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As a filmmaker it is your responsibility to take advantage of every tool that is available. You may think to create a film you need lighting, the perfect location, the newest top-quality sound technique and equipment. But what about colour? Now, I am not talking about colour correction or photoshopping to blur away all imperfections. Colour has meaning and representation. The onscreen visual impact of colour creates an emotional response from the audience on a subconscious level without them even realising it.
The director has full control over his audience playing with our emotions like a master puppeteer, carefully choosing colours forcing us to feel and connect to the point where we begin to submerge ourselves into the film.
If a film is stripped of its colour the empowerment of symbolism and conveying a message is evidently lost. Colour was first introduced into film in 1907, colour processed by dyed grains of potato starch. Almost 12 decades have passed and we are now emerged into a world of three-dimensional, computer animated pictures, made of limitless colour combinations, that we can simply create with a few clicks of a mouse.
One director comes to mind when exploring the world of colour in film.
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Wes Anderson, the American director with a visually distinctive style. His eye for art, fantastic attention to detail and unique screenplay allows the audience to lose themselves within his cinematic creations. Anderson's choice of colour palette is full of retro pastels, fitting with the themes of his movies. One of Anderson's more recent films 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' released in 2014, uses his signature style; a contrast of colours as well as soft harmonising pastels.
Each scene has carefully chosen colours. take the top centre image for example, the two young characters fall madly in love and Anderson hints at their mutual feeling for each other with their surrounds. While the baby blue and pink may be evidencing youth and fertility, the pale pink automatically makes the viewer feel the sweetness and romance between the two. The meaning of the pink is unconditional love and nurturing while representing compassion. In contrast, the first image has a different aesthetic with bold and striking colours. Red and purple compete on screen helping the audience understand the created tension as the silence in the elevator prolongs. The coated cherry red lift represents the energy and forceful attitude the main character (positioned in the centre) carries. The rich purple clashes with the red room as it screams wealth, luxury, dignity.
On the other hand, we have a more sinister director, Tim Burton whom prefers to use gothic colour palettes making his films are distinctly recognisable straight away. From his animated cartoons to his modern-day films starring Johnny Depp, Burton's use of colour remains very similar throughout. The clever use of the grey scale imports us into a world of imagination and deep emotion. The famous 'Edward Scissorhands' (first image below) is a great example of Burtons work. The dark morbid mansion located on top of the mountain where Edward lives alone contrasts with the small sweet suburb below. The soft pastels used to colour the houses and dress the locals emphasises the dark colours surrounding Edward. At first glance the black clothing Edwards is dressed in and his pale milk coloured skin we immediately assume he is the bad guy. However, through the use of the blue tones Burton has used on screen we know there is something different about Edward. Burton has chosen to use night light rather than the bright warmth of daylight, the pale blue of the moon light creating Edwards silhouette conveys his loneliness. The white light shining between the dark shadows reflects his purity and innocence. White in film quite often associated with being pure, fresh and good. As we see him walk alone towards the white light, we began to feel sorry for him. Through the simple use of colour Burtons has already began to tell us about Edward without any dialogue.
Another one of Burtons well-known films 'Alice in Wonderland' displays his intense choice of colour. Burton's approach on the mad hatter has darker and twisted qualities. Colours from different ends of the colour wheel help to convey the crazy personality of the mad hatter; The ghostly pale face with perky pink cheeks and beady green eyes poking through the frizzy neon orange hair squashed by his top hat. The piercing acid lime green eyes and surrounding background the Mad Hatter has shown connotations of immaturity, describing him perfectly. The disturbing colour almost allows us to smell and fear the pungent colour as it is paired with hatters strikingly contrasting red hair. The two colours together are unpleasant to the eye and reveal more about his wild character.
Colour obviously can be associated and symbolise different things in different ways, it all depends on the way the filmmaker decides to use the colour and tone. Finding an appealing and unique way to stir up the audience's emotions. Nonetheless, film is a completely different experience for every individual. "Chromesthesia - the sound to colour Synesthesia, which is a type of Synesthesia in which heard sounds automatically and involuntarily evoke an experience of colour" (Anderson.E, 16 December 2013). This is a diverse experience when watching films. Imagine every time you heard the keys tapping on a keyboard your brain conjured up sparks of blue and purple light? The super power ability is actually symptoms of Synesthesia, this is when "a neurological condition where one sensual stimulation evokes the sensation of another" (Anderson.E, 16 December 2013).
Pixar's animated film 'Ratattouille' explains this experience perfectly with the main character Remy. His new experience of tasting great food creates fireworks for him as he bites into the cheese and strawberry. Remy has Synesthesia. As we watch we see his other senses awaken. He closes his eyes tightly; his ears relax and twitch as the Synesthesia allows him to see and hear the amazing flavours of the food. The flares of colour appear on the screen bouncing along to the rhythm of song he is playing in his head. The coloured shapes shown dancing around him match the colour of the foods, this is unique to Remy. Anyone who experiences Synesthesia has their own combination of colours and shapes for distinct flavours and specific sound. This scene changes the audiences understanding of Remy's adventure of new flavours through the simple use of colour. The soft tones of yellow, orange and red harmonise while representing emotion. Red displays passion and excitement while yellow makes us relax and feel joy and happiness as well as the hint of orange demonstrating energy and enthusiasm.
It is safe to say that all filmmakers have us wrapped around their finger. Each frame of every film, long or short is carefully composed with the correct selection of colours with the intention of the viewer to feel some kind of way. The empowerment that film has this century has transformed our leisurely entertainment into a nightmare of a mind game. With the few examples explained above and the extremity of sound to colour Synesthesia
As a filmmaker it is your responsibility to take advantage of every. (2019, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/as-a-filmmaker-it-is-your-responsibility-to-take-advantage-of-every-example-essay
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