365 Films in Color

Celso / 27 / TX An ongoing personal project dedicated to the use of color and composition in film.

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"The Night before Christmas"/ "Christmas Eve"/ Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки 1961

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Interiors in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut

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New Beginnings

I was watching Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut last night for probably around the 5th time. As I was watching the scene between Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise where Kidman’s character confesses her desires and her willingness to give up her marriage and family for the sake of just one night with a naval officer she caught eye of. As she was recounting her thoughts, I noticed the blue light almost creating a halo behind her along with the wall panel behind her that created a kind of confessional booth motif. Then I noticed the blue light again and again and again. I am no stranger to the use of color for symbolism, evoking emotions, and creating an atmosphere, but I began to think about color and its relationship to film and how directors and cinematographers utilize color to get a message across.

Then I thought about other films where the colors stood out to me. Color always attracted me to films as a young film novice in my teen years. The dreamy muted pastels of The Virgin Suicides, the dreary yet lush greens of Stalker, the neons of Suspiria and how they transformed into the de-saturated gloomy tones in its 2018 remake. Yes, color certainly provided me with a visual delight, but I’m equally fascinated with color as a tool or vessel to carry messages, ideas, and symbolism.

I thought about making this blog as a way for me to understand how colors are utilized with individual films and directors and how it becomes a visual language. I am also interested in how that might translate in a two-dimensional medium such as the ones I work with in my own personal art. Additionally, I find myself in a creative rut, a block, that I am having trouble getting myself out of. This is an attempt for me to do something about it while exploring my love of films and color all at the same time along with things like composition and other design elements. I’d like to do 365 films, one color study a day, but with my job and other responsibilities I’m not being to strict on the time frame! I want to have fun while also giving myself a little challenge, so hopefully I can meet the 365 mark by the end of next year!

I may also just be posting little trivia things, observations, opinions, findings I find interesting and the like as well. Hope you’ll join me for the ride. (: