Colour in film
1939The Wizard of OzWhen colour film first became available, film-makers were able to create unusual and surreal worlds like the one shown in The Wizard of Oz. In this film, Kansas was shown in drab black and white but the dream world of Oz was in bright vivid colours.
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1949The Secret GardenMost of this film was filmed in black and white but for the section in The Secret Garden, which was filmed in what was then called 'technicolour'.
Two children in the story discover a seret garden and garden secreted behind a hidden door in a vine-covered wall. |
1976The Great GatsbyYELLOW symbolises optimism and hope. This shot from the original film shows the hero who is ever-hopeful that he will reclaim the heart of a loved one.
Gatsby has a yellow car in the later version of the film as well which is true to the novel. |
1993Schindler's ListThe majority of Schindler's List was shown in black and white film. This emphasised the contrast between good and evil When a young girl is spotted running through the streets, she wears a RED coat. Around her, Nazis are gathering Jew into herds and the red symbolises the blood of the Jewish people. As she is a child, it also symbolises the innocence of those who are being slaughtered.
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2001AmelieTo establish a dreamlike atmosphere in this film, they used mostly RED AND GREEN, sometimes adding a Little BLUE spot in the picture to set the contrast. Audrey Tautou (Amélie Poulain), mostly wears either red or green dresses, as well as the housekeeper (Yolande Moreau as Madelaine Wallace, concierge), and Amélie's mother (Lorella Cravotta as Amandine Poulin) in the beginning of the film. When Amélie Poulain sits down to watch the tragedy of her life on her TV, there is a blue lamp in the background. Sometimes the overt use of colour becomes very obvious. Amélie's apartment for example is almost completely red, the underground station and the train station are kept in green and the green grocery store stands out from the grey buildings.
(notes from IMDB) |