Brewster Color was an early

subtractive color Subtractive color or subtractive color mixing predicts the spectral power distribution of light after it passes through successive layers of partially absorbing media. This idealized model is the essential principle of how dyes and inks are u ...

-model film process. A two color process was invented by Percy Douglas Brewster in 1913, based on the earlier work of

William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene (born William Edward Green, 7 September 1855 – 5 May 1921) was a prolific English inventor and professional photographer. He was known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures, having devised a series of cameras in 1 ...

. It attempted to compensate for previous methods' problems with contrast. Brewster introduced a three color process in 1935, in an unsuccessful attempt to compete with

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...

Two color process

In his first

patent application A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claims stated in a formal document, including necessary official forms and rel ...

, filed February 11, 1913, American inventor Percy Douglas Brewster described a new color film process: Over the next eight years, Brewster filed a series of further

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

s pertaining to photographic film,

film development Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image int ...

, color cinematography, and various improvements to the process. In 1917, a patent for a method of "Coloring or Dyeing Photographic Images" was issued to Hoyt Miller, chief chemist of the Brewster Color Film Corporation, and assigned to the corporation.

Use in motion pictures

Brewster's process was used for the first color animated cartoon, 1920's '' The Debut of Thomas Cat''. However the production company, Bray Pictures, deemed the process to be too expensive, and did not employ it again. As other color processes became available, Brewster Color continued to be preferred by some filmmakers due to its relatively low cost and greater availability for small production runs. It began to fall out of use in the late 1920s, in favor of the

Prizma The Prizma Color system was a color motion picture process, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor. However, Kelley eventual ...

process. In April 1944, a syndicate was formed to purchase the rights to the Brewster Color process and use it to produce films at studios in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Stanley Neal, member of the syndicate and owner of its laboratory, was mainly known for the production of

industrial film Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is a film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of art: the films were designed to serve a specific pragmatic purpose for a limited ...

s and advertising

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

Three color process

In 1935, Brewster introduced a three color process which added yellow tinting. Though demonstration films received praise from members of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

for their "remarkable steadiness" and "extraordinarily good reds", this method failed to meet with commercial success.

''Brewster v. Technicolor''

Brewster filed a lawsuit against

Technicolor, Inc. Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headq ...

and Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation on April 1, 1941. It sought $100,000 in damages and an injunction, stating that they had infringed on patents for a "method and apparatus for color cinematography." On October 7, 1941, the judge overruled defense objections to some of the plaintiff's

interrogatories In law, interrogatories (also known as requests for further information) are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary in order to clarify matters of fact and help to determine in adv ...

. This procedural decision has been cited in some subsequent cases, as "2

F.R.D. ''Federal Rules Decisions'' is a case law reporter in the United States that is published by West Publishing as part of the National Reporter System. The ''Federal Rules Decisions'' series publishes decisions of the United States district cou ...

186, 51 U.S.P.Q. 319". No further public filings were made by Brewster, suggesting that the case may have been settled out of court.

References

{{Reflist

External links