Judging from this short film's (currently) only other IMDb review, some kind of version exists that might have been transferred from an inferior source with yellowish color and scratchy condition. Whether that version of TECHNICOLOR FOR INDUSTRIAL FILMS appears on some substandard DVD, is on You Tube, or was televised, I have no idea; but the other discussion should not influence too many of you.
This radiant little documentary accomplishes exactly what its title suggests. It is a lovely 1940 sales pitch for the three-strip Technicolor process -- a now-extinct system for color photography as well as for dye-transfer positive prints -- which many people including this contributor feel yielded the richest, most superior colors on film ever.
Almost anyone who gets to view an authentic IB Technicolor print of this short will recognize that the film existed for one reason: to convince corporate audiences to spend the dough to have their own 1940s industrial sales films produced in vivid Technicolor, rather than the more economical black-and-white norm of the time. The greatest value for modern viewers, however, is the quality of the colors themselves. The "look" is the point here; and a substandard transfer would miss that point.
The sheer range of settings displayed in this eight-minute short exceeds the typical sales film of its day. Content is not limited to one single industry, because the subject is simply how impressively the Technicolor process enhanced the presentation of all KINDS of subjects. Interiors, exteriors, railroads, supermarket displays of canned and packaged goods; textured fabrics, studio glamour, sports, and the high life -- by day or night. In trying to convince captains of industry that the use of Technicolor could enhance their sales in 1940, this short film demonstrates for later generations the visual power of vintage Technicolor itself.
The documentary is not long enough to become boring, and is brief enough to make us hunger for more of this addictive cinematography. If you ever get to view this little film ON film, and as it was intended to look, you might start to appreciate why even in this digital age the word "Technicolor" is still revered by so many.
This radiant little documentary accomplishes exactly what its title suggests. It is a lovely 1940 sales pitch for the three-strip Technicolor process -- a now-extinct system for color photography as well as for dye-transfer positive prints -- which many people including this contributor feel yielded the richest, most superior colors on film ever.
Almost anyone who gets to view an authentic IB Technicolor print of this short will recognize that the film existed for one reason: to convince corporate audiences to spend the dough to have their own 1940s industrial sales films produced in vivid Technicolor, rather than the more economical black-and-white norm of the time. The greatest value for modern viewers, however, is the quality of the colors themselves. The "look" is the point here; and a substandard transfer would miss that point.
The sheer range of settings displayed in this eight-minute short exceeds the typical sales film of its day. Content is not limited to one single industry, because the subject is simply how impressively the Technicolor process enhanced the presentation of all KINDS of subjects. Interiors, exteriors, railroads, supermarket displays of canned and packaged goods; textured fabrics, studio glamour, sports, and the high life -- by day or night. In trying to convince captains of industry that the use of Technicolor could enhance their sales in 1940, this short film demonstrates for later generations the visual power of vintage Technicolor itself.
The documentary is not long enough to become boring, and is brief enough to make us hunger for more of this addictive cinematography. If you ever get to view this little film ON film, and as it was intended to look, you might start to appreciate why even in this digital age the word "Technicolor" is still revered by so many.
