Handschiegl Color Process
Encyclopedia
The Handschiegl color process produced motion picture film prints with color artificially added to selected areas of the image. Aniline
dyes were applied to a black-and-white print using gelatin imbibition matrices.
's production of Joan the Woman
(1917) by engraver Max Handschiegl and partner Alvin W. Wyckoff, with assistance from Loren Taylor. All three were technicians at the studio where the film was shot, Famous Players-Lasky
, later Paramount Studios. The system was originally advertised as the "Wyckoff" process, and later referred to in publicity as the "DeMille-Wyckoff" process.
For a time, the process was strictly used for Paramount releases, but when Handschiegl and Wyckoff left Famous Players-Lasky, the process became known as the Handschiegl Color Process. Aside from Pathé
's stencil
process Pathéchrome, the Handschiegl process was the most widely used form of artificial coloring in motion pictures of the 1920s.
Surviving examples of the process show that this technique was not always used. In some examples, stencils or simple hand coloring were employed. The process used most likely depended on variables such as speed and budget.
) formed the company.
In 1928, Kelley Color was, in turn, bought by Harriscolor. Also in 1928, Technicolor
began using "dye-imbibition
" in what later became known as Technicolor's "Process 3". The first film made in Process 3 was The Viking
(1928), produced by Technicolor and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
Aniline
Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the prototypical aromatic amine. Being a precursor to many industrial chemicals, its main use is in the manufacture of precursors to polyurethane...
dyes were applied to a black-and-white print using gelatin imbibition matrices.
History of the process
The process was invented in 1916 for Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's production of Joan the Woman
Joan the Woman
Joan the Woman is a 1916 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc.It was the first film to use the Handschiegl Color Process for certain scenes...
(1917) by engraver Max Handschiegl and partner Alvin W. Wyckoff, with assistance from Loren Taylor. All three were technicians at the studio where the film was shot, Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
, later Paramount Studios. The system was originally advertised as the "Wyckoff" process, and later referred to in publicity as the "DeMille-Wyckoff" process.
For a time, the process was strictly used for Paramount releases, but when Handschiegl and Wyckoff left Famous Players-Lasky, the process became known as the Handschiegl Color Process. Aside from Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
's stencil
Stencil
A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a stencil is that it can be reused to...
process Pathéchrome, the Handschiegl process was the most widely used form of artificial coloring in motion pictures of the 1920s.
Overview of how the process worked
Handschiegl described the invention as such: A separate, black-and-white print for each color to be applied was made. Using an opaque paint, portions of the image where color was to be applied were blocked out. A duplicate negative was made from the painted print, developed in a tanning developer which hardened the gelatine layer where it had been exposed and developed. Those areas corresponding to the blocked out areas on the print remained relatively soft, and capable of taking up dye. This dyed matrix film was brought into contact, in accurate register, with a positive print, to which the dye transferred in the appropriate areas. The print made several passes through the dye transfer machines, in contact with a separate matrix for each color. Usually, three colors were applied at the most.Surviving examples of the process show that this technique was not always used. In some examples, stencils or simple hand coloring were employed. The process used most likely depended on variables such as speed and budget.
Later years
The Handschiegl process was incorporated as part of Kelley Color in 1927 when Handschiegl and William Van Doren Kelley (inventor of PrizmaPrizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
) formed the company.
In 1928, Kelley Color was, in turn, bought by Harriscolor. Also in 1928, Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
began using "dye-imbibition
Imbibition
'Imbibition' is defined as the displacement of one fluid by another immiscible fluid. This process is controlled and affected by a variety of factors...
" in what later became known as Technicolor's "Process 3". The first film made in Process 3 was The Viking
The Viking (1928 film)
The Viking was the first feature-length Technicolor film that featured a soundtrack, and the first film made in Technicolor's Process 3.-Production background:...
(1928), produced by Technicolor and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
.
Known examples of Handschiegl color
- The Birth of a NationThe Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
(1915) - For prints re-issued after 1916. - Joan the WomanJoan the WomanJoan the Woman is a 1916 silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc.It was the first film to use the Handschiegl Color Process for certain scenes...
(1917) - Red and yellow gave the scene of Joan of Arc burning at the stake a heightened dramatic effect - IntoleranceIntolerance (film)Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
(1916) - The Devil-StoneThe Devil-StoneThe Devil-Stone is a 1917 romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film had sequences filmed in the Handschiegl Color Process ....
(1917) - Broken BlossomsBroken BlossomsBroken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl is a 1919 silent film directed by D.W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919...
(1919) - Treasure IslandTreasure Island (1920 film)Treasure Island is a 1920 silent film adaptation of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, directed by Maurice Tourneur, and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1920) - The Heritage of the Red Man (1920) Max Handschiegl credited as cinematographer
- Roman Candles (Yankee Doodle, Jr.) (1920)
- The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers (1921 film)__notoc__The Three Musketeers is an American silent film based on the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Fred Niblo and starred Douglas Fairbanks as d'Artagnan. The film originally had scenes filmed in the Handschiegl Color Process...
(1921) - A Blind BargainA Blind BargainA Blind Bargain is a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney and Raymond McKee, released through Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley and is based on Barry Pain's 1897 novel, The Octave of Claudius...
(AKA The Octave of Claudius) (1923) - A party sequence had soap bubbles imbibed with several prizmatic colors - Red Lights (1923)
- The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments (1923 film)The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
(1923) - The crossing of the red sea had a blue tone and red Handschiegel technique on the masses crossing it - The Big ParadeThe Big ParadeThe Big Parade is a 1925 silent film. It tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.The film was...
(1925) - A shot of an ambulance stuck in the mud had its red cross colored appropriately - GreedGreed (film)Greed is a 1924 American dramatic silent film. It was directed by Erich von Stroheim and starring Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin, Joan Standing and Jack Curtis....
(1925) - Erich Von Stroheim's original 4-hour cut of the film was to have all goldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
items colored a brilliant gold-yellow - The Lights of Old Broadway (1925)
- The Merry WidowThe Merry Widow (1925 film)The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent MGM romantic drama film and black comedy directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. The film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert and Roy D'Arcy. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable had uncredited roles in the film....
(1925) - The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
(1925) - The title character's flowing robes on the rooftop of the Opera House were dramatically colored red - Sally (1925) the 1929 version of this film used Technicolor
- Seven Keys to Baldpate (1925)
- The Splendid Road (1925)
- The Fire BrigadeThe Fire Brigade__notoc__The Fire Brigade, also called Fire! is a silent film directed by William Nigh.Film historian Kevin Brownlow used scenes from this film's climax to open his 13-hour documentary Hollywood...
(1926) - The Flaming ForestThe Flaming Forest__notoc__The Flaming Forest is a film directed by Reginald Barker, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and starring Antonio Moreno and Renée Adorée....
(1926) - The Girl From Montmartre (1926)
- The Greater GloryThe Greater GloryThe Greater Glory is a 1926 silent drama film directed by Curt Rehfeld, starring Conway Tearle and featuring Boris Karloff. This film is sometimes listed as The Viennese Medley, the title of Edith O'Shaughnessy's novel of which the film is based. The film is lost.-Cast:* Conway Tearle - Count...
(1926) - IreneIrene (1926 film)Irene is a silent romantic comedy film starring Colleen Moore, and partially shot in Technicolor. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and was based on the play Irene O'Dare written by James Montgomery. As reported in the book and documentary film The Celluloid Closet, actor George K...
(1926) - The fashion show sequence - MikeMike (film)Mike is a 1926 film directed by Marshall Neilan. The film is a modest production, featuring Sally O'Neil and William Haines.-Plot:Mike is a girl of the railroads, living with her Father in a converted freight car, in love with telegraphist Harlan .-Cast:* Sally O'Neil - Mike * William Haines -...
(1926) - Volcano (1926)
See also
- Film colorizationFilm colorizationFilm colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
- Film tintingFilm tintingFilm tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion...
- Dye-transfer processDye-transfer process-History:Technicolor introduced dye transfer in its Process 3, introduced in the feature film The Viking , which was produced by the Technicolor Corporation and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Techicolor's two previous systems were an additive color process and a poorly-received subtractive color...
- Color motion picture film
- List of early color feature films