Would You Rather?

Children's Books

Layton, James

Literature & Fiction

Larrikin House US

Published to coincide with Technicolor's centennial in 2015, The Dawn of Technicolor recounts the beginnings of one of the most widely recognized names in the American film industry, reconstructing the company's early years from a wealth of previously unavailable internal documentation, studio production files, contemporary accounts and unpublished interviews. Following its incorporation in 1915, Technicolor developed a series of two-color processes as necessary steps toward full-color photography and printing. Despite success in the laboratory and in small-scale production, the company was plagued by repeated disappointments. With the support of patient investors and the visionary leadership of Herbert T. Kalmus, Technicolor eventually prevailed against daunting odds to create the only commercially viable color process for motion pictures. The Dawn of Technicolor investigates these vital make-or-break years, as the firm grew from a small team of exceptional engineers into a multimillion-dollar corporation. The authors chart the making of pivotal films in the process, from the troubled productions of Ben-Hur (1925) and The Mysterious Island (1926-29), to the early short films in Technicolor's groundbreaking three-color process: Walt Disney's animated Flowers and Trees (1932) and the live-action La Cucaracha (1934). The book spotlights the talented engineers and filmmakers associated with Technicolor and the remarkable technical innovations that finally made color films practical, changing the film industry forever. Lavishly illustrated with more than 400 reproductions, it includes a comprehensive annotated filmography of all two-color Technicolor titles produced between 1917 and 1937.

The Dawn of Technicolor: 1915–1935

Arts & Photography

Pierce, David

Photography & Video

George Eastman House

King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Technicolor Revue tells the story of the making, release, and restoration of Universal's 1930 Technicolor musical extravaganza King of Jazz. Authors James Layton and David Pierce have uncovered original artwork, studio production files, behind-the-scenes photographs, personal papers, unpublished interviews, and a host of other previously unseen documentation. The book offers a richly illustrated narrative of the film's production, with broader context on its diverse musical and theatrical influences. The story concludes with an in-depth look at the challenges Universal overcame in restoring the film in 2016. Additionally, the book's appendix provides a comprehensive guide to all of the film's performers, music, alternate versions, and deleted scenes.King of Jazz was one of the most ambitious films ever to emerge from Hollywood. Just as movie musicals were being invented in 1929, Universal Pictures brought together Paul Whiteman, leader of the country's top dance orchestra; John Murray Anderson, director of spectacular Broadway revues; a top ensemble of dancers and singers; early Technicolor; and a near unlimited budget.
 The film's highlights include a dazzling interpretation of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which Whiteman had introduced to the public in 1924; Walter Lantz's A Fable in Jazz, the first cartoon in Technicolor; and Anderson's grand finale The Melting Pot of Music, a visualization of popular music's many influences and styles.
 The film is not only a unique document of Anderson's theatrical vision and Whiteman's band at its peak, but also of several of America's leading performers of the late 1920s, including Bing Crosby in his first screen appearance, and the Russell Markert Dancers, who would soon become Radio City Music Hall's famous Rockettes.

King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Technicolor Revue

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

Media History

An interrogation of Henri Bergson's philosophy of duration through the lens of performance. Humans have always marked time, whether by tracing the earth's natural rhythms or looking at a clock. Unlike pre-industrial people, living in an age of social acceleration is dominated by clock time and network time, presenting many more options than can be achieved in a human lifespan. This book explores the possibility of an alternative experience of time, one closer to the concept of pure duration described by philosopher Henri Bergson. Connecting Bergson's thought with key ideas from psychology and anthropology, the discussions in this book contribute to contemporary performance analysis, philosophy, and Bergson studies and explore aspects of immersive and participatory performance, walking practices, and ritual and online performance. Using durational performances as case studies, James Layton offers new insights into Bergson's philosophy alongside the work of key theorists in psychology and anthropology. Through a series of performance analyses, Bergson's philosophy of duration is coupled with ideas from Abraham Maslow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Victor Turner to speculate on the potential of durational performance to challenge living in a world in which time is short, but the possibility of experience is abundant.

Bergson and Durational Performance: (Re)Ma(r)king Time

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Intellect Ltd

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Books by Layton, James