Evaluation

I think that my research portfolio was successful, despite many areas for improvement. Although I have learnt a lot about colour in film, I believe that I could have vastly improved my research; I believed that, although I gathered the relevant information, I could have used a more diverse research methodology. I relied too heavily on e-media as a platform for research. Although there are plenty of other research methods available, I limited myself to almost solely searching the internet for information. In hindsight, I would have liked to have conducted an interview with somebody who has practically worked within the film or television industry who has effectively utilised colour within their products. This would have allowed me to freely question, thus allowing me to find specific answers. It could have given me the chance to learn some industry relevant colour knowledge that I could have used on an actual set, or in an editing booth. Despite this, it helped keep my research ethical, as there was no human interaction from my research, leaving little room to be unethical. 

Also, I should have referred to my initial post more; my aims got slightly lost, as I wanted to focus on why certain elements of colour are used within a film. Instead, I contextualised through exploring the history of colour within film, and looked at the post-production side of colour. I would have preferred to have used my knowledge of the history of colour to learn about how certain technologies are used today, and the context behind the choice of colour schemes within films. If I would have further researched colour within contemporary films, I believe that it would have greatly benefitted me, as I could have practically used my knowledge of contemporary colouring on actual film sets, thus potentially helping me to further my career. 

Despite this, I believe that researching how to effectively use colour has somewhat practically benefitted me; I believe that by learning how colour has been utilised in the past, and how to used colour within a familiar editing system, potential future projects could be improved. Improving the aesthetics through editing will add value to my future products, as not only will they stand out, but it also allows for more creative freedom, as colour can now be freely played with. This will allow for an increase in production values, thus helping me to compete and me look more professional within the industry. Also, it's good to have a knowledge of the history of colour. It brought me a new appreciation to the art, and has shown me how quickly and competitively technology within the film industry can change.

Many films sell from being ‘visually striking’. Certain films show off their array of colours to provoke emotion, provide a natural atmosphere, and just to look visually stunning. I would have liked to have studied visually striking films more. Many films, such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey, provided aesthetically stunning sequences through the use of intense changing colours. I believe that, if the word count was slightly higher, I could have written an extended post on how colour was utilised in visually striking films, and focused on more contemporary examples to make my research more relevant, such as 300 Rise Of An Empire. This would have helped me to understand how contemporary films utilise colour. I would have also liked to have gotten hold of a television camera to see how colour is relative to in-camera editing. By using a television standard camera, I could have seen how easy, or hard, it is to manipulate colour on a camera, as opposed to in the edit, as it would save time in the edit suite, and allow for much more natural colours. This would have given me the practical experience that I desired, which would have helped in legitimising my research portfolio. 

Overall, I do believe that this research has benefitted me; I have gained valuable contextual information regarding the history of the coloured film, as well as learning some new editing techniques that I could take into future projects. To have a more varied study, I should have used a more diverse methodology. I relied far too heavily on e-media as a source of information, and only really researched facts and figures, as opposed to getting industry standard and tested knowledge. I don't think a survey would have been suitable for my research, but speaking to some industry professionals, as well as taking a more practical approach would have given me a variation of examples to reference within my research.

If I had chance to redo the project, I would have taken a much more practical approach, testing out camera's and different editing systems. I would have also looked at colour in modern day films, as a few more contemporary examples would have helped to bulk out my research, and potentially help me to understand the contemporary utilisation of colour.

Sources used:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Movies and Film (2001) by Mark Winokur and Bruce Holsinger

Freisleben, Bernd,Garncarz,Joseph,Grauer,Manfred (2009) Digital Tools in Media Studies:Analysis and Research.Transcript Verlag

http://technicolorcottage.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.infoplease.com

http://www.youtube.com

http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/color-correction-adjustment.html

http://www.sensationalcolor.com

A reflection of my learning and knowledge skills

Upon reflection, I think that I have benefitted from researching colour. My subject choice, although regrettable due to the lack of practicality, was interesting, as I had never previously looked into how colour is used in film, or how to colour edit. I did however find it difficult to study certain areas; although I heavily focused on the history, my research could have been more contemporary. I did not think that I would end up covering as much as I did on history, which took up valuable blog space, leaving little room to write about contemporary films. I learnt that I should have had a more clear focus before writing posts. If I had have done this, I wouldn't have gotten so carried away with unnecessary ramblings in other posts, thus allocating more room for more important content. By setting goals, I would have had a clear idea as to how to structure my posts, and what to include in them. I learned that, for thorough research, effective planning is essential, or the information becomes jumbled, and occasionally unnecessary.

I have found that, through historical context, the film industry will always 'find a way'. From the beginning of film, to the first colour film, new technologies are alway being challenged and created daily. Through our advancements in technology, if a filmmaker wants something on screen, they can make it happen. I believe that earlier technology such as Technicolor provided a gateway for future advancements such as 3D technology. Many film techniques would not be around today if it weren't for the brilliant advancements in colour.

This is the first research blog that I have ever written, and I found it more difficult than I originally thought. I found that keeping my posts concise whilst still providing valuable content was difficult, as I couldn't fit in all of the necessary information; this made my posts feel watered down. If the word count was larger, I could have delved further into my topic, and possibly looked at more contemporary and practical examples.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Though frustrating due to a lack of space and practicality, my research into colour gave me a pleasant insight into the history and evolution of colour technology, and has also allowed me to improve my editing skills to provide a new atmosphere for my future projects.

Editing with colour; Premier Pro

As I primarily use Premier Pro as an editing system, and am fairly new to certain areas, I would like to explore how colour is used within Premier Pro. Although possible through set design, make up and prosthetics, and costume, colour is incredibly hard to manipulate on set. Many filmmakers heavily rely on editing to effectively create the right colour for their films.

The use of a colour tint can often change the complexion of  a scene. Colour can give off a psychological feel of temperature; temperature affects our spatial perception, as warm colours optically seem to advance and expand, yet cooler colours recede and contract. Although, these characteristics are relative, as the intensity and value of the colour will also affect the spatial action of warm and cool colours. This manipulation of our spatial perception can be seen in the hit TV series Breaking Bad, where a 'warm' tint is added to scenes set in Mexico. This made Mexico look like a hot, intense, dangerous wasteland, which is relative, as much of the danger facing the protagonist Walter White comes from Mexico.

The use of a tint can often bring connotations to a film; for example, many zombie movies use an off-yellow tint. Medically, many warning and hazard signs are in yellow, and even medicine bottles are often a translucent brown or yellow. Many zombie films are now marketed through the spread of a virus, as opposed to being supernatural, or 'un-dead'. I believe that this is due to many major public health scares, such as foot and mouth, or bird flu. By adding a yellow tint, zombie films become relative to medical scares and health hazards, thus potentially allowing audiences to further their disbelief.

In video, colour correction includes adjusting both the hue (colour) and luminance (brightness and contrast) in an image. By adjusting the colour and luminance within a video, clips can create a mood, eliminate any unwanted colour that appears in a clip, correct video that’s doesn't have the right level of brightness, or set the specific levels to meet broadcast requirements or to match colour from scene to scene, helping with continuity. Many of the tints mentioned are achieved through the usage of colour balance, angle, and saturation controls. Colour balance does exactly what it says on the tin, balancing the red, green, and blue components to produce a specific blend of white and neutral greys in the image. This is manipulated based on the desired effects. Whether it's adding a warm, reddish tint to create a sweltering Mexico, or maybe a scene in a gritty crime drama requiring a cool (bluish) colour scheme, colour balancing clips can drastically change the atmosphere within a scene. 

To show the example of adding a tint, I have edited a short clip in Adobe Premier Pro. 

This colour wheel shows colour correction adjustments. 'A' represents Hue Angle, 'B' represents Balance Magnitude, 'C' shows Balance Gain, and 'D' is Balance Angle. Through the use of sliders, all of these colour correction adjustments can be easily and quickly manipulated. When making adjustments with Premier Pros' colour wheel and saturation control, I find it useful to open a reference monitor to view the vectorscope ganged to the composite video in the Program Monitor. In this video, I will adjust the colour to make the heat of the stage lighting more intense, the wrestlers look more bronzed, and to create a warmer, heated atmosphere for the match. 

Although it's rather simplistic, this example shows that, through the use of Premier Pro's colour wheel, I am able to not only manipulate the colour, contrast, and saturation of the video, but also to use colour to psychologically change the temperature and atmosphere of the clip, helping to improve the overall production values of future edits, and to create a cinematic atmosphere through editing.

The history of colour in film

The way colour is created, manipulated, and perceived has vastly changed over the years. Colour has always been available to filmmakers; early on, most movies were shot on black and white film stock. Despite this, it was always possible to manipulate each celluloid to create colour. The ability to create colour film has been around for almost as long as moving images. Photographers in the eighteen hundreds had been retouching their black-and-white portraits and landscapes to make them look more realistic. 
Within a short period of time, shortly after the invention of cinema, filmmakers began retouching their own film stock via hand colouring and stencil. This was an incredibly time consuming task, as each individual frame had to be manipulated. As the sufficient technology wasn't available, this was a labour intensive task, which is why although the option was available, most filmmakers decided to shoot their film in black and white. 
Despite this, many earlier films were very short, as they were only several hundred feet in celluloid, which gave filmmakers a chance to be able to create short colour films. For example, the early fantasy productions of French filmmaker Georges Méliès, heavily stood out from other films being made at the time; Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902), was one of the first films to feature colour. At only 15 minutes in length, the frames were manipulated via hand colouring, giving Méliès the opportunity to show the world how colour could be introduced within film. Though labour intensive, stencilling was markedly easier than hand-colouring, and is used in such landmark films as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). 

The birth of Technicolor became a big solution to the labour-intensive colour problems facing the film industry; 'Technicolor' is the technology behind many classic successful colour films, such as Gone With the Wind (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), and An American in Paris (1951). Despite it's success, Technicolor brought an unusually fantasised spectrum to films. Many colours were often heightened, for example, the magical fantasy world of Oz, or the cartoon world of Disney, often had highly contrasted, bright colours. This was used to not only bring a aesthetically pleasing fantasy world, but was also used to show off the technology, much like having something fly out of the screen to showcase 3D technology. 

Before Technicolor, other available technologies were expensive due to them being labor-intensive, requiring filmmakers to work in an assembly line factory, painting each frame of each film. This resulted in expensive, and rather unnatural looking films. The Technicolor Corporation, an engineering firm, went through a two-strip additive process, which mixed two colours on the screen for an accurate approximation of the spectrum, up until the 1930s, where a three-strip subtractive process was applied, each emphasising a different colour of the spectrum. Becoming the most realistic, fastest, and cheapest method of colouring, Technicolor quickly became the most successful colouring technology in the film industry.

Updated idea

As stated in my previous blog, my focus will be on the usage of colour within film and television; when I initially started the blog, I wanted to focus more on how the colour is manipulated and used. Now, I intend to focus more on why colour is used and stylised in particular ways, along with a look into the history of colour film, from technicolour to modern cinema.

One thing that particularly struck me when watching 'The Great Gatsby' was one particular scene in which DiCaprio's Gatsby is first revealed; with a colourful 20's decor and an abundance of fireworks behind him, my Mum mentioned how 'blue' DiCaprio's eyes looked. Despite everything going on in the frame, it was the colour in the eyes that drew my Mum into the scene. This I believe allowed her to look further into the character and empathise with Gatsby's 'puppy dog' eyes. This small attention to detail really helped to bring in a member of a casual film audience and bring a character to life. This one moment inspired me to research how colour can truly bring, or in fact take, life from a film.

In my next post I intend to focus on the history of colour in film, and the impact that it caused within the industry.

Initial post

I understand that my first blog entry has been made later than it initially could have been; I have been struggling for quite some time to really sink my teeth into an idea that I can run with. It was only recently upon watching Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby', that a theme struck out at me - I haven't seen many films that have a greater use of colour than that of Luhrmann's recent success.

Visually stricken by the film, I intend on researching the use of colour in film. I want to know how the colour is made - through prosthetics, post production, or natural aesthetics, I want to know how colour is created and manipulated within film, why a certain colour scheme or colour is used or works, and a range of good examples to use.