Color Breakdown!

In my last post, I talked about how much I love good uses of color in film. Well today I want to show you some great examples of color and how it can truly change the mood of the film. I have three examples of color to show you. So without further ado, let's begin!

Example 1: The Grand Budapest Hotel directed by Wes Anderson

Photo Credit: http://wesandersonpalettes.tumblr.com/

So before I start talking about this picture, I can't tell you enough how fantastic this film is. This is just one of the many gorgeous stills from this film, as well as Anderson's career. I highly recommend you watch The Grand Budapest Hotel, as well as all of Anderson's films. Now, back to the color. 

Without going into detail, what can we infer from this photo? The first thing that might come to mind are that the characters are in love. We can come to this conclusion from all of the pink boxes in the background, and with the knowledge that pink is a romantic color. Now lets look at the character to our left, Zero. Zero is the protagonist of our film and there are several conclusions we can gather from his outfit. First, we can gather that he's timid and young because blue symbolizes innocence and youth. We can also reach this conclusion seeing that his name is Zero.

For those who are interested, the above Tumblr link is fantastic for any Wes Anderson fans out there as well as color fanatics like myself.

Example 2: Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg

Photo Credit: dailymotion.co.uk

Now we move from the use of multiple colors to the use of just one. The picture above is from Steven Spielberg's three hour long World War Two epic, Schindler's List. The red coat is one of the only four instances of color in this entire black and white film. There are several meanings we can take from this photo. The use of color on the little girls coat can represent the last bit of life and innocence in a world crumbling in death and corruption. The little girl is seen wandering abandoned and lost while Nazi soldiers clear out a jewish neighborhood. The little girl can also represent the loss and confusion that all victims of the Nazi regime felt.

Example 3: Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Photo Credit: thehorificallyhorrifyinghorrorblog.com

We've covered all color, one pop of color, and now we move on to no color at all. All of Psycho is in black and white, which makes the iconic shower scene exactly what it is - iconic. We don't fully see the character in the shower scene being stabbed, all we see is the dark blood circling the drain. We're so used to seeing bright red blood, but the muted dark color can have a chilling effect.

Thank you for sticking around for the color breakdown. I'd like to leave you with this fact about Psycho, one of my favorite movies of all times. 

***Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup for the blood in the famous shower scene because it was dark enough to show up on black and white film.***