Color-Use: Filmic Frills

This is an outstanding presentation of the evocative features of color-use in cinematography.

A black-and-white film versus a colored film may still be similar because of cinematography approaches, but the 'philosophy' of the film may differ because of the qualities that colors (or lack thereof) pronounce for certain discussions (e.g., tone, illumination, nostalgia, texture, etc.).

When there were only black-and-white films, the only thing that pronounced 'philosophy' was the camera work (e.g., Orson Welles' Citizen Kane). When color was introduced, most film-makers wanted to take advantage of how color accented presentations of atmospherics (e.g., Stanley Kubrick's The Shining).

Modern film-makers sometimes opt to use the black-and-white medium to accent discussions about 'intellectualized nostalgia' --- e.g., Woody Allen's fame-critique film Celebrity.

Modern film-makers may also employ the full use of color to accent camera-work to bring out the overall atmospheric messages/themes in their films --- e.g., Joan Chen's Autumn in New York.

Coppola's Dracula is a great presentation of the richness of color-use and inspires me to think about how film-makers would debate the symbolism of color-use (and black-and-white!).


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WOODY ALLEN: Don't sweat the small stuff...
COPPOLA: Color is in the eye of the beholder.
WOODY ALLEN: It's 'all' small stuff!
COPPOLA: Sometimes color-use is necessary for film-making.
WOODY ALLEN: Sometimes only black-and-white can present nostalgia.
COPPOLA: We don't dream in black-and-white.
WOODY ALLEN: But we do sometimes 'think' in black-and-white!
COPPOLA: True, but using color is as 'tricky' as using black-and-white.
WOODY ALLEN: True, which is why I've experimented with both!
COPPOLA: I prefer color-use, since it highlights labor.
WOODY ALLEN: I like how black-and-white invokes focus.
COPPOLA: It's pretty maddening.
WOODY ALLEN: The Devil is in the details...

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Celebrity (1998 Film):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_(film)


Autumn in New York (2000 Film):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_in_New_York_(film)