, had problems with the focusing of color and color halos and needed special expensive projectors. Biocolor had problems similar to the Lee Turner system. Additive two color Technicolor was used with success from 1915 to 1921 but cost 3 times as much to film and 3 times as much for prints as black and white and needed special projectors that required a skilled operator. Subtractive Process 2 Technicolor was developed in 1922 and physically embedded the color on the film. It was cheaper to make and didn't require special projectors. However the filming process resulting in the film becoming cupped over use causing the film to go out of focus. It then had to be shipped back to Boston where it would need to be flattened before being reshipped back to the movie theaters. Technicolor Process 3 came out in 1928 and eliminated the cupping problem but was grainy. In 1931 the graininess was removed. There was also a Brewster Color and Multicolor system at the time. The great depression hit the filmmakers hard and color films were found to generate no more moviegoers than black and white films, so the production of the expensive color films was deemed not worth the effort until the fifties. Here is a list of color film systems.
