Page 16 - RD_0314

Technichrome - Continued

Some twenty cameras were adapted for two-colour photography, nothing more
complicated than bi-pack film magazines and pressure-pad gates in standard black-and-
white cameras were required. A method was then developed to produce two-colour
prints using the standard Technicolor imbibition printing process.

The film has the appearance of a regular Technicolor print, with the characteristic thick
gray frame lines and no branding in the perforation area.

I can’t find a reference to any films other that the 1948 Olympics film being made using
the Technichrome process. The ‘Madrid’ short was made by Pendennis Pictures, hardly
a household name in the film inductry. Despite not being marked as such, the print is
Nitrate, so that would suggest it’s pre 1950.
Reference:
(Coote, J. H. (1949): A Technician’s View of the Colour Film. In: Penguin Film Review, 9, May
1949, pp. 73-81, on pp. 77-78.)

Solarchrome - Continued
Questions by Mike Trickett
I have always often wondered what process
Solarchrome and the other Australian color
film processes used.

Did they use a monopack film, such as
Kodachrome in a regular camera, to generate
a color negative and then process it to a two
color release print? Were the prints produced
here? Lots of questions, but hard to find Solarchrome Ad -Film Weekly Directory 1948
answers as there has been so little documented on early color in Australia.

I have a Solarchrome advertisement for petrol – the Flying Red Horse (Mobil) which I know
was Solarchrome as it still has the leader which says so. I also have a Cinesound Newsreel with
a two color segment in it – both are 35mm nitrate.
I think I still have a couple of extra copies of the Red Horse ad which have been printed poorly,
and the colors are out of registration. Obviously lab rejects.

Another question I find myself asking when I watch Cinecolor / Trucolor – did they ever change
the dyes used in the release print to enhance the color. Some prints seem to have far better
green (grass/trees) reproduction than others. I have read a lot on the subject over the years
and there is rarely any mention about the actual color of the dyes used, just the generic color
names are mentioned

The above quastions were put to Ray Edmondson Former Deputy Director and current
Curator Emeritus of NFSA in email correspondance following the last edition of RD - see
Ray’s reply on the next page.

Reel Deals - 16 - March 2014