Transcription
The Wizard of Oz came out 87 years ago, and somehow they managed to pull off this effect. A continuous take that transitions from sepia to color, all in one shot.
And first, a quick recap if you haven't seen this film in a while. The first part of the movie, when Dorothy's in Kansas, was shot on sepia-tinted black and white film, and the rest of the movie, when Dorothy's in Oz, was all shot in Technicolor.
See, if this transition between sepia to color happened as a cut in the edit, it wouldn't really be that impressive. But in the movie, it's not [music] a cut. This transition happens in the middle of the shot. So, how'd they do it?
To better understand how this film pulled off this effect, all we have to do is go back to the first frame of this shot. Here is the exact moment that the film switched to shooting on Technicolor. But the reason everything in frame still looks sepia is because it was. They literally painted this entire set with sepia-colored paint. They used sepia [music] tinted lighting gels. They even went as far as painting Dorothy to match the color of the room.
And I know what you might be thinking. Don't we see Dorothy step into full Technicolor at the end of the [music] shot? How could she also be painted sepia to match the color of the room? That's because in this shot, the filmmakers used two Dorothys to pull off this effect.
As the shot starts, we are seeing the back of a body double for Dorothy. And as soon as the body double opens the door, the camera strategically pushes past her, which allows for the real Dorothy, or Judy Garland, to enter frame in full Technicolor.
And that's how The Wizard of Oz, a film that came out nearly a century ago, pulled off what I think is one of the most iconic movie moments in film history. And it was done with practical effects.