FILM/SNEAK PEEK; SHOOT FIRST, MAKE POSTERS LATER STILL PHOTOS OFFER PEEK AT ANOTHER SIDE OF FILM.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

On movie sets and locations, while cameras are reloaded or scenery moved, photographers often lurk in the shadows, clicking away at candid moments or sizing up the subjects and settings that might make the best film poster.

The motion picture academy today is opening a free gallery exhibit titled ``Between Takes: Images From the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers,'' for which society members handpicked their favorite shots.

The collection covers a broad spectrum: Liam Neeson carefully posed in black-and-white profile for ``Schindler's List''; a camera crew setting up a shot in waist-deep water off Penang, Malaysia; Bruce Willis lunching alone on the set of ``Mercury Rising''; and wunderkinder Steven Spielberg, John Milius and George Lucas looking at a script together in 1977. There are 120 shots in the exhibit, and patrons will receive a free catalog while supplies last. The show continues through April 9 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. For hours and other information, call [phone].

OLD-SCHOOL COLOR

Color-blind readers may skip down to the next story.

Anyone who savors a big screen drenched with rich color - the kind that makes you want to touch the velvety costumes, inhale the flowers or run your fingers through an auburn mane - is in for a treat.

Now that the imbibition (or I.B.) Technicolor process is returning in a handful of recent films, American Cinematheque has put together a series of older releases that used the dye-transfer process with brilliant results.

``Technicolor Dreams: The Marvelous Age of I.B. Technicolor at the Movies'' runs through Feb. 13, with 16 features and shorts done in the color process that was phased out in 1974 and recently brought back for reissues of ``Gone With the Wind,'' ``Rear Window'' and other classics.

This weekend's slate includes the 1942 version of ``The Jungle Book,'' starring Sabu; ``Stairway to Heaven'' (1946), starring David Niven; swashbuckler Errol Flynn in ``The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938); and a western double feature of ``The Guns of Navarone'' and ``She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.''

Upcoming titles: The U.S. premiere of an I.B. print of ``Gigi'' (1958); ``The Bandwagon'' (1953), starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse; and ``The King and I'' (1956) with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.

Tickets cost $5 to $7. All showings will be at the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. For show times and other information, call [phone], or go to www.egyptiantheatre.com on the Web.

PAN-AFRICAN FILM FEST

The eighth annual Pan African Film Festival opens Thursday and continues through Feb. 21 at the Magic Johnson Theatres in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

Director Jim Jarmusch's ``Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,'' starring Forest Whitaker, and ``Orfeu,'' by Brazilian director Carlos Diegues, will be shown during the opening-night gala. The festival will close with ``Love and Basketball,'' starring Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard and Debbi Morgan.

Actress Beah Richards is slated to receive the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tickets range from $4.95 to $7.75 for regular screenings, while tickets to the opening-night screenings and party cost $40. For a complete schedule and other information, call [phone] or [phone] or go to the festival's Web site, www.PAFF.org.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1) ``Jaws,'' backlot, Universal Studios (1978).

(2) Bruce Willis during a break from ``Mercury Rising'' (1997).

(3) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in ``The Sandpiper'' (1965).

(4) Camera crew sets up a shot in the water off Penang, Malaysia (1990).