A key aspect of the new interest in spectacle was a gradual shift to color filming. Since the early 1930s, color film production and laboratory work in Hollywood had been dominated by the Technicolor Corporation. Technicolor had introduced the first practical three-strip color system in 1932; prior to that color systems had been either very cumbersome or limited to a partial color spectrum. Three separate negatives were exposed by the Technicolor camera (one for each primary color), and these three images were eventually printed onto positive film stock by a dye transfer process known as "imbibition printing." This process, similar to color lithography, produced bright, pure colors that worked especially well for high key interiors (as in musicals or historical dramas). Technicolor's equipment and industrial processes were zealously guarded, and every film that used Technicolor cameras was required to employ a Technicolor-approved color consultant. (Often the color consultant was Natalie Kalmus, the ex-wife of Technicolor President Herbert Kalmus.)
In the early 1950s, the demand for color filming in the United States increased, and Technicolor was unable to keep up with the Hollywood industry's needs.
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