Color motion picture film

Color motion picture film refers to motion pictures in color. The first motion pictures were made with silver halide-based photographic emulsion on a clear base. The resulting image was projected in a range of blacks to whites, depending on the luminous intensity of the original subject. With color motion picture film, not only is the luminance of a subject recorded, but the color of the subject, too. Whether the color is photographed on separate pieces of film or within the same emulsion, all color photography is synthesized through various parts of the image recording discrete spectra of light. The earliest motion picture stocks were orthochromatic and recorded cyan light, but not red light. Recording all three major wavelengths of light required making film stock panchromatic to some degree.