The Three Strip Camera - Technicolor 100

The introduction of Technicolor’s three-color camera in 1932 represented a major advancement in motion picture technology. The camera required an entirely new design, although it utilized many of the same principles already developed for two-color photography, such as a beam-splitting prism. The camera captured crisp, vibrant colors that were then recombined in printing.

The Technicolor three-strip camera captured separate color records onto three strips of film. Light entered the camera through the lens and was divided by the beam-splitting prism into two paths. One strip of film recorded the green record onto black-and-white film, while the other two records were exposed onto two black-and-white film strips in “bipack” (sandwiched together); the front film was blue-sensitive only, while the back film was sensitive to red.

This video was produced by George Eastman House as part of the http://eastmanhouse.org/technicolor100 website that celebrates 100 years of Technicolor through highlights from related collections at the museum.

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant number MA-10-14-0234-14. http://www.imls.gov