How Colorized Historical Footage Is Painstakingly Made

Composite Films conducted 5,800 hours of research and poured over 27 miles of film to create our series America in Color. Where did they even begin? Their art director fills us in on the maddeningly detailed process.
From the Series: America In Color
bit.ly/AmericainColor

[@hyenaedits3460]

The people calling it vandalism need to unbunch their panties. The purpose of these documentaries is to show how historical events would have looked if we could go back in time and see them. Seeing something in color can sometimes make it seem more real. And this is the channel for the Smithsonian Museums, so of course they're not going to destroy the originals. They made copies. And they probably preserved the actual film too. Most of the footage used in the documentary was from newsreels, not artistically-minded cinematographers. I'm sure if they could film in color they would have.

[@ajs41]

Your comment hasn't convinced me because it's too strident.

[@KarePassion]

Whenever a new art genre arises, there are always people who resist change. When the camera came into being, people complained that photography was not truly an art. When digital art came into being, the complaint was the same. Though the complaint about colorization is slightly askew from this, it is nonetheless related. There is some anxiet about the old replacing the new, which as Spotted Hyena points out, is not the case. Colorization is an appropriation of the original artform to create something new. Not inherently better or worse, just different and new. Assign it whatever value you choose, but the process of colorization is here to stay.

[@peppeddu]

I can't wait until we're going to be able to recreate Full HD and 3D videos from this old footage and even better when we're going to be able to arbitrarily place the camera in a different position and watch the same footage from another angle.

[@adrianqx]

So true , it's not like they destroy the black n white copies !

[@michaelbruns449]

99% of golden age b/w movies were filmed that way, not for artistic expression, but because color film was too expensive. So im all for colorizing any and all b/w footage, movies and documentaries. Redefining their relevance in haunting living breathing color.

[@w9fgh]

In the second episode scene showing Amelia Earhart talking into early broadcast microphones, the colors are all wrong. The mica are colorized as gold, but they were silver colored in real life. I know because I own several of them. There is a temptation in colorizing to make things more colorful than they were in real life.

[@verisimilidude1]

I commend the talented artists and historians behind this endeavor. Thank you for preserving and bringing to life a visual documentation of a period in history that would have eventually been lost forever without your efforts. Bravi!

[@passtheparcel2007]

Wonderful, a patient, very rewarding an skilful restoration process!

[@_Gabyo_]

2:11 As a VFX artist who has done rotoscopy in the past, this gives me nightmares

[@kj3660]

I bet it's a very *colorful* profession

[@astartes8621]

Katherine Benitz get out

[@CatcherOfBass]

Katherine Benitz damnit Katherine!

[@mckenna.grace_fanpage3286]

@@CatcherOfBass do not cuss

[@petervasic2515]

* FACE PALM * -------> DAD JOKE ALERT

[@LSC2001]

I still dont know the actual process, show me them actually applying color to a frame . And is it frame by frame? Doing the fire would be interesting to watch.

[@mydaan1]

I find theyre work really great i always picture people from the past in black and white but the colors give me the sense of realism like the stuff that was filmed was actually real wich i somehow never had its a shame tho that the smithosian channel is only available in the usa

[@TheReaperMan275]

No, Smithsonian Channel is also available in Canada. I have it.

[@deltavee2]

Very well done and much appreciated. The level of effort and the workmanship are obvious and I congratulate those who had the vision to make it happen. Kudos to all involved.

[@CraigMansfield]

Excellent work!

[@Elitecataphract]

I once thought that the colors were somehow actually restored, which of course does not really make sense. So this makes more sense now that basically we're making a good guess on what the colors were probably

[@LanceCampeau]

I like both presentations of historical footage.. the original B/W with scratches, dust & stains, etc has that familiar feel of newsreel footage... they way audiences would have seen it at that time. However, the colorized version also gives the clips a slightly more human feel because in particular, I find it underscores fashion trends of the day very well.The use of de-saturated tones is appropriate.

[@MarinCipollina]

Except audiences at the time wouldn't have seen the film footage with scratches and dust.. That would have accumulated over the years. The colorization is interesting, but there's no fix for out of focus and grainy. Nothing can be made sharper than it was shot, at least not with current technology.

[@JDsayslol]

@@MarinCipollina yes they can.

[@petervasic2515]

There are two schools here, One is understated saturation and the other is actual colour hue and saturation: I for one love the brave exceptional artists that can skillfully give correct saturation to an old film, rather than falling for the "let's play it safe route" of soft muted, under saturated tones....might as well just give it a sepia or blue tone wash. But that is a very fine line to tread.

[@jloulify]

love how you can recognize en french by his accent! Hello dear french fellow!

[@iconicmoment8232]

Composite films place is located in Lyon, France

[@jourwalis-8875]

So you mean that you actually colorize every single frame separately in this process?

[@pdenigma9444]

No they don’t, they have special software that uses masks.

[@weber9654]

@@pdenigma9444 What software they used?

[@pdenigma9444]

@@weber9654 I don't know the name they specifically used for this one. Though as far as I know, each studio has their own custom-made colorization software, and I'm pretty sure they don't release those to the public. I think "They shall not Grow old" used an exclusively coded tool for the program "Nuke"

[@burdine26.120]

Were there any notable mistakes (e.g., actual apparel color) that were discovered after-the-fact by persons actually in the footage or relatives of participants with knowledge of actual colors? Have there been any discoveries made during or after the colorization process that have added texture to the historical record?

[@ajs41]

Good question.

[@pistolpete8231]

A 5 year old in 1920 woulda been 105 years old in 2019. I'm sure nobody that had any recollection back then would've been alive today to even care. Use common sense

[@Gabriel_Micah]

@@pistolpete8231 clothes can be passed down, and color photographs had been around 100 years prior to 1920 to compare. dont be rude

[@freakyflow]

It's too bad people didn't have colors back then : )

[@jeffmoore9487]

The black and white world our grandparents lived in changed when kodak revealed for the first time that hue was possible. Hue made people happy, became rich, and changed the way we saw the world. I feel sorry for our grandparents, but they didn't know so they didn't suffer. As Openguin17revived points out, at first only the rich saw in color until it became a fad. The next innovation came when people were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They were'n't there, yet people visualized them so clearly that we started to bomb and invade Iraq. It became another fad to "see" the need for regime change all over the middle east. Kodak showed us how the world really is, Hue first used fads to spread the new way of seeing things, and Bush abused the concept of fads to start wars that never end.. It's only from understanding history that one can see how the rich have colored the way we percieve everything.

[@literalbuddha2921]

Great Job!

[@sfperalta]

I tend to think that most historical documentary film (as opposed to cinema film) was shot in B&W because that's all they had available. So I tend to think of colorizing as "restoring" color that would have been there if the original film maker had the choice. The current trends in speed correction, upscaled resolution and color restoration of these old films brings history alive for more people, since they can see that the people in these films were just like you and me, living in their "now", and we can see and relate to them more easily if the film is presented in greater fidelity. As long as the process does not attempt to change the historical record of events, there's nothing but good coming out of these efforts.

[@michaelalando]

Black and white gives part of the story, color gives a fuller version of the story

[@rhiwhittall9981]

This is exactly how I thought it would be done. Very satisfying

[@thomaspaine3395]

Great job

[@danielrubio2746]

Good job 👍 congratulations

[@starrsmith3810]

Honestly despite how much I hate seeing old black and white media get colorized, I gotta commend the hard work and skill it takes. It can’t be easy to have to apply color to almost every single thing in a movie.

[@benysupriyadi3905]

Composite films color documentary's is the best! My favorite documentary of them is Hitler's last year

[@MrLuckyAndrew]

Thank you for breathing life and color into these people and film

[@Nico93]

whats that software called? shown being worked on in the mac laptop?

[@lovelovelovehappyhappyhappy]

Thank you

[@MemeFactory34]

that's pretty neat

[@garygyles1319]

It still doesn't explain how it's done and how accurate it is

[@issoartfashion]

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO , NOTING IS TRUELY IMPOSSIBLE

[@shanef8728]

much prefer the colour version every time! If someone offered you a choice of a b/w tv or colour tv, which would you choose??Fairly obvious I would say!

[@Pauldjreadman]

These days every film is scanned digitally to preserve it. I think it used to be by hand but that of course creates it's own problems. Like what they did with the Wizard of Oz, they cleaned the original first to preserve it.

[@adelaluz]

I shall try to explain my self further those big patches are just telling the computer to turn that area from gray sacele, which is only the variation of shades from black to white you are telling the computer to turn this areas in scales that run from black to the areas designated color, so the shades are still leaving the stains on the gray, to that is why I say you have to teach the computer to give shades according to the color. to put sheer black where is needed faded or blended with the color, may be today such pixel management is not possible. I see this specially in the characters faces is like painting the silhouette of the characters face in just one plain color and then using a pencil over that plain color to give the drawing its shades the painstaking part of it all is that all the process will have to be done once again over all the pictures you already though were done

[@Souls_p_]

We almost today, can use AI to make this process redundant. In a few years it'll probably be the main way to colorize films and images

[@znb5873]

The main question is how were theses videos filmed

[@sugarcan1110]

So when they changed from black and white to colour did they use colour say the actor wore red would they add blue I'm confused

[@CptMikeTango1]

Now, make it 3D

[@mehulgera2122]

I wish they can colourize what I see everyday

[@Ricky40369]

They should have done the current images in black and white and faded them into color at the end.

[@adelaluz]

the only thing that I have ever noticed about all this is . that . you give colors to big patches and the shades are conformed by the shades given directly from the gray scale footage, it would be another thing if you could teach the computer to replace the pictures gray scales shades with real pixels coming from the color that you researched, other wise they will continue to be terrible, for instance look at a picture of your own face and clothes, there is a base color but tit's own shades are variations of the color it self, once this is mastered the colorization will become a sweet reality

[@inamuddinilikeyourchannel4220]

nice

[@petervasic2515]

Yes....Just Yes...History, research and Geeks that are honed into one particular field that they know intimately, gives the very best in colour reproduction. LOVE IT Smithsonian :)

[@gejordominguez7947]

Are those the real color or their clothes or you pick up the colors?

[@holmiumh]

Jorge Dominguez Like they said in the video they educated guess the color.

[@atwaterpub]

I was a pioneer in the process of colorization and corporate capitalism threw my life in the garbage. Everything he says is true and I was doing that before he was even born... There is no LOVE in corporate capitalism. There is no LOVE in America. Too bad.

[@atwaterpub]

His company does beautiful work and I'm glad the concept has survived. Salute.

[@JimD410]

So even though historians and experts are brought in most of the colors are educated guesses is that correct? im trying to understand.

[@trekkiejunk]

Correct.

[@MayraCouttinho]

can you color a picture for me?

[@operavocalsvideos9545]

Hi, there are apps, i use colorize and colorify, you can speak to me on Instagram in @opera_vocals if you want more information, the real problem actually is colouring a video, because i searched and i didn't found any app or page online that convert b&w videos to color

[@benysupriyadi3905]

@@operavocalsvideos9545 i prefer colorize manual (by myself) using picsart

[@evertvanderhik5774]

If the auto colorization algorithms become better the cumbersome job will be past present. There is already auto colorization with AI but it is still the beginning.

[@Cosmopolit90]

Amazing. I thought it´s done by using artificial intelligence

[@gukchuchua3874]

666k Subs

[@isaac9823]

cool l

[@funkytownjedi]

😎

[@TheRolemodel1337]

w8ing for ai to replace his job :p

[@juliand3630]

I like colourisation in some films/pics and hate it in other ones. A documentary which should teach u something could impeove. But it doesnt make any sence to colour a documentary about black and white films. And if a artist does his picture in Black and white because he likes it u should let the artwork be. But the video was very good and interesting Good job @smithsonian

[@garbogoldstein4532]

not anymore because it's made by AI

[@Matt_Fields_29]

It's not 99% of the videos saying it's AI are just lies to increase clicks. Especially WWII film which there's been colorized WWII film for decades now.

[@roddoney7568]

Not impressed. This doesn't explain how its done.

[@DisentDesign]

yes it does u spastic

[@chair5728]

M E M E

[@VineyardGHS]

all this is a great video and I was wondering how this happened but still from all the previous lies you've told and missing museums I got a thumbs down all your videos

[@hyenaedits3460]

What lies?

[@johnbradford9041]

can we get an enlgish speaker next time? This kraut is pissing me off

[@VL1975]

Says the fucking moron that can't spell English...

[@electronikitten]

Even does he not recognize the handsome boy is speaking with a sexy french accent? Or maybe spanish? Or another romanic language? But certainly not German...

[@kimberleyh9509]

Are you deaf? I could understand what he was saying very clearly.

[@Brandon_J]

John Bradford there are different languages in the world. English isn’t the only language, and English isn’t very easy to learn or pronounce for some. You’re ignorant and rude, get the fuck off KZbin

[@tyronerodgers]

Your ignorance speaks volumes.

[@fabrizio483]

This is vandalism. People should respect other artists' work and not temper with it.

[@TasX]

Wot u smoking? There was no such thing as colored footage back then, so it's not an artistic style. It's an artistic limitation. Even so, you can just watch the b/w version whenever u want

[@fabrizio483]

Regardless. No one has the right to vandalise their work, just as no one has the right to remodeled sculptures done with limited resources.

[@briannamullins5713]

Fabrizio Well in this context what they are doing is not vandalism as they are not changing the original video. What they are doing is editing a copy of the original footage and adding color to the video. Since this is the Smithsonian I'm sure they wouldn't destroy artifacts and instead made video copies.

[@MarinCipollina]

Most these street scenes were not filmed as 'art', they were filmed as documentaries, home movies and/or newsreels. Get over yourself.

[@topmog]

+Fabrizio said the guy who steals someone else's portrait of *Bob Dylan* and use it as an avatar

[@pete49327]

So it's taboo to colorize an Ansel Adams b+w photograph, but just dandy to colorize a b+w motion picture film or documentary? Do you not think the original cinematographers of these old films took the same pride and care in composing and exposing their footage for the medium they were working in, just as Adams or any other b+w sill photographer did? Why do you think colorizing a film intentionally shot in b+w is supposed to improve it? Why don't you colorize Stephen Spielberg's "Schindler's List," maybe it will improve its viewing experience. I think you do it because you can, because you have some nifty software. It's all so fake, the skin tones are always washed out without subtleties, the greens and blues of clothing have this sameness of tonality, and you're flat out guessing on many colors. Take the scene at 2:05 mark with the farmer kneeling down in the dusty field, his light blue shirt and blue overalls have no variations of blue, it's like they were painted on, and then the blue sky and brown field in background. I think it was TBS or AMC a couple decades ago who started showing colorized old b+w movies, and they were flops with the viewers after the novelty quickly faded. My bet is the same will happen here with this blasphemous project of grossly altering classic original b+w documentaries.