Separation masters
Encyclopedia
Separation masters are a method of long-term preservation for most modern color motion picture film. Since monopack color film - used in such processes as ECN
, ECP and their successive revisions - contains photographically active color couplers which remain in the film after development, the emulsion will continue to produce chemical reactions in the image which cumulatively create a color fading, usually heavily biased towards the pink spectrum. In order to protect against this occurrence, the technique of separation masters was created.
Separation mastering is essentially an inversion of the Technicolor
three-strip system, which used filtration to create three black and white masters each sensitized for one of the RGB spectrums and then printed the negatives with a CMYK colorspace. In separation mastering, the original camera negative
is used to create three black and white copies, each one filtered for one of the RGB spectrums. The black and white process is considered inert after development and thus should be more stable for long-term archival, preservation, and restoration (although the film base
may eventually decay regardless).
Eastman Color Negative
Eastman Color Negative, specifically abbreviated as ECN, is a photographic processing system created by Kodak in the 1950s for the development of monopack color negative motion picture film stock....
, ECP and their successive revisions - contains photographically active color couplers which remain in the film after development, the emulsion will continue to produce chemical reactions in the image which cumulatively create a color fading, usually heavily biased towards the pink spectrum. In order to protect against this occurrence, the technique of separation masters was created.
Separation mastering is essentially an inversion of the Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
three-strip system, which used filtration to create three black and white masters each sensitized for one of the RGB spectrums and then printed the negatives with a CMYK colorspace. In separation mastering, the original camera negative
Original camera negative
The original camera negative is the film in a motion picture camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure....
is used to create three black and white copies, each one filtered for one of the RGB spectrums. The black and white process is considered inert after development and thus should be more stable for long-term archival, preservation, and restoration (although the film base
Film base
A film base is a transparent substrate which acts as a support medium for the photosensitive emulsion that lies atop it. Despite the numerous layers and coatings associated with the emulsion layer, the base generally accounts for the vast majority of the thickness of any given film stock...
may eventually decay regardless).