The Eastmancolor Revolution and British Cinema, 1955-85

This project investigates the impact of Eastmancolor, a film stock introduced by Kodak in the 1950s, on British cinema. As a relatively cheap, 'monopack' stock that could be used in any camera, Eastmancolor revolutionised the ways in which colour films were made. Over the next thirty years colour filmmaking came to dominate sound cinema for the first time. The project's focus is on how British cinema, its filmmakers and other professionals adapted to one of the most important technical innovations in film history. It explores British cinema's response, at first confined to a few genres, before fully embracing the economic and aesthetic advantages of colour filmmaking. It will identify key genres and films, personnel who experimented with colour and significant issues relating to the preservation and restoration of colour films. The project will achieve a greater understanding of the significance of colour in British film history and culture while contributing to knowledge about the state of Britain's colour film heritage.

The British experience of Eastmancolor has never been the focus of studies of British cinema's historic engagement with colour filmmaking. The expansion of colour was set against a backdrop of financial struggles, declining audiences, and a still-dominant critical tradition of documentary-influenced black-and-white social realism. The project team will examine three key phases of development, from the initial enthusiasm of studios such as Hammer, with its range of horror and adventure films, to the persistence of black-and-white cinematography in the 'new wave' cycle of the 1960s. Analysing the range of factors, including economic, behind the more complete shift towards colour from the 1970s will provide an opportunity to fully document and examine the emergence of a rich corpus of colour production in mainstream, short/instructional/amateur and art cinema.

The project is designed to highlight three interrelated major themes: Economic and Industrial perspectives; Intermedial Aesthetics; and Film Restoration. The project team will produce data on British colour films, their financial histories and why particular companies were attracted to colour after decades of black-and-white production. Colour's relationship with other key technological developments including Widescreen and 3-D cinema will also be investigated, as well as colour's role in attempts to compete in international markets. The influence on cinema of developments in colour production in other media such as advertising, publishing, painting and design will also be investigated. The project team will interview a number of film practitioners to learn more about their engagement with colour aesthetics, as well as the British and non-British films which inspired their creative choices. The project will also investigate the condition of surviving colour film prints, many of which are subject to fading and deterioration. The serious issues concerning the preservation and restoration of our photochemical colour film heritage is an important context for the project's collaboration with the British Film Institute.

The project benefits from links with several other key organisations including Studio Canal, owner of an archive of British film prints from the period, the interdisciplinary UK Colour Group, BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union) and the East Anglian Film Archive. The team will produce a number of outputs directed at academic and non-academic beneficiaries. A book, four articles and a conference will bring to attention for the first time the rich chromatic range and heritage of British cinema during a key stage in its historical development. The production of four video essays will provide an opportunity for the team to engage a wider audience, as well as public screenings and a workshop with the UK Colour Group. The practitioner interviews constitute a permanent record of interest to multiple users.

The absence of a strong history of British colour films during this period is not simply an issue for scholarship. This project has identified four main beneficiaries with related impact potential.

Film Distribution and Exhibition Partners:
Who will benefit: Industry partners Studio Canal (SC) and the British Film Institute (BFI).
How will they benefit: Both organisations have been included during project design and planning and have discussed potential benefits around a) providing research-led advice to inform SC catalogue development (including the prioritisation of titles for release on DVD and BluRay), b) identifying catalogue titles for future preservation or restoration work (across SC and BFI), and c) including research materials (such as practitioner interviews and video essays) on relevant SC DVD releases and/or websites. Each of the above has the potential to enhance existing practices across these partners, and contribute to their financial and cultural success. Additionally, the ability to collaborate closely with industry partners and understand the time-based and commercial pressures of such organisations will enhance the skill sets of the PI and CI. The post-doctoral researchers will also benefit by gaining valuable insights and knowledge from professional film archivists, marketing personnel and public programmers.

Film Archives:
Who will benefit: Archive and industry professionals at the BFI (including our consultant, Kieron Webb), the East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA), and Film Archives UK. Additionally, the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU)
How will they benefit: The project investigates the challenges around promoting and preserving Eastmancolor films as an important aspect of national cultural heritage. We expect film archivists across the UK to benefit from the external perspective we can provide around the politics of colour preservation. Given the centrality of the deteriorating Eastmancolor stock to many significant British colour films in this period, we believe our project may offer further evidence for collective preservation and digitisation at the national level, with the future possibility of engaging with European archives and policy-makers who are equally concerned with the disappearance of film as cultural heritage. Additionally, the archive sector practitioner interviews we conduct will also present the issues around archiving to a wider audience, through the project website, links with the BECTU oral history project, and the promotion to interdisciplinary peers at the interdisciplinary Colour Group (GB).

Members of the Colour Group (GB):
Who will benefit: The interdisciplinary Colour Group (GB)
How will they benefit: The project has great potential for symbiotic interaction with scientists, technologists and artists within the Colour Group (GB). Founded in 1940, the group draws together people interested in all aspects of colour - its perception, measurement, reproduction and artistic expression. At a Workshop co-organised with the Group to be held in 2017, the project team will ensure that the project's findings to date are disseminated to this audience. The event will also provide an opportunity to plan follow-up events and publications.

Cinema audiences and the wider public:
Who will benefit: members of the wider public with an interest in British film and wider aesthetic / cultural histories
How will they benefit: Talks at festivals, related BFI programme seasons, regional cinema screenings, related activities with our industry and media partners, and our audio-visual essays aim to enhance knowledge and entertain this audience. These public-facing events will be supported by our analysis of film industry practice and aesthetic influences, as developed through monograph, articles and conference activities (as detailed in our Pathways to Impact statement).