Monday, December 13, 2010

Weekly Challenge - 5

Weekly Challenge 5: Camera/Mise-en-scene - Colour has become a key tool in film and TV to: create meaning; establish mood; establish character or emotions; or set an aesthetic tone. 


Find and discuss in detail the use of colour in one Film or TV show. If possible provide a clip or screen grab to illustrate your discussion.


As this is a more in depth challenge please submit your response by Friday 7th January 2011.

13 comments:

  1. The original Wizard of Oz film from 1939 used colour to show the contrast between Oz and Kansas. In Kansas the film was shot in sepia toned black and white, and shot in Technicolor in Oz. This showed the contrast between dull dreary Kansas and the colourful lively cheerful feeling in Oz, it makes it more like the “over the rainbow” expectation that Dorothy has. In the book Kansas is described as being in shades of grey, so the used of black and white was a stylistic choice to represent the book and to give a clear contrast between they grey of her home and the brightness of Oz.
    In the clip Dorothy is in her sepia home, and opens the door to Oz in colour.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUr-2FeeY4&feature=related

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  2. The film Titanic uses colour to show the difference from the old days into today. At the beggining of the film, it starts off black and white showing real fooatge of the titanic, a long while back. It then goes into colour when they have made the film to this day. This shows that the film was based on a true story creating a very realistic effect to the film.

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  3. Laagan - Bollywood Film
    The use of colour in Bollywood films is very distinctive and the wonderfully bright and bold colour establishes the mood and creates a comfortable atmosphere. The colours used in Bollywood films are often hues of red and gold for weddings, then its bright yellows, magentas, blacks and edgy reds for fight scenes and danger, greens and luscious purples for lust and seduction. The mise-en-scene is very important especially the costumes the actors and actresses were looking grander, larger and more beautiful than ordinary day-to-day wear. The entire screen lights up in a dance of colours. Everyone in composition including the backup dancers are lined up in colours that compliment those worn by the main characters in the film. The clip that I have chosen emphases the use of colour, mostly through the costumes and the location of the film, its vivid and intense use of colour in the dance scene establishes an optimistic tone and feeling when watching.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NBcJlwENFs

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  4. The use of colour in the film saving privet ryan is used in a way which drains the film of color, especially during D-Day scene this is to create an old fashioned film look to match the time the film is meant to be set. However it is also used to create a mood, add tension and to show how dull and bleak it really would have been.

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  5. Colour is used in films in various different ways. In films such as Black Hawk Down, green/orange colours and browns are used to create a dangerous atmosphere, which is expected in a dirty area such as Somalia where the film is set. The use of grey smoke causes the sky to look polluted and unclean, this reinforces the atmosphere which is presented to the audience. However, in films such as 'Moulin Rouge', bright colours such as reds are used to connote love and happiness. As the film progresses, reds are used to connote death, instead of love; this suggests that the same colour can represent different emotions and atmospheres, the audience
    are able to identify what type of emotion they're trying to create dependant on the plot/narrative of the film. The mise-en-scene in films is an important aspect of films as well. For example, stereotypical army wear is used to represent the characters roles in the film, which is further connoted through the setting.

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  6. double jeopardy, uses good variations of colour to connote separate sections of this woman's life. However the main change of colour is in black and white this empathized on the sinister feel to the murder furthermore this carried on as in prison there was always dull setting, whereas back in reality everything was bright and vibrant. The contrast in colour connotes how there is a difference in the two and how maybe the wife didnt commit the murder.

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  7. Anonymous10:04 pm

    Shindler's List is in black and white as it's about the Holocaust. There is one particular scene where a young girl is found among the dead wearing a red coat, to represent the death of the Jews, and how they were ignored by countries who knew the Holocaust was happening. This is significant as it's the only color used in the film, to show their innocence and amount of deaths that occurred.

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  8. The use of colour in the film 'Twilight' connotes a separation from one city to another. At the start of the film, when the main female is in Phoenix, the lighting chosen is bright and natural which reflects on the sunny, warm temperatures that the city has. As the camera pans over, the lighting is changed dramatically as if we have just entered the town of Forks which is a cold, rainy city in Washington. The use of colour in the beginning of the film also changes the mood; firstly we feel that the character is happy in the town she is in through the use of yellow, airy tones. This changes completely in Forks, where the use of blue, is symbolic to the characters sadness in the town.

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  9. The sixth sense

    The colour red is avoided most of this film but is intentionally used in a few isolated shots. This is for 'anything in the real world tainted by the other. Also to conoote very explosive emotions and situations. Examples include the door of the church where Cole seeks sanctuary; the color of the balloon, carpet, and Cole's sweater at the birthday party; the tent in which he first encounters Kyra; the volume numbers on Crowe's tape recorder; the doorknob on the locked closet door Malcolm can't open; Kyra's mother's dress at the wake; and the shawl wrapped around the sleeping Anna when Malcolm realizes he is a ghost.

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  10. The use of colour in films can be symbolic and used for a certain meaning, one film that highly focuses on colour is 'Sin City'. This film uses an interesting colour technique, the film is in black & white but often certain objects are in colour. One colour that is used for meaning in this film is the colour red, which usually symbolises death or danger. In one part of the film, a woman's lipstick and dress are red. She is killed by an assassin, her blood isn't visable while he is holding her but is symbolised by her red lipstick and dress.

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  11. In films such as 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' colour is used in a negative way to present the mood of the film. Little use of bright colours is included in the film, only whites and greys in the scenes in the mental institution. This shows a dull atmosphere which matches the theme in 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest', with people who are mentally disturbed. Therefore, the colour determines the vibe a film can create amongst the audience.

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  12. The use of colour in films is very significant as different colours can connote different meanings. For example red can mean two different things, it can mean love but it can also connote action. at the beginning of the film James Bond Casino royale, James shoots his gun and blood covers the screen in red connoting danger and action, however after this there is a swirl of hearts which connotes love.

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  13. The use of colour can be symbolic and can represents certain meanings, one film that i have noticed that uses this is Sixth Sense. In The Sixth Sense, the filmmakers used the color red to symbolically stand for anything in the real world that is being impacted by a spirit from the other world. For example: The tent in Cole's room. The Door Knob to the basement. Anna's dress at the anniversary dinner. Cole's sweater at Tommy Tammisimo's birthday party. and the antidepressants that Anna is taking.

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