Page 23 - RD_2015_12

left little to he desired. They brought the scene before millions with a wonderful realism and
gorgeous blaze of colour such as never before in the history of moving pictures had been
witnessed upon the screen. The excellence of these portrayals established Kinemacolor
firmly in the mind of the public.

Another disconcerting feature which has aroused considerable comment in the public mind is
the apparent duplication of the outlines of figures near the camera. The most uninitiated observer
cannot fail to see the outlines in green and red, as if the superimposition were out of register.
“Fringing”, as this defect is called, is difficult to eliminate in many instances, and although often
it is only momentary, it is decidedly distressing. It is due to diffraction, the glass screen as the
light passes through acting somewhat as a prism, and splitting up the light into its component
parts or groups of wave-lengths. (Note 1.)

Kinemacolor has vast possibilities in the presentation of picture-plays; indeed, this may be
said to be its true province. Here one can prepare the scenery and costumes to come within the
limitations of the two screen's adopted; the drawbacks can be eliminated by proper staging, and
all those colours omitted which cannot be faithfully reproduced. Even if the latter expedient is
not practised, the colour-distortion is not seen upon the screen. The audience cannot see that a
rich purple cloak has turned to a whitish-green, or a brilliant yellow become reddish-orange.

In justice, however, it must be said that Kinemacolor is only in its infancy; it occupies the
same position that black-and-white cinematography did in the early ’nineties. The combined
efforts of several independent investigators will eliminate the defects one by one and effect
steady improvements. Black-and-white cinematography has passed beyond the formative period
and reached an advanced stage of development; natural-colour cinematography must go through
the self-same ordeal. Operators have not become accustomed to the new order of things, and
have not realised the many new factors that have to be taken into consideration. The sooner they
do so, the more profitable will the art become.

A new rival, “Biocolor” has recently made its appearance. This process is based upon the
Greene patents, and the results achieved so far, in combination with this indefatigable experi-
menter’s latest discoveries, represent a marked advance in the art. Not only are the tones purer
to Nature, but “fringing” and other defects have been eliminated, while the process is much
simpler and cheaper.

Considerable attention has been centred upon a new natural-colour cinematographic process
which has recently made its appearance. The three primary colours are used, and are projected
upon the screen simultaneously to present merely one image before the public, as in the Ives
system of lantern-slide colour-projection. The pictures are projected at the rate of sixteen per
second in groups of three, and the lighting arrangement is carried out upon different lines. Instead
of a revolving shutter eclipsing the red image to permit the green picture to be brought into place,
the light is extinguished, projection being carried out upon a flash system, whereby a powerful

REEL DEALS September 2017 23