Is visual storytelling more effective to an audience in colour than it is in black and white?
What do I want to research:
I will be looking at the positive and negative impacts of colour theory in visual storytelling compared to the impact of black and white visual effect on the audience. I will look into this subject by exploring if colour is more effective to an audience in a film or if emotions can be portrayed just as strongly in a black and white. This topic is something I considered exploring because of the movie, 'Pleasantville', directed by Gary Ross and released on the 23rd October 1998. The film is based around two teenagers, the brother is addicted to a 1950s black and white sitcom. The fighting over the remote begins and they end up in the television show themselves. The sister starts to show the characters the reality of life, and slowly everything that is black and white starts to turn to colour.
This movie has inspired me to think about the effects of colour theory that directors use within films, in order to control the audiences emotions. Is it possible to show the audience how they should be feeling about an environment, character or particular scene by only the use of colour? My next step was to research the effect of black and white in a movie. If the director doesn't have the option of colour, then what methods can be used to portray to the audience the emotions that the director wants them to feel? I will be answering the question by researching in depth about both, colour and black and white films, and questioning if colour, black and white, or both, is an effective control for the director to manipulate the audiences emotions.
My secondary research will consist of the following books about colour theory and the insight into black and white movies: 'If It's Purple Someone's Gonna Die' by Patti Bellantoni, a book about a teacher that has a theory about colour controlling human emotions when watching movies. Many investigations are taken throughout her research on her students. The research is then applied to the theory about colours linking to effecting emotions by using examples from fifty different films. 'The Movie Book' by Dorling Kindersley, a book touching on exploring the visionaries of black and white movies. It breaks down each film and implies ways that the director conveyed what emotion the audience should be feeling without the use of colour. Such as, sound and music, light and shadows, camera shots and angles and lastly, tones.
What I am hoping to learn from this topic is how to better engage an audience. This leading to my practical element of my essay, as I will use an existing storyline of a black and white film and turn it to colour by creating a colour script; demonstrating all the skills I have learned from my research throughout this process. My aim is to gain a better understanding of how to visually tell a story effectively, and leave a lasting impression on the audience. As well as an answer to my overall question, on whether a visual storyline needs colour to make the narrative effective or if a director can use other methods to gain a certain reaction from an audience?
My secondary research will consist of the following books about colour theory and the insight into black and white movies: 'If It's Purple Someone's Gonna Die' by Patti Bellantoni, a book about a teacher that has a theory about colour controlling human emotions when watching movies. Many investigations are taken throughout her research on her students. The research is then applied to the theory about colours linking to effecting emotions by using examples from fifty different films. 'The Movie Book' by Dorling Kindersley, a book touching on exploring the visionaries of black and white movies. It breaks down each film and implies ways that the director conveyed what emotion the audience should be feeling without the use of colour. Such as, sound and music, light and shadows, camera shots and angles and lastly, tones.
What I am hoping to learn from this topic is how to better engage an audience. This leading to my practical element of my essay, as I will use an existing storyline of a black and white film and turn it to colour by creating a colour script; demonstrating all the skills I have learned from my research throughout this process. My aim is to gain a better understanding of how to visually tell a story effectively, and leave a lasting impression on the audience. As well as an answer to my overall question, on whether a visual storyline needs colour to make the narrative effective or if a director can use other methods to gain a certain reaction from an audience?
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