After my son goes to bed at night my husband and I try and watch a show together if its not too late. Lately we have been watching "Dexter". It is a show about a serial killer who kills only people who are bad. Their is more to it but that is a brief summary. It is a dark show to watch but I'm curious to how it will end. Well, I noticed the colors in the show seem to be red and green. The set design, lighting, and costumes all seem to keep that theme. So, it got me to thinking lets talk about color in film and shows.
"Dexter" and the use of greens and reds
I know I am no movie expert or very active movie watcher (anymore, after a kid who has the time?) but I, like most movie fans, notice different things in movies. I guess I notice things differently then others because I think about how it can become art but we all can agree movies use color to set a certain theme. Green lighting is one of the most unsettling colors you can use so why not use it in a horror film when the audience needs to be on edge to fully experience a scary scene. Now of course we need to mention the use of red in horror films for well, obvious reasons. It is one of the most common used colors because it creates alertness and caution for the viewer. Horror likes to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible so the director can achieve the desired effect.
I have always loved musicals. One of my favorite things musicals do is have the women wear a bright color under their dress. If the woman is wearing white and starts dancing and kicks up her dress it is red underneath. "The Music Man" does this and it is so playful which is exactly what they were going for....a playful scene to make you feel happy. I loved this so much I had my wedding dress lining be blue. So when I picked up my dress you saw a flash of blue which was also my something blue. Another great playful show with color is "Pushing Daisies". That show had great set design full of vibrant colors to make it a show that showed life which if you know anything about the show you would find that funny and true.
Here is the "Shipoopi" music scene from the 1962 "Music Man" that has the different color under the dress.
A still of "Pushing Daisies" use of color
So next movie you watch or show you enjoy, pay attention to the colors and let that help you see what it is really about. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment