The time frame between the 1890s and the mid-1930s is a period marked by intense and rapidly changing technical and aesthetic developments in color film, wherein ‘miraculous’ scientific inventions are interrelated with artistic expressions. This formation is also mirrored in the almost simultaneous gradual rise of art and costume departments in general and production design in particular, in which color played a key role as well.
Based on David Bordwell’s historical poetics and Monika Wagner’s material iconography, this presentation will therefore concentrate on the processes of poetic film making, with particular emphasis on its conceptualization in pre-production and its material realization during production. Thus, in discussing several artistic practices and scientific strategies for designing color film, theories of aesthetic productivity will be interwoven with the development of manifold film materials during the time frame at hand. The iconography of the alchemist will thereby serve as a conceptual metaphor for the interrelated fields of the arts and science, as well as for the formative aspects of creation, material transformation, and color.
