[ecrea] new book: colour films in Britain

*COLOUR FILMS IN BRITAIN*: *The Negotiation of Innovation, 1900-50*
By Sarah Street, with a Technical Appendix by Simon Brown
(BFI/Palgrave Macmillan, 26 October 2012), 320 pages
ISBN: 978-1844573134 (hardback), £60; ISBN: 978-1844573127 (paperback), 
£18.99

How did the coming of colour change the British film industry? Unlike 
sound, the arrival of colour did not revolutionise the industry 
overnight. For British film-makers and enthusiasts, colour was a 
controversial topic. While it was greeted by some as an exciting 
development -- with scope for developing a uniquely British aesthetic -- 
others were deeply concerned. How would audiences accustomed to seeing 
black-and-white films -- which were commonly regarded as being superior 
to their garish colour counterparts -- react? Yet despite this initial 
trepidation, colour captivated many British inventors and film-makers. 
Using different colour processes, these innovators produced films that 
demonstrated remarkable experimentation and quality.

Sarah Street's (University of Bristol) illuminating study is the first 
to trace the history of colour in British cinema, and analyses the use 
of colour in a range of films, both fiction and non-fiction, including 
The Open Road, The Glorious Adventure, This is Colour, Blithe Spirit, 
This Happy Breed, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann 
and Moulin Rouge. Beautifully illustrated with full colour film stills, 
this important study provides fascinating insights into the complex 
process whereby the challenges and opportunities of new technologies are 
negotiated within creative practice. The book also includes a 
Technical Appendix by Simon Brown (Kingston University, UK), which 
provides further details of the range of colour processes used by 
British film-makers.

For full details and how to order see
http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=328923



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