By Ruth Johnson
Nowadays most mainstream films look different — the colours are slightly muted and not as vivid as in older movies, making each scene engulfed by the same visually uninteresting colours.
Where did the films with bright beautiful colours go?
The word usually associated with vibrancy on screen is ‘technicolour’. It is arguably one of the most influential and groundbreaking inventions that influenced filmmaking today, as it helped emphasise the storytelling element with its fantastical striking visuals. However, it is no longer used in movies, with one of the last films to use technicolour being The Godfather Part II. Since then, the percentage of films being shot digitally grew to 92% by 2017. This digital cinematography technique sometimes has a less colourful look.
What are the reasons for desaturated films?
Profit — new movies are being driven out at the speed of light, which sometimes compromises artistic vision. An example is the average Marvel movie, in comparison to ‘Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse’. ‘Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse’ revolutionised the animation world because it broke away from the norms of the ‘Pixar style’ (animation style characterised by the photorealistic 3D characters with exaggerated features). ‘Spiderman into the Spider Verse’ has bright lines, blends 2D and 3D, and continuously mimics the comic book style of the source material. The animators took risks by incorporating these elements, but it paid off. It is unique and helped herald a new era of mainstream animation, as well as forcing legacy film companies to innovate and improve. Unfortunately, risk-taking is something we see increasingly less off in the film industry.
The second reason is realism. Unlike the picture-perfect plastic world of Barbie, life is not flawless. It can be grey and dull, and some movies use realism to help portray these themes. An example to illustrate how darkness can be used effectively is in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, where it shows a shift in tone reflected by the first major death of the franchise. Nevertheless, realism has become increasingly overused and can be considered ‘lazy’. Colour is necessary because it adds to the overall atmosphere. In ‘The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind’, the bright colours (that sometimes contrast with the more muted colours) portray the feelings of the characters or the timelines of each scene. Without it, the film may have fallen flat and failed to make an impact with audiences.
It is worth emphasising that different films serve different purposes. Arguably, some movies are like fast food — made quickly, consumed quickly, forgotten and the cycle continues. These types of movies are not problematic, but show the oversaturation of the film industry.
Films as an art form should take you somewhere in your imagination. You will most likely never find a yellow brick road leading you to a grand wizard and your life will most likely never be as vivid and symmetrical as a character’s in the Wes Anderson film universe, however, when you watch these films you can feel the emotions and feel teleported into that dimension. The importance of colour grading should not be understated, as it is vital to this art form and the storytelling element that is intrinsically tied to the practice of filmmaking as a whole.
