First of all, what we call gels are not gels at all. In the old days (when K.C. was starting to learn about lighting), color filters were made by mixing dyes (some were aniline, yikes!) with cow “by products” (rendered fat and hooves). This concoction was spread in a thin sheet to dry and then cut up into sheets. Nowadays, color filters are coated, deep dyed or color infused plastic based sheets.
A color filter does not “turn” the white light beam a color. A color filter does just that, it filters the unwanted colors out of the white beam of light which is composed of all colors (Roy G. Biv). The unwanted colors are retained in the filter in the form (continue reading…)