Cinematography : Cinematic looks by Jeremy Dewayne Humphrey

Certainly not a subject that comes up every day. Neither of these processes has been in use for a long time. 2 strip predated the use of 3 strip, and was superseded by it. The looks are quite distinct though, so telling them apart is not difficult. 2 strip has muted colors with inferior reproduction of blues and greens, while 3 strip has very rich saturated color with very good color accuracy. Put a person in front of a variety of foliage with a clear blue sky and the differences are very apparent. Many of the “colorized” B&W features display a similarity to 2 strip color. The last use I know of for 3 strip was a B&W film process being used to transfer video to film in the ’80s. While 3 strip is the obvious choice based upon color reproduction, there may be reasons to choose a 2 strip look for a picture or parts of a picture. Are you somehow using one of these processes for a picture? Congratulations for thinking a looooong way out of the box.

I have an video editing program call HitFilm 3 Express, which has a preset that will enable the use to use either of the strip process you just discussed. I was excited because only the older Kodak and other model cameras used that type of colorization using the celluloid methods. Getting back to the point, i wanted to do a short film project using one of these methods as i had an idea of an film set in the 1940's dealing with a story about a journalist during that time covering current events of that time.

While I downloaded HitFilm3, haven’t looked at it yet. The preset may or may not be accurate in reproducing the look, which is irrelevant since you will like it or you won't. To be true to the 40’s timeframe, 3 strip would have been the look for color although most films were B&W. Sounds like you might wish to shoot some tests, with various lighting set-ups, lenses and cameras to decide upon an approach. In keeping with the period, try to shoot with only 3 prime lenses if you can; a medium wide, medium and moderate telephoto. My guess is that you will end up using the 2 strip color because of the very period feel, and then adding modifications. The color choices made in art direction will be really important for the look. Do your homework. The 2 and later 3 strip process I know of was a Technicolor process. The 3 strip Technicolor cameras were huge and heavy, and because of a prism and running the red and blue layers as a bi-pack, the effective film sensitivity that was exposed for was somewhere around a 5 ASA in the beginning… but it got a little better later on. Technicolor had insultants on the set watching over and arguing about everything the DP did. Some things never change.

WOW.....thanks for the movie wisdom. I am grateful of the knowledge and feedback you provided to me. I will definitely use your recommendations. Godspeed.

You are very welcome. Try to watch some of the films done in the various processes and perhaps you will see a look you wish to emulate. Makes discussions easier and faster. The first 3 strip short made as a proof of concept was called "La Cucaracha". Great fun to watch since they decided to do things like change the color of light on peoples faces depending upon the mood. My favorite is one actor turning "green with envy" visually as well as emotionally. A great illustration for learning from the mistakes of others.