List of color film systems
Encyclopedia
This is a list of color film processes known to have been developed for shooting or viewing color motion pictures since the development of such photographic technology towards the end of the 19th century.
Legend
- Process: The name of the process as advertised by the company (alternate names in the "notes" section
- Year: Earliest known year of completion (based on patents, general announcements, film premieres).
- Projection method: falls into four, distinct categories, as well as how many primary colors were represented in the process:
Additive: Projected as black and white records on film through filters, thus recomposing color on the screen.
Subtractive: Color is printed on the film and projected as such.
Lenticular (additive): Color which is registered on a specialized film through thousands of minute "lenses" embedded into the base, opposite the emulsion. Film was shot and projected through a tri-color banded filter.
Mosaic (additive): An embossed screen is used to separate colors into "fields" on a black and white film stock. While either added directly on the film or on a lens, the projection is additive through a screen of the same embossment. - Inventor: or inventors of the process.
- Introductory film: the first known public showing of the color process.
| Process | Year | Projection method | Inventor(s) | Introductory film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joly Color Screen Joly Color Screen The Joly Color process is an early additive color photography process devised by Dublin physicist John Joly in 1894.-Description:Based on a method proposed in 1869 by Louis Ducos du Hauron in Les Couleurs en Photographie - Solution du Probleme, the Joly Color process used a glass photographic plate... |
1895 | Mosaic | Sir John Joly John Joly John Joly FRS was an Irish physicist, famous for his development of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer... |
N/A (Experimental) |
| Utocolor Utocolor Utocolor was a color photography system, particularly designed for motion picture color, invented by Dr. J.H. Smith in 1895. It was a three-color subtractive transfer process using the bleach-out/dye destruction method for making a color print by printing from a color transparency. It depends... |
1895 | Subtractive (3 color) | Dr. J.H. Smith | N/A (Experimental) |
| Lee-Turner Color | 1898 | Additive (3 color) | Frederick Marshall Lee Raymond Turner |
N/A (Experimental) |
| Kromoscope | 1900 | Additive (3 color) | Frederick E. Ives | Unknown |
| Kinemacolor Kinemacolor Kinemacolor was the first successful color motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith of Brighton, England in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of... |
1906 | Additive (2 color) | Edward R. Turner George Albert Smith George Albert Smith (inventor) George Albert Smith was a stage hypnotist, psychic, magic lantern lecturer, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, who is best known for his controversial work with Edmund Gurney at the Society for Psychical Research, his short-films from 1897-1903 which pioneered film... |
A Visit to the Seaside A Visit to the Seaside A Visit to the Seaside was the first successful film in natural color and the film was filmed with Kinemacolor. It is an 8 minute short film of Brighton that shows people doing activities. It was directed by George Albert Smith. It is ranked high historical importance.... (1908) |
| Warner-Powrie | 1906 | Mosaic | John Hutchison Powrie | Untitled film (1928) |
| Biocolour | 1908 | Additive (3 color) | William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene was a British portrait photographer and prolific inventor. He is principally known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures and is credited by some as the inventor of cinematography.-Career:William Edward Green was born on 7 September 1855, in Bristol... |
The Earl of Camelot (1914) |
| Keller-Dorian Keller-dorian cinematography Keller-Dorian cinematography was French technique from the 1920s for filming movies in color. It used a lenticular process to separate red, green and blue colors and record them on a single frame of black-and-white film... |
1908 | Lenticular | Albert Keller-Dorian Franzosen Rodolphe Berthon |
Unknown |
| Cinecolorgraph | 1912 | Subtractive (2 color) | A. Hernandez-Mejia | Unknown |
| Brewster Color | 1913 | Subtractive (2 color) | Percy Douglas Brewster | Unknown |
| Chronochrome aka: Gaumont Color |
1913 | Additive (3 color) | Leon Gaumont Léon Gaumont Léon Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry.... |
Victory Parade in Paris (1919) |
| Prizma Prizma 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... (I) |
1913 | Additive (2 color) | William van Doren Kelley | Our Navy (1917) |
| Cinechrome | 1914 | Additive (3 color) | Colin Bennett | Prince of Wales in India (1921) |
| Kodachrome Kodachrome Kodachrome is the trademarked brand name of a type of color reversal film that was manufactured by Eastman Kodak from 1935 to 2009.-Background:... (I) |
1916 | Subtractive (2 color) | John G. Capstaff Eastman-Kodak |
Concerning $1,000 |
| 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... (I) |
1916 | Additive (2 color) | Daniel F. Comstock Herbert Kalmus Herbert Kalmus Herbert Thomas Kalmus was an American scientist and engineer who played a key role in developing color motion picture film... W. Burton Wescott |
The Gulf Between (1917) |
| Douglass Color (Douglass Natural Color) |
1918 | Additive (2 color) | Leon Forrest Douglass Leon Douglass Leon Forrest Douglass was an American inventor and co-founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company who registered approximately fifty patents, mostly for film and sound recording techniques.-Life and professional career:... |
Nature Scenes (1918) and Cupid Angling Cupid Angling Cupid Angling is a silent film, the fifth feature film photographed in color.The film was produced by Leon F. Douglass's National Color Film Company in the Lake Lagunitas area of Marin County, California, and was made in the Douglass Natural Color process, the only feature film made in this process... (1918) |
| Kesdacolor | 1918 | Subtractive (2 color) | William van Doren Kelley Carroll H. Dunning |
American Flag (1918) |
| Prizma Prizma 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... (II) |
1918 | Subtractive (2 color) | William van Doren Kelley | The Glorious Adventure The Glorious Adventure (1922 film) The Glorious Adventure is a US/UK feature film directed by J. Stuart Blackton, written by Felix Orman.-Production background:The film was made entirely in Prizmacolor, and starred Lady Diana Manners, Gerald Lawrence, Cecil Humphreys, and Victor McLaglen, and was released by United Artists.Neither... (1922) |
| Zoechrome | 1920 | Subtractive (3 color) | T.A. Mills | Unknown |
| ColorCraft | 1921 | Subtractive (2 color) | W.H. Peck | Unknown |
| Polychromide | 1922 | Additive (2 color) | Aron Hamburger | Unknown |
| 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... (II) |
1922 | Subtractive (2 color) | Daniel F. Comstock Joseph A. Ball Leonard T. Troland Jarvis M. Andrews |
The Toll of the Sea The Toll of the Sea The Toll of the Sea is an American drama film, directed by Chester M. Franklin, produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, released by Metro Pictures, and featuring Anna May Wong in her first leading role.... (1922) |
| Kelleycolor | 1926 | Subtractive (2 color) | William van Doren Kelley Max Handschiegl |
Unknown |
| Busch Color | 1928 | Additive (2 color) | Unknown | |
| Harriscolor | 1928 | Subtractive (2 color) | William Van Doren Kelley | Unknown |
| Kodacolor | 1928 | Lenticular | Franzosen Rodolphe Berthon | N/A (16mm only) |
| Raycol | 1928 | Additive (2 color) | Maurice Elvey | The Skipper of the Osprey (1933) |
| Splendicolor | 1928 | Subtractive (3 color) | Unknown | |
| 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... (III) |
1928 | Subtractive (2 color) | Daniel F. Comstock | 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) |
| Finlay Color (I) | 1929 | Mosaic | Clare Finlay | Unknown |
| Horst Color | 1929 | Additive (3 color) | L. Horst | Unknown |
| Multicolor Multicolor Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. Multicolor, introduced to the motion picture industry in 1929, was based on the earlier Prizma Color process, and was the forerunner of Cinecolor.... |
1929 | Subtractive (2 color) | William T. Crespinel | Unknown |
| Cinechrome | 1930 | Unknown | Cinecolor Ltd. | Unknown |
| Cineoptichrome | 1930 | Additive (2 color) | Lucien Roux Armand Roux |
Unknown |
| Dascolor | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | M. L. F. Dassonville | Unknown |
| Harmonicolor | 1930 | Additive (2 color) | Maurice Combs | Unknown |
| Hirlicolor | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | George A. Hirliman | Unknown |
| Photocolor | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | Unknown | |
| Pilney Color | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | Unknown | |
| Sennettcolor | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | Mack Sennett (financier) | Unknown |
| Sirius Color | 1930 | Subtractive (2 color) | L. Horst | Unknown |
| UFAcolor aka: Chemicolor, Spectracolor |
1930 | Unknown | UFA Studios | Pagliacci (1930) |
| Vitacolor | 1930 | Additive (2 color) | William Van Doren Kelley Max B. Du Pont (financier) |
Unknown |
| Chimicolor | 1931 | Subtractive (3 color) | Syndicate de la Cinematographe des Couleurs | Unknown |
| Dufaycolor Dufaycolor Dufaycolor is an early French and British additive color photographic film process for motion pictures and stills photography. It was based on a four-color screen photographic process invented in 1908 by Frenchman Louis Dufay... |
1931 | Mosaic | Louis Dufay Dufay-Chromex Co. |
Unknown |
| DuPack | 1931 | Subtractive (2 color) | DuPont Co. | Unknown |
| Finlay Color (II) aka: Finlaychrome |
1931 | Mosaic | Clare Finlay | Unknown |
| AGFAcolor Agfacolor thumb|An Agfacolor slide dating from the early 1940s. While the colors themselves hold up well after 60 years, damages visible include dust and [[Newton's rings]].Agfacolor is a series of color photographic products produced by Agfa of Germany... (I) |
1932 | Lenticular | AGFA | N/A (16mm only) |
| Cinecolor Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M... (I) |
1932 | Subtractive (2 color) | William T. Crispinel Alan M. Gundelfinger |
Unknown Island (1948) |
| 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... (IV) |
1932 | Subtractive (3 color) | Joseph A. Ball | Flowers and Trees Flowers and Trees Flowers and Trees is a 1932 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932... (1932) |
| Morgana Color | 1932 | Additive (2 color) | Bell and Howell Lady Juliet Williams |
N/A (16mm only) |
| Gasparcolor Gasparcolor Gasparcolor was a color film system, developed in 1933 by the Hungarian chemist Dr. Bela Gaspar. It used a subtractive 3-color process on a single film strip, one of the earliest to do so.... |
1933 | Subtractive (3 color) | Bela Gaspar | Kreise (1933) and Muratti Greift Ein (1934) |
| Francita Process aka: Opticolor (UK) |
1935 | Additive (2 color) | British Realita Syndica, Ltd. | Unknown (July 1935, Paris, France) |
| Kodachrome Kodachrome Kodachrome is the trademarked brand name of a type of color reversal film that was manufactured by Eastman Kodak from 1935 to 2009.-Background:... (II) |
1935 | Subtractive (3 color) | Eastman-Kodak | N/A (16mm only) |
| Telco-Color | 1936 | Subtractive (3 color) | Cavalcade of Texas (1938) | |
| Unknown Soviet Process | 1936 | Subtractive (2 color) | Unknown | Nightingale (1936) |
| Dunningcolor | 1937 | Subtractive (3 color) | Carroll H. Dunning Dodge Dunning |
Tehauntepec (1937) |
| AGFAColor (II) Agfacolor thumb|An Agfacolor slide dating from the early 1940s. While the colors themselves hold up well after 60 years, damages visible include dust and [[Newton's rings]].Agfacolor is a series of color photographic products produced by Agfa of Germany... aka: Sovcolor, Chrome Color Art Chrome Color |
1939 | Subtractive (3 color) | I.G. Farben | Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten (1939-41) |
| Cosmocolor | 1940 | Subtractive (2 color) | Otto C. Gilmore | Isle of Destiny (1940) |
| Thomascolor | 1942 | Additive (3 color) | Richard Thomas | Unknown |
| Cinefotocolor | 1947 | Additive (2 color) | Unknown | |
| Fullcolor | 1947 | Subtractive (3 color) | The Goldwyn Follies (1947 reissue) | |
| Rouxcolor | 1947 | Additive (3 color) | Lucien Roux Armand Roux |
The Miller's Daughter (1948) |
| Cinecolor Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M... (II) aka: SuperCineColor |
1948 | Subtractive (3 color) | Alan M. Gundelfinger | The Sword of Monte Cristo (1951) |
| Konicolor | 1948 | Subtractive (3 color) | Konishi Roku | |
| Magicolor | 1948 | Subtractive (3 color) | The Magic Horse (1948) | |
| Polacolor Polacolor Polacolor was the trade name of two very different color photography products developed by the Polaroid Corporation.-Motion picture print process:... |
1948 | Subtractive (3 color) | Polaroid Corp. | Unknown |
| Technichrome | 1948 | Subtractive (2 Color) | Technicolor Company of England | The Olympic Games of 1948 |
| Trucolor Trucolor Trucolor was a process used and owned by Consolidated Film Industries division of Republic Pictures. Trucolor was originally a two-strip process based on the earlier work of William Van Doren Kelley's Prizma color process. It later became a three-color process.Republic used Trucolor mostly for its... (II) |
1948 | Subtractive (3 color) | Republic Pictures Consolidated Film Industries |
This Is Korea! (1951) |
| Eastman Color | 1950 | Subtractive (3 color) | Eastman Kodak | Royal Journey (1952) |
| Ansco Color | 1952 | Subtractive (3 color) | General Aniline and Film Corp. | Climbing the Matterhorn (1948) |
| Dugromacolor | 1952 | Additive (3 color) | Dumas, Grosset, and Marx | Unknown |
| Ferraniacolor | 1952 | Subtractive (3 color) | Toto A Colori (1952) | |
| Fox Lenticular Film | 1953 | Lenticular | Twentieth Century-Fox | N/A (experimental) |
| Fujicolor | 1953 | Subtractive (3 color) | Adventure of Natsuko (1953) |