Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

At Technicolor color is in our DNA!

19/03/2015

The Early Days In 1915, The Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation began its love affair with color, and in the process created one of the most revolutionary changes in film history. The addition of sound in 1923 meant that film was better able to imitate reality; but it was the move from black-and-white to color that wowed audiences and transformed the industry forever.

The first feature-length blockbuster that used the Technicolor two-color process, The Black Pirate (1926) was considered avant-garde and rather ostentatious. At this time, directors often picked specific scenes to color, in order to heighten the audiences' emotions. This has led some commentators to express that modern audiences still associate saturated color, such as that experienced by early cinema goers, to happy and positive emotions.

The process which changed color film forever Technicolor quickly developed an improved color system, the three strip IB dye-transfer process used in much loved family films, such as Gone with the Wind (1939) and Singin' in the Rain (1952). This system was revolutionary, and film that used the Technicolor IB dye-transfer process is as vibrant as ever, making them invaluable sources for film restoration projects. The rich colors produced in this process also served to make films more vivid than reality itself, and this aesthetic served to enhance films' escapist quality.

color and Emotion Scientific research conducted in the 1930's showed that color directly shaped emotional responses and ever since, directors have been using color as a narrative devise. The first example of this cinematic technique is a scene from The Wizard of Oz (1939), where Dorothy leaves her sepia-toned reality to the colorful land of Oz - representing the start of her big adventure. Other directors that Technicolor has worked with over the years, such as Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton, Stephen Spielberg, Ken Loach, David Lean and many more have all relied on color to shock, amaze and draw audiences into their vision.

Today, the color grading process in post-production serves to ensure the full spectrum of emotion is provoked. Moreover, the finishing touches in the DI suites helps the directors and DOP's create a greater sense of time in the film. A good example of this is BAFTA winning film, Paddington (2014), which has a timeless quality that was created by understanding the subtle nuances of color in the post production process.

color Technology is always evolving color's early history in film was symbiotic with technological advance, and the same could be said today. The industry is driven by technological change, and, although Technicolor was once associated with its dye-transfer process, it has reinvented its services to embrace the wonderful possibilities provided by the digital revolution.

Bringing new ideas to the table, working in collaboration and creating the dialogue necessary to keep pushing the technological boundaries has meant exciting new technologies have been developed. On set color grading, such as Technicolor's DP Lights V2.0, allows DOP's to control their color choices before the post production process. Technicolor has also recently announced its first technology licensing deal for color in the smartphone industry, partnering with ALCATEL ONETOUCH on the launch of IDOL 3, the brand's latest flagship smartphone , to embed Technicolor Color Enhance technology. The IDOL 3 color adaptive screen, with Technicolor Color Enhance Technology, gives the viewer a rich color experience.

It's incredible to think that within a century audiences can now choose any screen and experience color in a way that excites as much as it did for audiences in the 1920's.
LINK: http://www.technicolor.com/en/who-we-are/press-news-center/news/techni...
See more stories from technicolor

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

03/08/2026

SVGs TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 20; Register Today!

SVG's annual TranSPORT conference returns to New York City for a full day of sessions focused on the current state of live-sports-transmission technology. S...

03/08/2026

SVG All-Stars: Stefan Richardson, Director, Global Broadcast, Riot Games

A five-time Emmy winner, this esports vet has built a production career on live storytelling, audience connection, and meeting viewers wherever they are The sp...

03/08/2026

MLBs Jason Hedgcock on Using the Cloud To Produce World Baseball Classic Games for Netflix Japan

Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry and Major Le...

03/08/2026

Cookie Queens Is Sweet With Substance

(L-R) Nyah B., Nala B., Shannon Elizabeth S., Celia K., Olive G., and Nikki B. attend the Q&A for Cookie Queens by Alysa Nahmias, an official selection of the...

03/08/2026

Rhodes launch Rhodes Clav Pro

Recreates a 1977 Hohner Clavinet D6 After launching a software recreation of their own electric piano, Rhodes set about capturing another classic instrument...

03/08/2026

Peak Tamer from Nicky Howard

A modern solution for an old technique Peak Tamer is a new standalone application that automatically applies gain automation to keep rogue peaks under cont...

03/08/2026

Sound Particles update Beat Panner

Plug-in gains object metadata automation export Sound Particles have just released an update that adds a new Metadata Automation function to their their rec...

03/08/2026

SGL Carbon and X-energy announce capacity expansion for Nuclear-Grade Graphite

SGL Carbon and X-energy today announced a binding agreement to double SGL's production capacity for medium-grain isotropic graphite ( NBG-18 ), a specialize...

03/08/2026

Glensound launches Greater Divine Supernal at PLASA Show...

Glensound will launch the Greater Divine Supernal at PLASA Show 2026, extending its intelligent loudspeaker range for professional studio monitoring and live au...

03/08/2026

How Agua Tinta's Class Project Launched Her Songwriting Career

How Agua Tinta's Class Project Launched Her Songwriting Career Two years after graduating from Berklee, the songwriter has a Latin Grammy nomination, a So...

03/08/2026

Lightware UCX delivers campus-wide connectivity to Leiden...

Leiden University's new Campus Spui, located in the heart of The Hague, the diplomatic and administrative centre of the Netherlands, opened in February 2026...

03/08/2026

Bitfocus heads to the future with new investment

Bitfocus, the specialist in media control and monitoring, has received a further boost to its plans for continuing growth, particularly in Europe and North Amer...

03/08/2026

Leagues Cup kicks off tomorrow, August\u00A04, on\u00A0Apple\u00A0TV - UPDATE - Posted on 03 August 2026

Building on the momentum of a landmark year for soccer in North America, Leagues...

02/08/2026

Acustica introduce Dangerous Music BAX EQ Plugin

Classic EQ design goes virtual Following on from the launch of the 500-series version of their BAX EQ unit, Dangerous Music have now teamed up with modellin...

02/08/2026

Television, Resilience and National Security

The Government's Missing Dimension This article was originally published on the National Preparedness Commission website on 25 June 2026. ----------------...

01/08/2026

Harmonic Piano from The Crow Hill Company

Latest free Vaults instrument released The Crow Hill Company's Vaults collection offers a continually rotating selection of virtual instruments and samp...

01/08/2026

American Television Alliance Slams Deltavision Blackout on Verizon

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

FreeWheel Debuts TV Series-Level Reporting for CTV Buyers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

Minnesota Timberwolves, DAZN to Launch New Streaming Offering

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

Early Registration Opens for 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Landmark Distribution Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representative - Animation Services

COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representative - Animation Services Brie Clayton July 31, 2026 0 Comments Lead Generation Representative - Animation Service...

01/08/2026

Emilie Lowe Shoots Award Winning Short Film Where Dead Things Grow with Blackmagic Design

Emilie Lowe Shoots Award Winning Short Film Where Dead Things Grow with Blackmag...

01/08/2026

Early Registration Opens for the 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit

Early Registration Opens for the 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit Brie Clayton July 31, 2026 0 Comments Initial Program Announced Alongside New Medi...

31/07/2026

SVG Sit-Down: NHL's Steve Mayer on Building a Centralized Production Operation From Scratch

With an emphasis on local, the league is looking beyond the initial four teams t...

31/07/2026

Reflecting on the 2026 Summer Season of Our Sundance Institute Labs

The 2026 Sundance Institute Directors Lab fellows in Estes Park, Colorado (Photo by Gabe Rovick) Dear Friends, This has been an extraordinary year for our ar...

31/07/2026

Audiocube launch Audiocube Space

Offers 360-degree sound placement in any DAW Audiocube have just announced the launch of a new plug-in that embeds a complete 3D acoustic environment inside...

31/07/2026

Sonarworks expand SoundID VoiceAI library

10 new Chinese C-Pop voices introduced While Sonarworks are best known to many for their room-correction software, their product range also includes an inno...

31/07/2026

PSPaudioware release PSP BBDelay

Reimagines the vintage BBD sound character PSPaudioware have now officially launched the new delay plug-in that they were previewing at GearExpo UK. Said to...

31/07/2026

Savannah Bananas Hits a Broadcast Home Run with Calrec

The Savannah Bananas has built its reputation on refusing to play baseball by traditional rules, and the team's production arm Banana Ball TV (BTV) has draf...

31/07/2026

How Valuable Is TV to Smaller, Independent Cable Operators?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/07/2026

Early Registration Opens for the 2026 SMPTE Media Techno...

SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today opened early registration for the 2026 Media Technology Summit (MTS) and announced i...

31/07/2026

Central Christian Church Connects Remote Production Teams...

Clear-Com announced that Central Christian Church has transformed communication across its live production operations by implementing Clear-Com's LQ Seri...

31/07/2026

Haivision To Feature Makito ONE, Falkon X4 At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/07/2026

ABC Stations Tout Community Support for License Renewals

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/07/2026

Finalists Announced for IBC2026 Innovation Awards

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/07/2026

IBC2026 Innovation Awards finalists unveiled honouring co...

IBC has unveiled the finalists for the IBC2026 Innovation Awards, recognising collaborative projects from around the world that solve real-world challenges and ...

31/07/2026

From focus puller to colourist

From focus puller to colourist Caroline Shawley July 30, 2026 0 Comments Ana Mar a Ormaza shares her story of instinct, storytelling and finding a cre...

31/07/2026

Amazon Prime Documentary Andata e Ritorno Relies on Blackmagic Design

Amazon Prime Documentary Andata e Ritorno Relies on Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton July 30, 2026 0 Comments DaVinci Resolve Studio and Blackmagic Clou...

31/07/2026

Krotos Launches Video to Sound Plugin for DaVinci Resolve

Krotos Launches Video to Sound Plugin for DaVinci Resolve Brie Clayton July 30, 2026 0 Comments AI-assisted workflow helps editors add synchronized, p...

31/07/2026

Think summer of sport is over? Think again. More live sport. More big moments. More to come on RT

Athletics, Camogie, the Dublin Horse Show, the FAI Cup, Golf, Hockey, the UEFA C...

31/07/2026

Half-Year Report on SES's Liquidity Contract

Luxembourg, July 31, 2026 - Pursuant to the liquidity contract entered into by SES with BNP Paribas as of 7 April 2026, please see the below update on the progr...

31/07/2026

SES Publishes FY2025 EU Taxonomy Restatement

Luxembourg, July 31, 2026 - SES today published a restatement of its FY2025 EU Taxonomy (Article 8) disclosure. The restatement updates the FY2025 EU Taxonomy d...

31/07/2026

Mercedes-Benz Ireland returning as the official car partner of The Traitors Ireland

RT Commercial has today announced Mercedes-Benz Ireland will return as the offi...

31/07/2026

RT Supporting the Arts is supporting 15 cultural events nationwide this August

RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to spotlight a diverse range of arts, culture and heritage events taking place across Ireland this August. From major festi...