8mm Forum: The Curiosity of "Opti-color"

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on November 07, 2016, 11:43 AM:

A number of marketing films were marketed under the title "opti-color", but it's not always accurate as to quality of color.

For instance, my STAR WARS marketing print is an "Opti-color" and it's Agfa, and it's brilliant, but I also have a print of the marketing digest of Empire Strikes Back, in original box, marked as "Opti-color" but in this case, the print is a kodak SP print, and while the color is pretty good, obviously, with it being Kodak SP, sooner or later, color fade.

So, it sounds like "Opti-color" was a "marketing" (pun intended), gimmick. [Smile]

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 10, 2016, 10:14 AM:

I have eighteen Marketing films all in their original blue boxes, however, I can't find any reference to Opti-color.
Their 1980/81 catalogue states:- "All film is produced on Kodak base stock with a high fidelity magnetic sound and plays at 24 frames a second".

Posted by Bob Loehr (Member # 3556) on November 10, 2016, 10:44 AM:

"Opticolor" was nothing but a marketing gimmic used in the early catalogues and releases from 1973 to the late seventies. Marketing generated the vast majority of its revenue by producing a plethora of porn loops (in pink boxes and white plastic inlays instead of the blue and black package design used for digests). The company changed labs quite often over the course of time. And those labs used whatever stock was cheapest at the time, and they didn´t bother to wash out the chemicals properly in the development process. Super-8 prints were never meant to be around for more than a couple of years. Just a quick n dirty business with the video revolution looming at the horizon.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on November 10, 2016, 11:58 AM:

Maurice, I'll take a picture of the inside of one of those "clamshell" boxes of thiers. (Or, if someone beats me to it). It was stated on the inside of the boxes, under where the reel rests in the box, on that black plastic of the marketing boxes ...

Bob, thanks for you're info. I had kind of guessed at that as well, but they COULD put out some outstanding color prints, but you're right, what stock was availbale, they would use. For instance, the two part STAR WARS German Marketing digest was printed on both Kodak SP as well as Agfa, but that Agfa digest is still just absolutely gorgeous. I used to have a copy of part 1 on Kodak SP and while the color hadn't faded too bad, it was still in the process of fading.

It's kind of like collecting the original Disney Home Movies on super 8 ... the smart money goes for the UK printings of the same titles as the U'S. except that the UK printinf were on, in large part, either Fuji (my fuji has happilystill retained beautiful color!), or agfa stock.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 11, 2016, 03:26 AM:

Thank you, Osi, I must admit to not really noticing the wording. It's somewhat obscured by having moulded lettering, and it's all in black. And, of course, only seen when the spool of film is removed.

Msrketing film
OptiColor
mit Qualitatsgarantie

The latter translating as "with quality guarantee".

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on November 12, 2016, 12:35 PM:

Quite literally, Marketing at it's best, lol!!!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on November 14, 2016, 11:27 AM:

Thanks Rob! You got to it before I could! [Smile]

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on November 14, 2016, 01:09 PM:

Osi, I've always loved that logo and branding.

First saw it aged 11, when I opened my 400ft print of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Happy days!

Maybe someone could give us a translation of the German text?

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