Film: The art of color: a filmmaker's secret weapon

Colors have attitudes. Recent films like Cabin Fever and Underworld use color schemes as a means of obvious, overt symbolism: Cabin Fever uses shades of dull orange and brown to represent decay (trees, flesh, social convention--you name it); while Underworld uses black, white and blue to create a pretentious, edgy moodiness. Color can be an obvious, overt form of symbolism, used to hammer a point home. However, when skillfully executed, color technique can unconsciously enhance and manipulate the mind of a perceptive viewer.

 The 1998 adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations used different shades of a single color to portray different moods. Director Alfonso Cuaron admitted that green, which dominates his film, is his favorite color to work with and the easiest to manipulate. Warm, lush shades of green convey sensuality, while gloomy shades, reminiscent of swamps and dark forests, convey bleakness and misery.

 An understated use of color, such as the red, white and blue color scheme used in American Beauty, affects the audience on a subconscious level. Though the colors are apparent throughout the Burnham household, the decor is so typical that we don't even perceive the family's overwhelming American-ness. These people are just like you, hints director Sam Mendes. Watch out or you'll end up with a blue couch, a red rose, a white wall and a gunshot to the head.

 Spielberg's obvious use of color in Schindler's List employs a similarly subtle technique: Our attention is drawn to the little girl in the red coat, but we don't know why. When we see the blood-red of her clothes--the only splash of color against a black and white background--Spielberg takes us inside Schindler's mind. Schindler's profound fixation on a single salient detail mirrors his inability to fully grasp the horror of the situation.

 In Fight Club, color combines with lighting technique to create a parallel universe. Notice the dull, washed-out light of Edward Norton's dull, washed-out life: It evokes Norton's own sense of boredom and overwhelming fatigue. Check out the way the colors seem to change, becoming grittier and more lifelike, when Norton's character begins to live the life he wants. It's as though he awakens from a dream.

 Suddenly, the audience sees Norton's life through his own eyes, with a clarity that mirrors the intimacy of Norton's immersion in the world.

 A similar technique is used to create two distinct worlds in The Matrix, where the dull, dreary colors of real life are juxtaposed with the lush, artificial tints of the Matrix. The harsh despair of the real world, in contrast to the stimulating sensuality of the Matrix, makes Cypher's sensory addiction understandable. His treachery, prompted by the human weakness for pleasure, suddenly seems understandable.

 Successful color technique relies on subtle manipulation of the senses--the caveat of sculpting perception with color is flattering the audience into thinking they've drawn their own original conclusions. The biggest mistake is coming on too strong: as always, playing hard to get makes everything just a little more worthwhile.