Sodium vapor process and Operation Condor (1954): Difference between pages

Revision as of 19:33, 21 May 2007

Revision as of 11:47, 28 May 2007

Line 1:

''For other uses of Operation Condor, please see [[Operation Condor (disambiguation)]]''<br>

The '''sodium vapor process''' (occasionally referred to as '''yellowscreen''') is a technique for combining actors and background footage, developed exclusively by [[The Walt Disney Company]] as an alternative to the more common [[bluescreen]] process.

'''Operation Condor''' ([[French language|French]]: ''Opération Condor'') was the name of a secret French intelligence service [[GCMA]] operation against the [[Viet Minh]] supply column during the [[First Indochina War]]'s clicmactic [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] in 1954.

An actor is filmed performing in front of a white screen and lit with powerful sodium vapor lights. Sodium light is used because it is a narrow spectrum source that falls neatly into a notch between sensitive layers of the color film. This allows the complete range of colors to be used in costumes, make-up, and props. A camera with a beamsplitter [[prism]] is used to expose two separate film elements. The first film element is regular color negative film that is not very sensitive to sodium light, while the other is panchromatic fine grain black and white film that is sensitive to the color of sodium vapor lights. This second film element is used to create a [[Matte (filmmaking)|matte]], so that the regular color footage can later be combined with another shot without the two images showing through each other. Making the matte film at the same time as the live action makes a much better fit in the post production optical printing, rendering the matte "lines" almost invisible.

==Mission==

Disney reportedly made only one sodium vapor camera because only one working prism was ever produced, despite attempts to replicate it. The camera is a retired Technicolor 3 strip camera modified to use two films, and normal lenses for 1:185 aspect ratio. Technicolor 3 strip cameras ran 3 rolls of black and white film past color filters to make color movies before 1952. That was when Eastman Kodak brought color negative film to the market. At the time of its use, the sodium process yielded cleaner results than bluescreen, which was subject to noticeable color spill (a blue tint around the edges of the matte). As the [[bluescreen]] process improved, the sodium vapor process was abandoned because the screen and lamps monpolized a huge studio, and its higher cost.

Operation Condor was an attempt to weaken the [[Viet Minh]] artillery's assaults against the besieged [[French Union]] garrison.

On April 22 1954, [[René Cogny|General Cogny]] insisted with his superior [[Henri Navarre|General Navarre]] to take a decision about Condor. General Navarre approved the mission on April 27 and it was launched on April 30.<ref>''[http://www.amazon.fr/Archives-couleurs-Dien-rapport-secret/dp/B0007UMEV6/ref=sr_1_1/403-3327168-5732453?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1180000955&sr=1-1 Dien Bien Phu - Le Rapport Secret]'', Patrick Jeudy, TF1 Video, 2005</ref> [[Operation Jedburgh|Jedburgh]] veteran Captain [[Jean Sassi]] led the [[GCMA|GCMA Malo - Servan]] commando unit consisting of [[Mèo]] [[partisan]]s through the jungle, they walked all day to join [[Dien Bien Phu]].<ref>''[http://www.amazon.fr/Archives-couleurs-Dien-rapport-secret/dp/B0007UMEV6/ref=sr_1_1/403-3327168-5732453?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1180000955&sr=1-1 Dien Bien Phu - Le Rapport Secret]'', Patrick Jeudy, TF1 Video, 2005</ref><ref>''Laos, L'armée des ombres'', Le Figaro Magazine, 31 September 2006</ref>

The technique was used in the films ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', ''[[Song of the South]]'' and ''[[Alfred Hitchcock]]'''s ''[[The Birds (film)|The Birds]]''. It was used in the 70's for scenes in "Island at the Top of The World", "Gus", "The Apple Dumpling Gang", "Freaky Friday", "Escape from Witch Mountain", "Pete's Dragon" and "The Black Hole."

Sassi's objective was "to allow a kind of breakthrough with the help of the French Union troops based at Eliane hill in order to surround the coolies supplying the Viet Minh combatants" and "to suddenly attack these weak ennemies with the benefit of surprise".

[[Category:Film techniques]]

The GCMA commandos were lightly equipped with submachine guns and rifles.

==Notes==

{{filming-stub}}

{{reflist}}

==Internal links==

* [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]]

* [[Column Crèvecœur]] (''colonne Crèvecœur'', 1954)

* [[GCMA]]

* [[Jean Sassi]]

* [[SDECE]]

* [[First Indochina War]]

[[Category:Military history of France]]

{{filmingfrance-stub}}

{{Euro-mil-stub}}