The colour of today's films (photographic and cine)

[Telecolor 3007]

In the past (up to the '90's), film (I mean the suport, not the artistic work), both photographic and cine had nice, sometimes very vivid colors. It wasn't so realistic, but it made you dream. Why no one makes any longer such films. With today's films, there is no difference between digital and film and I may say that some early digital cameras (mosty D.S.L.R.) had nicer colours when producing images.

 

[ConradH]

IMO, it's the filmmaker's choice, not something technical. Digital cameras have some differences in color, but the final result comes from the post processing. For stills, my editor of choice is Affinity, but for color issues it's Skylum's Neo. Their demos show some of what it can do- Luminar Neo: Download Free or Choose your Plan | Skylum

For video most people use DaVinci, which has extensive color grading capabilities and I've no doubt video people (I'm not one of them) have a lot of other tricks they use.

DaVinci Resolve – Color | Blackmagic Design

Professional video editing, color correction, visual effects and audio post production all in a single application. Free and paid versions for Mac, Windows and Linux.

www.blackmagicdesign.com

 

[mrehorst]

Maybe your vision has changed since the 90s and things just don't look as good. Maybe your attitude toward things has also changed and you "dream" less. Reality and experience have a way of doing that to people.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

No sirs, that isn't so. I have old pictures with me (and some 8 m.m. films) and I can make a comparace with what is today. I've took color film picture up untill some years ago. From what I've seen digitized, not even today's slides don't have nice colors.

 

[old_tv_nut]

From what I've seen digitized, not even today's slides don't have nice colors.

Viewing a digitized slide on a monitor (or a digitized and converted negative) is bound to be different from viewing a real silver/dye transparency or print.
For transparencies, you are adding stages of analysis and reproduction. For negatives, you are substituting electronic analysis and monitor reproduction for the color print spectral sensitivity and dyes.

I have only done scanning (Plustek for 35mm, Epson for other sizes) followed by processing in Photoshop, and have not tried any of the software that claims to mimic silver/dye processing; I only know that some of the amateur Photoshop profiles that I have seen that attempt it usually miss the target pretty substantially.

 

[old_tv_nut]

If you're talking about professional theater cine, everything is totally digitally manipulated these days in ways that were impossible with film. This can result in fads like overuse of orange/cyan color or exceedingly dark scenes throughout a movie. Before digital, the only controls in movie prints were overall exposure and color balance.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

I've digitized some photographic films with me, from the '80's up to the '000's. Both color and black and white, both negative and positive (slide). I had the chance to have near me one of the last purely opitc minilab machine in Bucharest and I managed somehere around 2007-2008 to print some color pictures with me as a kid. I didn't noticed big colour differences between scaning and printing, trough all scaned ones sometimes look better then on paper.
If you do make some edit, yes, probably you can alter the colors.
As for digital editing, if you take images on film, well, then let it be only film. Oh, you need to make conversion to digital, that is another thing. Adding some images digitally, again that is another thing. Sorry, I'm very old minded at some things. I do like that black and white more like black and gray old films. Probably one of the last nice color film.

Bonus. These film colors rembers me of my childhood era or make me think about that era.

 

[OBMG74]

How about VistaVision?

Introduced in 1952-"White Christmas" for example, 1954
Paramount dropped it around 1961.

Although, it was used for special effects in "Star Wars" and other films.

It has made a resurgence-
2026-"Wuthering Heights", for example.

The film runs horizontally instead of vertically, requiring special cameras and projectors.
Imax runs horizontally, as well.

Interesting formats.

 

[old_tv_nut]

That super 8 Ektachrome has nice bright color. The grain-free quality of course is due to computer processing. If grain removal was not done, the images on the monitor would look worse than they did when the original was projected in a dark room, as the eye's resolution of grain in a movie is highly dependent on image brightness. The eye integrates (smooths) over both space and time depending on brightness.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

I know that high(er) speed films do have more grain. But it would be so bad without digital procesing? I don't have a projector because it ruined 2 films with me... I preffer that viewer with a small screen, since they don't have sound anyway. Probably for 16 m.m. I could preffer a projector.

 

[old_tv_nut]

Without processing, grain definitely would be visible, especially if you stopped it to look at a single frame.

 

[GuyK]

That super 8 Ektachrome has nice bright color. The grain-free quality of course is due to computer processing. If grain removal was not done, the images on the monitor would look worse than they did when the original was projected in a dark room, as the eye's resolution of grain in a movie is highly dependent on image brightness. The eye integrates (smooths) over both space and time depending on brightness.

I've got some old Ektachrome slides from my Grandfather, and they now all have a terrible red color-shift. I wouldn't ever use it for anything nowadays.

 

[old_tv_nut]

I've got some old Ektachrome slides from my Grandfather, and they now all have a terrible red color-shift. I wouldn't ever use it for anything nowadays.

The Ektachrome dye formulations MAY have changed to ones that fade less, but I don't know for sure.

Many (not all) pink faded slides can be recovered.

Faded Photo Correction

 

[Telecolor 3007]

I've seen that "Kodak" tends to go red, if they are from the '60's.
Color may fade during time. Depends on the manufacturer and storage.
As for grain... why? I don't have any of mine digitized.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

Off-topic: for sound on film black and white was better.

 

[Telecolor 3007]