Two research projects have been investigating film colors at the Department of Film Studies of the University of Zurich since 2015 and 2016:
ERC Advanced Grant FilmColors investigates the relationship between color film technology and aesthetics with a variety of methods ranging from aesthetic analysis and studies of technical papers to scientific material analysis and film digitization and restoration. To this end the project develops and applies software for the (semi-)automatic annotation and visualization of color films in the emerging field of digital humanities. The project is funded by an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council, 2015–2020.
Link to project entry in the University of Zurich's research database.SNSF Film Colors. Technologies, Cultures, Institutions, by contrast, focuses on the cultural and institutional context of the technological and aesthetic development of color film stocks and their application. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, 2016–2020.
Link to project entry in the University of Zurich's research database (in German).In her introduction to the workshop
FilmColors, consisting of five presentations by project team members, Barbara Flueckiger provides an update on the current status and an overview of planned developments, namely the digital humanities approach to the investigation of film colors.
