DATE: 23 March 2021
TIME: 14h-16h
VENUE: online - to receive a link before the event, please register by sending an email to adeline.werry@uclouvain.be.
"Collection Cinémathèque française" Photochromoscope by Frederic Eugene Ives, 1895
Programme
14h-14h30 : Céline Ruivo – Magic Lanterns and Colors: the Obsessional Quest of a “Magic Rainbow” on Screen
The photographic medium and printing techniques were associated with lantern projections in the second half of the nineteenth century. It converted the projected performances into a much more realistic and pragmatic approach to what was seen on screen. Indeed, we switched from hand painted Phantasmagoria to a concept of “natural colors” during lantern projections. An example of this quest for a so-called “natural” color in photography is demonstrated for the first time in 1861 by the means of a simultaneous projection system of three lanterns. In parallel, at the beginning of the 1870s, the chromolithography system was a cheaper way to get “multiple colors” on the same slides, which doesn't necessarily look natural, but provides an alternative to the high cost of hand painting. Through the evolution of color techniques related to the lantern medium, which includes, for instance, tinting and toning, we will also show how early cinema not only inherited from these traditions, but appropriated the obsessional quest for a full “magic rainbow” on screen as well.
14h30-14h50 : Bart Moens – Divine Colors. Maison de la Bonne Presse’s Coloring Practices
Traditionally, color played a prominent and symbolic role in Christian iconography. Bending on life model slide sets of Maison de la Bonne Presse in Belgian collections, this talk will discuss the coloring practices of lantern slides by the professional painting studio of the Catholic publisher, of which the company was particularly proud: “Nos vues coloriées dans nos ateliers avec soin et un art que l’on veut bien dire incomparables ont un succès mondial” (Catalogue Spécial des Appareils 1923, 29). With their life model sets, Maison de la Bonne Presse had the aspiration to produce artistic and credible religious images, and precisely for this type of fictional lantern slide, color contributed considerably to this ambition.
14h50- 15h20: Discussion
15h20-15h30: Coffee Break
15h30-16h: Sébastien Fevry, Philippe Marion and Adeline Werry. An App for the study of lantern projection. Presentation and discussion