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This is test footage for an animation technique called Colormation, from the 1960s. It never took off. I wonder why?
The beginning is a bit boring, but stick around to get to the astronaut section for a wonderful bit of sexism. "A woman pilot!" Classic.
Here's a letter from the creator, Leon H. Maurer, explaining the process:
I made that test around 1966-7 using a new version of my Animascope™® Process which was actually done entirely on 35mm EK color film using three separate traveling mattes and two passes on an optical printer.
The action was shot on a rim and flat front lighted black velvet stage using live actors made up using line drawings that I brush painted on the face, costume and latex prosthetics, including the hair pieces, with the color painted in flat latex washes and later flattened further using a low density low contrast positive greyscale traveling matte.
The outlines were created by using super hi contrast B&W positive and negative travelling mattes that were etched and dyed to restore opacity. The matte film was a special order Kodalith emulsion on 35 mm mylar film to maintain absolute registration so as to prevent line jitter.
This entire patented Colormation® process was written up as an illustrated tutorial article in the SMPTE Journal, Oct, 1967 after international patents were issued.
The original B&W Animascope system used the same shouting technique with white costumes and makeup, and a similar etch and dye process, using standard 100 foot rolls of 35mm EK Microfilm. The hi contrast outline traveling mattes were printed in house on a matte printer used for the old cinecolor process, and all films were developed and etched in war surplus field processing machines.
The mattes were then double loaded and projected, using my specially modified Oxberry animation stand, to print 9 x 12 auto peg punched Kodalith Cels on 100 foot rolls -- which were processed in house using a military surplus, wide film continuous processing machine... Originally used for developing continuous aerial
photographic film rolls during WW2. The cels were then ink retouched slightly to close up broken outlines, conventionally opaqued in color, and photographed against painted backgrounds on a standard animation stand. This process was tested originally with a short ballet film done in the style of Daumier where several of
his paintings in a museum come alive. Disney originally estimated this 3 minute short at $150,000 and six months production time. We did it in full 35mm technicolor, with a full professional Crew and equipment in less than two weeks at under $10,000 (and disney couldn't have done it better).
Unfortunately, after producing a half hour pilot for a projected TV network series called the Wonderland of OZ (which never got aired) Dick Tracy and later Buck Rogers and Superman went live action, the company eventually folded, due to a financial disaster, and the patents had to be eventually sold to NYIT -- when I was hired in the mid 70's to work as a consultant on the development of the computer graphic motion control and animation systems leading to the digitization of Star Wars, Pixar, Toy Story, etc. Unfortunately, after several years of that I resigned before the CG lab closed and the entire staff went to Hollywood -- while I settled down as a free lance graphic designer, artist and producer -- before computers made obsolete all my old skills, and I got too old to be retreaded as a CG artist. ;-)
You can also find more information about the Colormation process here.
The beginning is a bit boring, but stick around to get to the astronaut section for a wonderful bit of sexism. "A woman pilot!" Classic.
Here's a letter from the creator, Leon H. Maurer, explaining the process:
I made that test around 1966-7 using a new version of my Animascope™® Process which was actually done entirely on 35mm EK color film using three separate traveling mattes and two passes on an optical printer.
The action was shot on a rim and flat front lighted black velvet stage using live actors made up using line drawings that I brush painted on the face, costume and latex prosthetics, including the hair pieces, with the color painted in flat latex washes and later flattened further using a low density low contrast positive greyscale traveling matte.
The outlines were created by using super hi contrast B&W positive and negative travelling mattes that were etched and dyed to restore opacity. The matte film was a special order Kodalith emulsion on 35 mm mylar film to maintain absolute registration so as to prevent line jitter.
This entire patented Colormation® process was written up as an illustrated tutorial article in the SMPTE Journal, Oct, 1967 after international patents were issued.
The original B&W Animascope system used the same shouting technique with white costumes and makeup, and a similar etch and dye process, using standard 100 foot rolls of 35mm EK Microfilm. The hi contrast outline traveling mattes were printed in house on a matte printer used for the old cinecolor process, and all films were developed and etched in war surplus field processing machines.
The mattes were then double loaded and projected, using my specially modified Oxberry animation stand, to print 9 x 12 auto peg punched Kodalith Cels on 100 foot rolls -- which were processed in house using a military surplus, wide film continuous processing machine... Originally used for developing continuous aerial
photographic film rolls during WW2. The cels were then ink retouched slightly to close up broken outlines, conventionally opaqued in color, and photographed against painted backgrounds on a standard animation stand. This process was tested originally with a short ballet film done in the style of Daumier where several of
his paintings in a museum come alive. Disney originally estimated this 3 minute short at $150,000 and six months production time. We did it in full 35mm technicolor, with a full professional Crew and equipment in less than two weeks at under $10,000 (and disney couldn't have done it better).
Unfortunately, after producing a half hour pilot for a projected TV network series called the Wonderland of OZ (which never got aired) Dick Tracy and later Buck Rogers and Superman went live action, the company eventually folded, due to a financial disaster, and the patents had to be eventually sold to NYIT -- when I was hired in the mid 70's to work as a consultant on the development of the computer graphic motion control and animation systems leading to the digitization of Star Wars, Pixar, Toy Story, etc. Unfortunately, after several years of that I resigned before the CG lab closed and the entire staff went to Hollywood -- while I settled down as a free lance graphic designer, artist and producer -- before computers made obsolete all my old skills, and I got too old to be retreaded as a CG artist. ;-)
You can also find more information about the Colormation process here.
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