Having just made a short film, around the theme of loss; losing a loved one. while in the editing process I got to thinking what would be the best way to make the audience feel the emotions of the character. Well, sound is a good start, but why stop there? SO, what next I hear you ask? The answer lies in colour.
While I thought what was the best way to feel the images before those viewing. My instinct was to desaturate the image, and yes it was successful. The dull tones and blunt contrast of the image made it feel sad and gloomy. It came to thought what about black and white, would it have the same impact? Most uses of black and white can be found in older TV, as well as in slapstick and European films; mainly the romantic ones. With this in mind I dabbled with it and tested if you could still feel sad with having no colour at all, or whether you would be completely detached. The answer... well the fact is it works you can still feel the vibes of the films emotions, but it doesn't hit nearly as much as having some colour. However, using juxtaposing scenes with more saturation created an effect that lifted the film, hitting you with a strong sense of nothingness to you almost being happy that you can see such vibrant colours.
