Segundo de Chomón and the fascination for colour

Segundo de Chomón was one of the major figures of early cinema, and throughout his career he showed a particular dedication to colour. As early as 1902, in Barcelona, he tinted a copy of Méliès' Barbe bleu. Between 1902 and 1904 he also tinted several movies for Pathé. In 1905, when he joined Pathé in Paris, he became one of the finest specialists in the cinema of attractions: trick films and phantasmagorias, in which colour was used as an added element to attract and fascinate the spectator. From 1908 or 1909 Chomón began integrating his attractions into more elaborate narratives, and the function played by colour started to change. Copyright © John Libbey Publishing.