Use of Colour There is something romantic about old black and white, but colour technology has allowed filmmakers to manipulate emotions and show the importance of certain aspects of their films. Being able to play with colour has created fantastic worlds in film as well as being used for symbols and combined with black and white to change our perceptions. The surreal land of Oz is shown in colour whereas Kansas is drab in black in white in the classic The Wizard of Oz. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D8PAGelN8)
The 1994 film Born Killers also uses a combination of black and white and color as symbol. The color green shows the lead character Mickey's (Woody Harrelson) psychosis. Mickey sees in black and white to show his moral ambiguity while Mallory (Juliette Lewis) sees in color, a symbol that she knows right from wrong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCL0I2nK4A)
Films have used color to create a surreal atmosphere, to create an alternative universe, or to show that things aren't really as we perceive them. Perhaps one of the best uses of colour is Amelie where Amelie's (Audrey Tautou) bright colorful world of Montemarte matches up exactly with her happy-go-lucky, optimistic persona. The main colors in the film were green, red, and yellow, inspired by the works of artist Juarez Machado. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFrLnS5sQY)
Other worlds and parallel universes can often be depicted through the implementation of various colour techniques and to create a surreal environment. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's black, white, and red, graphic novel inspired Sin City to use colour to create the stark reality of a crime invested city. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKFLrTYKIXk)
Colour effects continue to change the way films can be made and help push forward new technologies in filmmaking. Sometimes we take this technology for granted. It is nice to sit back and realise how much color has given us in the art of film.