MovieChat Forums > A Single Man (2010) Discussion > What's with the colour palette changes?

What's with the colour palette changes?

posted 10 years ago by elliest_5
3 replies | jump to latest

I liked this movie a lot. The acting and the script were great. I found the fact that, after 16 years of being life partners, he couldn't even attend the funeral because he wasn't considered "family" absolutely heartwrenching (and, unfortunately, it wasn't just the 60's, this still happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLeoW17aJ1A). And I thought that's what the title was about: in society's eyes, he was just a single man who lived alone. There was no official record or recognition of his partner's existence and he was not able to mourn his loss in public. I think this fact adds a lot more pain to the loss itself, which is why he was so desperate.

Despite its good elements, however, I found that the cinematography was a bit awkward. Clearly they had made the decision to play with two different colour palettes, the grey-scale one for his present despair and loss of "real living" and the warm-coloured one for his flashbacks and for everytime there was a moment of "real living" in the present. I thought the transitions between the two were a bit abrupt at times. If each of the two palettes had been confined to the present or to the past, it would have been less confusing, though not as original. But with their choice to mix the colours in the present, they would have needed a lot more effort and masterful handling to avoid the transitions being slightly off-putting.

Also, the music was brilliant, I really liked it. I thought, however, that in some cases it dominated the scene and it stole our attention from it, which shouldn't have been the case.

In all, I think the material was great, the actors were great, but there was something off in the execution of the audiovisual aspect.

~*~

[–] vboy_fosho 10 years ago

It would have been easier to understand to assign it to past/present instead? Did you even try to understand the film? The director wanted it to be a dynamic indicator of firth's perspective of the world and his emotional connection to it. As you can see with the dog, the little girl - it indicates a certain warmness and empathy in that moment. In the scenes with the dog and the girl, firth warms up to these characters and sees them as unjudging, innocent creatures who he does not need to "hide" himself with - this goes doubly so for the student, when firth begins to understand the student is gay as well. Warm and vibrant colors is a state of likeness and openness and happiness for firth in general because he doesn't, in that moment, see the world as cold, harsh and judgmental (The default cold, washed out palette).

There was nothing off in the audiovisual aspect. That's just you not being able to understand what was being done with the palette changes.

[–] svenrufus 10 years ago

An accurate but seemingly a rather overly harsh response to a reasonable question.

It's true that the transition between and even within scenes between the two colour palettes - or rather colour intensity I would say - is highly noticeable, so it's not surprising that it will cause a bit of a 'fourth wall' sensation for some.

In fact, for me, I wasn't sure if I'd seen the colour change right at first, and it was only after a couple of switches that I figured out what was happening and why. So the fact that I was thinking about it in that way creates a slight distancing effect, albeit one that then leads me in to a greater connection with, and appreciation of the film.

I think it was at the moment when he was talking with his secretary, telling her that she was beautiful, and seeing her lipstick start to positively glow, that I really got it, and settled back to enjoy the film with that idea embedded in my appreciation of it. But even then, it's true to say that there were times when the way the effect was used was almost intrusive. The point being made early in the film, it could have got away with a bit more subtlety in it's deployment later in the film.

It's fine line between things happening in a film that make you think, as a positive, and things making you lose your immersion in the experience, as a negative. And it's a pretty subjective thing too, so different people will interpret the same thing differently. That's why I think your reaction was a bit harsh on the OP

[–] Korios 10 years ago

The coloring they used were not "gray scale and warm coloured", they simply altered from faded color to full color and vice versa. Try lowering the color setting of your TV and you will see the exact same "effect".

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.