Questions about the WB film 'The Searchers' and VistaVision & Perspecta Sound*

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by ashleyfan, Dec 28, 2007.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    Yeah, movies from around 1950 that were "Technicolor" were filmed with a monopack camera. First one to do this was actually LASSIE, COME HOME in 1942. The outdoor scenes with the stunt dog Pal were done with the monopack and processed in IB Tech. Monopack, a single-strip color reversal film (actually just Kodachrome) made it possible to film in Tech in out of the way places. By the 1950s this was standard although I've seen some photos of the giant Technicolor camera in use in the 1950s. Got to look this up....

    Ah, here we go: From the Internet...Foxfire (1955), filmed in 1954 by Universal, starring Jane Russell and Jeff Chandler, was the last American-made feature photographed with a Technicolor three-strip camera.
     
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 3, 2008
    #51
  2. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    MGM used monopack for the impressive African location footage (including the now controversial elephant take-downs) for the 1950 Stewart Granger/Debra Kerr version of "King Solomon's Mines". It was a noticeable downgrade in quality, but it is completely understandable why they did not try to drag those huge three-strip cameras through the jungle.

    Regards,
     
    Ken_McAlinden, Jan 3, 2008
    #52
  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 3, 2008
    #53
  4. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 3, 2008
    #54
  5. Steve D.

    Steve D. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood Hills, Ca.
    Just quoting a paragraph from Fred Basten's book "Glorious Technicolor". "In 1941, Technicolor introduced its new multi-layer single process, Monopack, originally developed by Dr. Leonard Troland in the 1920s. The aerial shots in Dive Bomber (1941) and Captains of the Clouds (1942) took advantage of the more compact camera. It was used again for the spectacular fire sequence in The Forest Rangers (1942) as well as for all the exterior scenes in Lassie Come Home (1943). By 1944, Monopack was improved to the point that it was used entirely for both exterios and interiors on Thunderhead, Son of Flicka".

    -Steve D.
     
    Steve D., Jan 3, 2008
    #55
  6. Jack Theakston

    Jack Theakston Member

    Location:
    New York
    Monopack was essentially 35mm Kodachrome Commercial (a low contrast version of reversal Kodachrome which Kodak produced in 16mm). It was designed to be printed from, not projected... kind of an interneg.

    Kodak made the stock, Technicolor owned (one, some or all of) the patents. The agreement between the two was that Kodak could produce it for the general public in amateur gauges, but not 35mm. In return, Kodak would supply Technicolor with the stock for their needs.
     
    Jack Theakston, Jan 3, 2008
    #56
  7. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Even after they managed to do away with those sound deadening blimps around the camera, they were still pretty unwieldy. Seeing how huge those things were makes the technical accomplishments of Hitchcock's extended take camera choreography experiments in "Rope" and "Under Capricorn" all the more remarkable.
    [​IMG]

    Circling back to the thread topic, the behind the scenes footage of the indian camp raid from the documentaries on the DVD shows that Ford was apparently using Technicolor cameras converted to 8-perf single strip VistaVision when shooting "The Searchers". They later came out with more compact "elephant ear" and "butterfly" VV cameras as pictured at the widescreen museum site.
     
    Ken_McAlinden, Jan 3, 2008
    #57
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    Well, glad I wasn't dreaming. I remember seeing the stills of THE SEARCHERS with the big Technicolor cameras, one in a ditch in Monument Valley to get a nice low shot of Indians or something.
     
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 3, 2008
    #58
  9. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    I was reading that the 2006 "The Searchers Ultimate Collector's Edition" DVD has color-timing problems, and that the prior no-frills DVD release might actually be more true - colorwise, I guess.

    For the unwashed, what does that mean -or- how does that happen?
     
    The Wanderer, Jan 4, 2008
    #59
  10. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    Sigh, can of worms. I tried to talk about this DVD vs. the original Tech print in another thread and was yelled at! Someone else can talk about it if they wish! :)
     
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 4, 2008
    #60
  11. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Here is a link to a discussion on the subject between Film Restoration Specialist Robert Harris and Warner Bros. Ned Price over at the Digital Bits. I cannot pretend to have access to a definitive reference to know what's right and wrong, but Warner did not apparently just make these decisions in a vacuum.

    http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/robertharris/harris082106.html

    Feel free to disagree, and easy on the yelling. :)

    Regards,
     
    Ken_McAlinden, Jan 4, 2008
    #61
  12. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    California
    That was a great read, thanks. Ol' Ned is THE MAN.
     
    Steve Hoffman, Jan 4, 2008
    #62
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