Film
This year I am tackling a completely new subject for me; film making.
This blog page will contain documentation of what I have learnt this term.
This blog page will contain documentation of what I have learnt this term.
H O W I S C O L O U R I S U S E D I N F I L MTo understand how colour is used in film it is important to grasps the basics of the colour wheel first. My blog post on colour theory is attached above. Colour is used to tell a story in film, all colours have some sort of psychological attachment or association, a quick example is red is traditionally a colour of love. It is a huge part of Mise en Scene and when researching the film We Need to Talk About Kevin, I found I was referring to colour a lot, as the director uses it to portray an emotional atmosphere, but also to foreshadow. s o, w h a t a r e t h e c o l o u r a s s o c i s t i o n s ?A films colour palette can be based on the genre and atmosphere, for example a horror films primary colours could be red. Indications of red in the characters clothing, props or scenes would get the viewer to start associating with blood and death. Colours also transition throughout films to indicate change in emotions or character development. Here I have broken down the psychology behind each colour: r e d
As previously mentioned, the colour red is commonly associated with blood, death and evil. It is the colour of the devil and the colour itself is used on warning and stop signs. In film red is often accents in horror and thriller, for example, the most famous example We Need to Talk About Kevin, often indicates a scones of evil through the use of colour. Below I have created a colour palette for the film using key scenes.
o r a n g e
Orange, commonly paired with teal, is a Hollywood colour favourite. These are two complimentary colours so are often paired to create easy viewing from a cinematic point of view. Orange isn't a particularly interesting colour, with little connotations, it doesn't take any attention away from the story line. It is often used in action films, such as Transformers 2, where colour symbolism is less important. When researching orange in films I came across this blog post; http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html. This was really interesting to explore Hollywoods colour choices more. [iii] (Teal and Orange - Hollywood, Please Stop the Madness, 2020) Y e l l o w
Yellow is a colour associated with happiness, freshness and energy, (Bourn, 2020) [iv] When researching films that have predominantly yellow hints, I came across a lot of feel good or comedy films. Clueless is a romcom, it is a very easy watching film, and I think the hints of yellow also create that atmosphere. g r e e n
Green; The colour of jealousy. In art green is often used to indicate jealousy, in traditional fairy tales the jealous which would always be green. This is why I have chosen Maleficent for the example. Maleficent has lots of hints of green throughout the film, at the main Turing point of the story Angelina Jolie's character goes into a furious jealous rage, and the 'fire' around her becomes a bright green- pictured above, using the colour to tell the story and portray emotions. b l u e
I feel blue can be interpreted in two different ways, the first is calm and serenity. It is a colour that is very present in all of David Attenborough's documentaries, all of which have a very calm atmosphere. However, the second way I believe the colour blue can be understood as a sad colour. This can be linked all the way back to Ancient Greek Mythology, where Zeus would create a blue storm of rain when he was sad. (Mehrotra, 2020) [v]
A beautiful film, that I believe captures both sides of the colour blue, is a documentary called My Octopus Teacher. A film based underwater, you are costly getting the strong blue colour appear, which perfectly reflect the essence of the film. It is extremely bittersweet, with moments of sadness and loss. However, paired with the sound, it is very calm and serene. This is an example of how colour reflects mood.
My Octopus Teacher Colour Palette: ( I created a colour palette to further my point.) PURPLE
Purple has connotations of power and royalty. This colour is used throughout Frozen to indicate and remind the audience of Elsa's magical powers. - r e f e r e n c e s -[i] Ken Bromley Art Supplies. 2020. Artists' Colour Wheel - Ken Bromley Art Supplies. [online] Available at: <https://www.artsupplies.co.uk/item-artists-colour-wheel.htm> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. [ii] Hardy, J. and Posts, V., 2020. Red In ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’. [online] Colour Theory in Moving Image. Available at: <https://jhardysite.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/red-in-we-need-to-talk-about-kevin/> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. [iii] Theabyssgazes.blogspot.com. 2020. Teal And Orange - Hollywood, Please Stop The Madness. [online] Available at: <http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. [iv] Bourn, J., 2020. Meaning Of The Color Yellow |. [online] Bourn Creative. Available at: <https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-yellow/> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. [v] Mehrotra, A., 2020. Have You Ever Wondered Why The Colour Blue Is Associated With Sadness?. [online] Scoopwhoop.com. Available at: <https://www.scoopwhoop.com/Why-Blue-Is-Associated-With-Sadness/> [Accessed 2 December 2020].
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- w h a t i s m i s e e n s c e n e ? -& h o w i s i t u s e d Mise En Scene is a set of elements that make up a scene, including, not limited to :
It is the arrangements of these elements in the scene and the overall affect of how these come together to set the overall atmosphere for the viewer. (Mise-en-scene and the Directors the Mastered It, 2020) [i] To get a better understanding of what Mise en Scene is I completed some Q&As set by the tutor on the films Burn After Reading (2008) and We Need to Talk About Kevin, these can be viewed below: Something that is referred to a lot when talking about Mise En Scene, especially in the second film, is the use of colour and it symbolism, my blog post on colour in film can be viewed below... - R E F E R E N C E S -[i] StudioBinder. 2020. Mise-En-Scene And The Directors The Mastered It. [online] Available at: <https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/mise-en-scene/> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. W H A T I S S O U N D D E S I G Ni n f i l m ? This term we are exploring and analysing film scenes. One element to this is the sounds used in film, what is their purpose and why are they there? Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. (Sound design, 2020) [i] D I F F E R E N T T Y P E S O F S O U ND
Diegetic Sound:Diegetic sound is the noise that would be present in the scene. For example the source of the sound is traditionally present on the scene, that the viewer can see.
For example:
Non-Diegetic SoundNon- Diegetic sound is therefore the opposite. These are sounds that us, the viewers, are privileged enough to be able to hear, that are not present in the scene. For Example:
This film is a great example to analyse when looking at diegetic and non-diegetic sound. It is an extremely dramatic thriller full of tension, which is further enhanced by Alfred Hitchcock's use of sound. In one scene where Janet Leighs character is driving towards the hotel in a rain storm, the rain is intense, heavy and loud against the windscreen. The use of diegetic sound here is foreshowing her miserable and dark murder, her facial expressions and the atmosphere in the scenes complaints this as if the character knows something bad is coming. That is why I believe Hitchcock choose to put diegetic sound here. An example of Non-Diegetic sound is when Marion, the main character, is driving away with the money she has stolen. The audience is very privileged in the fact that they can hear different voices, these could be interpreted in two ways; these are what Marion is imagining people saying about her or what they are actually saying in different points of time. - r e f e r e n c e s -[i] En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sound Design. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_design> [Accessed 2 December 2020]. E D I T I N G T E C H N I Q U E- e x a m p l e s - After creating a glossary of editing terms, I feel confident to start to analyse scenes and describe what editing technique is used and start to look at why. This exercise will be useful when I am writing my extended writing piece at the end of this year. - C R O S S C U T T I N G -Cross cutting is very famously used in this scene from the film Mean Girls. The viewer is seeing multiple sides of the phone call, which all appear as if they are happening simultaneously, despite them all being filmed at different times and the phone call not being recorded at the same time, the editor has stitched this together to make it appear that way. They have successfully used the cross cutting technique so you can have a better understanding of each characters reaction and interactions, additionally, it gives the film a scenes of reality and becomes relatable to the viewer. - F A D E -At the ending of the Joker the director, Todd Phillips, has chosen to end the film with a fade to black. The film itself is very dramatic with many tense scenes, the ending in particularly leaves the viewer with many unanswered questions; Is the Joker dreaming? What happens to him after this? By having that fade to the dark screen the viewer is for ed to think about these questions, it also add drama and creates a cliff hanger. - M O N T A G E -Montages are usually placed at the start of a film or piece of moving image to set the scene and give some background to the story. In the Disney film UP, the first scene is a montage. It gives context to the film and introduces you to the characters and their personalities, without this pivotal scene you would not be able to relate to the main character and would not feel as much sympathy for him. - W I P E -Star Wars very famously uses wipes and dissolves in practically all their films to cut between scenes. There are many different interpretations to why George Lucas and other Star Wars directors use them, many say it is because it is very fitting of the si-fi genre and it was an editing technique that would be seen as very advanced at the time of the first ever release. I believe it additionally helps the film flow, and the viewer feels like they are travelling along the time line with the characters smoothly. Especially as Star Wars is notorious for the immense amount of filming locations.
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