Page 22 - Fujifilm Exposure_2 Bon Jovi_ok

THE STORY
TO DATE
How Fujifilm took on the world...
THE EARLY DAYS AFIRST COLOUR PRODUCTS Films were introduced in 1955. At EI 250, the new film was 2.5
The camera negative film was faster at EI 25, and did not incorporate any coloured coupler masking.
From the small beginnings of the Negative / Positive colour system in the 1950’s, Fujifilm’s research and develop- ment progressed gradually. It incorpo- rated changes to include coloured cou- pler masking (for improved colour ren- dering in the final print) and compati- bility with Eastmancolor processing systems, so that by 1970, camera nega- tive speed had increased to EI 100, and Fujicolor Negative film accounted for 90% of the Japanese domestic feature film market.
THIGHER SPEEDS AND WIDER CHOICES hroughout the 1970’s, camera colour negative speed remained at EI 100, a great improvement on the early days but still insufficient
when low light level filming was required. Fujifilm’s R & D now concen- trated on increasing film speed and in the 1980’s the company launched Fujicolor high speed negative film A250, a world first which ushered in a new era of high-speed colour negative camera films.
he Fuji Photo Film Company was founded in 1934 to take over the proposed Motion Picture Film manufacturing operations of the Dainippon
Celluloid Company, who had con- structed a factory at Minami (South) Ashigara, some 50km west of Tokyo, at the foot of the mountains which lead to Mount Fuji. This site was selected for its abundance of clean water and clean air, together with ease of access.
The original purpose for setting up the Ashigara Factory was to create a local manufacturer of Black and White Motion Picture Positive Film in Japan. Until this time all products had been imported and the first ‘home-made’ Japanese product was manufactured at Ashigara in 1934.
From this small beginning the Fuji Photo Film Company has expanded to its present day world-wide organisa- tion involved in all aspects of imaging products and technology. By 1939, Black and White Camera Negative had been added to the company’s range of products and research started into Colour Motion Picture systems.
fter the war, research and development continued, and by 1950 a Colour Reversal Film (very slow - EI 10) was available. The first full
colour production in Japan was com- pleted on this material in 1951. Kinoshita’s Carmen Kokyo Ni Kaeru (DP: Hiroyuki Kusuda) was made by the Shochiku Company and it turned out to be a success.
In the same year the Daiei Company’s black-and-white produc- tion Rashomon (DP: Kazuo Miyagawa), directed by Akira Kurosawa, was shot on Fuji Film and won the Grand Prix at the Venice International Film Festival, the first Japanese feature film to win international recognition.
TNEGATIVE & POSITIVE COLOUR SYSTEMS he trend in the 1950’s in colour motion picture tech- nology was away from the Technicolor dye-transfer system (for which the original Fujicolor Reversal Film was well suited) towards a Negative / Positive film system. Fujifilm’s R & D moved in this direction and the first Fujicolor Negative and Positive
times faster than any other colour neg- ative film available at the time. Further improvements followed so that by 1984 the speed had double again to
EI 500, and practical low-light cine- matography in colour was a reality.
Throughout this period of continu- ing product development, improve- ments in image quality and colour in image quality and reproduction have also been given high priority.
During the late 1980’s the concept of providing the cinematographer with a wider choice of products more specifically tailored to particular light- ing situations led to the launch of Fujifilm’s ‘F’ series and its successors. This offers the cameraman today a wide choice of negative film emulsions from high quality low speed EI 64 to high speed (EI 500). Even today there is still room to develop the silver- halide system considerably further in the quest for improved image quality and better colour reproduction.
Montage of posters clockwise from top left:
A Room With A View; Das Boot; Rashomon; Bright Young Things; Withnail & I
Photos above l-r: Snatch; Carmen Kokyo Ni Kaeru; The Gathering Storm; Rosemary & Thyme; Bend It Like Beckham
18 • Exposure • Fuji Motion Picture And Professional Video