Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Separation masters record each colour layer on its own strip of film. The figure is taken from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a movies & tv fact?

Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

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Some colour films survive as three black-and-white copies

Separation masters record each colour layer on its own strip of film To protect colour films from fading, laboratories made separation masters: three black-and-white negatives, one for each primary colour, that could be recombined later to rebuild the image. Black-and-white silver images last far longer than colour dyes. Restorers still use these records when the original colour negative has faded. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: colour, preservation, technique

Some colour films survive as three black-and-white copies: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Separation masters record each colour layer on its own strip of film. The figure is taken from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a movies & tv fact?: Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.