THE FUNCTIONS OF COLOUR by Eirik Frisvold Hanssen (1999) Hanssen (1999)
Introduction The suppression of colour The reproduction of colours: composition and representation olour and meanin! From colour to black"and"#hite olour and $cultural herita!e$ The effects and uses of colour The autonomous colour: events and thou!hts %ources &otes Introduction
This literature survey #ill discuss different te'ts that deal #ith the functions of colour in film The literature on this subect mainly consists of a number of articles and chapters from different books that present a !reat number of different vie#s and preferences There are not many books that deal e'clusively #ith colour film* and hardly any of them present any uniform vie# on the topic +ne of them is La couleur en cinéma * edited by ,ac-ues .umont* consistin! of a number of articles about a #ide ran!e of topics and films* contributed by different film theorists(1) The second book* 'Disorderly Order', is mainly based on transcripts of a number of discussions held durin! a #orkshop about colours in silent film held at the &ederlands Filmmuseum in .msterdam(/) .lthou!h these discussions involve more than fifty participants* all of them #ith different opinions* tastes and interests* this book still someho# offers the len!thiest discussion about a fairly limited and defined topic This te't #ill mainly deal #ill the functions of colour in a historical conte't* althou!h I also am !oin! to discuss more !eneral or 0a"historical0 aesthetic theories ut these #ill usually be linked to film history* to film conventions* to technolo!y and to broader ideolo!ical aspects These different elements #ill not be treated individually* but be presented in relation to each other throu!hout the te't In the book The Image* ,ac-ues .umont #rites one short para!raph about colour and plastic values in terms of their e'pressiveness(2)%ince the e'pressive role of colour is stressed in most theories about both paintin! and $abstract$ cinema* 0it is almost more surprisin! to have the report that a theory of colour is still almost totally lackin!0(3) 4hat usually e'ists* even in many of the te'ts in this survey* is a metaphorical discourse* #ith different systems of e-uivalencies " musical* physiolo!ical* symbolical and other metaphors .ccordin! to .umont* 0these
approaches are not #ithout interest* but they cannot be called theories* not even embryonic ones0(5) The literature that uses these metaphors and analo!ies* does al#ays seem to define the role of colour in relation to somethin! else* and althou!h many of the te'ts in this survey emphasise the autonomy of colour* they still primarily discuss the different functions of colour in relation to elements like narrative* soundtrack* music and others* as #ell as the distinction bet#een ima!es in colour and ima!es in black"and"#hite This survey #ill be about these functions* it #ill not try to define or e'plain colour as such* as a cate!ory 6uch of the #ritin! about colour and its relation to black"and"#hite is even motivated by preferences 6any theorists and critics attribute certain !eneral characteristics to each of the t#o ima!e systems* in relation to realism* artistic value etc* as part of their ar!umentation 4illiam ,ohnson* amon! many others* criticises #hat he calls a 0refu!e in !eneralities* acceptin! or reectin! the color as a #hole0(7) It is of course impossible to claim that black"and"#hite al#ays is more realistic than colour or vice versa If one at all can decide upon #hat is 0realistic0 and #hat is not* one rather has to consider a number of other aspects and elements #ithin each individual #ork that play a much !reater role than the -uestion of the absence or presence of colour Ho#ever* these ar!uments and preferences inform a !reat deal of the discussions on colour in film* and they also illustrate to #hat e'tent these discussions are subective* and dependent on #hat the different authors actually are searchin! for* #hat their tastes are* #hether it is narrative* or visual e'pressiveness* #hether it is 0realism0 or 0abstraction0 etc The definitions of colour therefore are dependent on ho# the different #riters choose to define film This subectivity of course does not only inform the 0pure0 aesthetic discussions* but also the more historical approaches +ne e'ample of this is Ed#ard rani!an$s article 0olor and inema: 8roblems in the 4ritin! of History0* #hich is a historio!raphy* discussin! different methodolo!ies in approachin! the early history of colour cinemato!raphy() The te't is structured around the presentation of four different accounts of this history First* 0the adventure of colour0 is focused on individuals* on different pioneers* and #orks in an anecdotal and bio!raphical fashion* follo#in! a linear narrative* su!!estin! an evolutionary development () Then follo#s 0the technolo!y of colour0* #hich focuses on the different scientific discoveries* and the historically motivated connections bet#een these and contemporary aesthetics* #hat artistic effects the discoveries actually #ere able to produce(9) 0The industrial e'ploitation of colour0 discusses technolo!y in an economic conte't* e'plorin! financial implications(1;) Finally 0the ideolo!y of colour0* presents a 6ar'ist perspective inspired by theories of ,ean"
case of colour cinemato!raphy Here the $natural$* scientific nature of the colours* the fact that they are produced e'clusively by li!ht* !ives this colour process a totally different status than* for e'ample* applied colour methods ut ideolo!y is of course even revealed throu!h the active use of colours in films* #hether they are present or absent* throu!h conventions and the development of $colour codes$ 6ost of the te'ts referenced here do ackno#led!e that the functions of colour in film history are the result of an interplay of factors* " that are technolo!ical=scientific* aesthetic* financial* ideolo!ical* " althou!h the combination of all these factors inevitably produce contradictions and difficulties in findin! any simple conclusions
The suppression of colour
>urin! the .msterdam #orkshop there #ere discussions about a !reat number of topics in relation to colour in silent film In addition to dealin! #ith the different functions of colour " and the difficulty in or!anisin! these into any systematicity "* the many different colour techni-ues " both in terms of so"called 0natural0* photo!raphically processed methods and applied colour methods "* the discussions also dealt #ith archival problems +ne such problem is the fact that #hen the ori!inal coloured nitrate prints " some of #hich are uni-ue ori!inals " are preserved on acetate stock* the colours are some#hat altered There are several different preservation techni-ues* all #ith different advanta!es and disadvanta!es .nother problem is #hether one should try to reproduce the colours the #ay they appear on the nitrate no# or if they should be reproduced accordin! to ho# one believes they looked in the silent era* #hen the print #as in circulation* before bein!* as >aan Herto!s and &ico de ?lerk puts it* 0subect to unrelentin! chan!es occasioned first by the #ear and tear of proection in the silent era and then by a!ein! and decay in the vaults of film archives0(1/) In the article 0
coloured copies* so the colour never seemed to be an absolute necessity* ust a simple addition* somethin! that had an arbitrary function Tom Bunnin! su!!ests that t#enty years a!o* scholars #ere more concerned #ith films as individual te'tual obects #ith 0a kind of uni-ue* aesthetic essence0(15) &o# the attention to a !reater e'tent is on film in performance* and this implies several variants* because of several different prints* different applied colours* a variety of different musical accompaniment* etc ut colour is usually ne!lected in film theory even #hen dealin! #ith colour films that are produced #ith so"called 0natural0 photo!raphic processes* and therefore only e'ist in colour In 197* rani!an #rote: 0riticism of film to the present day has lar!ely proceeded as if all films #ere made in black and #hite Fe# theorists or filmmakers even comment on the use of color in a film much less consider the structural possibilities0(17) In a recent article on colour in film* Eva ,Crholt refers to rani!an and claims that these observations are still valid(1) This also seemed to be the case for e'ample in film revie#s in the t#entiesD colour #as rarely mentioned* films #ere revie#ed as if they had been black"and"#hite productions (1) ut this does not necessarily mean that colour #as totally unimportant to contemporary audiences . !reat deal of film criticism from that era #as concerned #ith ustifyin! and definin! film as an art form* often by distin!uishin! it from other art forms* in particular the theatre* and in this respect* the -uestion of colour #as unimportant %till* one e'ample of ho# the absence of colours in black"and"#hite film #as noticed and commented by spectators* is the short te't 6a'im Borky #rote after #atchin!
The reproduction of colours: composition and representation
ut even .ndr@ ain* durin! the forties* considers colour film as the more realistic ima!e system* despite both the conventions at the time and the fact that Technicolor$s reproduction of colours hardly can be called 0naturalistic0 The more 0total0 illusion that colour* and even sound* entailed* #as a perfection of the ontolo!y of cinema* of its nature as an inde'ical imprint and direct reproduction of reality(/2) ut .rnheim$s reluctance to#ard colour film #as not only motivated by its e'tended 0realism0 He also stressed the compositional advanta!es of black"and" #hite* 0#hich renders possible the makin! of si!nificant and decorative pictures by means of li!ht and shade0(/3) He also stressed the fact that the beauty of nature is different from the beauty of art(/5) The colour combinations in nature are accidental and inharmonious* but in a visual representation of nature* for e'ample a paintin!* the colours should be structured in accordance to a consistent form .rnheim describes ho# there is a difference bet#een the 0practical0 sense of seein!* #here the colours primarily help distin!uish sin!le obects* and the aesthetic #ay of seein! #here the relationships bet#een the optic appearances of these obects are more important olour photo!raphy does not belon! to art because of its lack of form* and it is neither a part of nature Film directors like arl >reyer and .ndrei Tarkovsky also describe ho# difficult it is to achieve successful compositions #hen #orkin! #ith colour film They too compare the medium to paintin! Tarkovsky thinks the black"and"#hite ima!e is closer to art$s psycholo!ical* naturalistic and poetic truth* and that the use of colour for dramatic effect is a method that is more appropriate to a painter than to a filmmaker(/7) >reyer* ho#ever* believed that the " in his opinion " almost total absence of !ood colour films #as due to the fact that film directors to such little e'tent #ere familiar #ith creatin! colour constellations* and he actually su!!ested that painters* because of their e'perience and sensibility in relation to colour* should be more involved in the production of colour films >reyer thinks that the aspect that distin!uishes colour in film from colour in paintin!* is movement* #hich causes the constellations of colours to chan!e all the time(/) @la alJs* ho#ever* thou!ht that it #as because of the movement and chan!e of colour that colour film could represent somethin! uni-ue* somethin! that could be distin!uished from paintin!* somethin! that could render colours as part of an event* instead of only as a static -uality(/) Billes >eleue divides #hat he characterises as the colour"ima!e into three cate!ories The third one* 0movement colour " #hich passes from one tone to the other*0 is -uite compatible to the colour events alJs is describin!(/9) .nd even >eleue discusses this colour cate!ory in relation to colour in paintin!: 0it is only movement"colour #hich seems to belon! to the cinema* the others already bein! entirely part of the po#ers of paintin!0(2;)
In the article 06atire du suet0* ,ean"reyer* for instance* does use this kind of terminolo!y* these analo!ies* attributin! lines to black"and"#hite film and surfaces to colour film(2/) .ccordin! to %chefer* ho#ever* the ans#er to this -uestion has al#ays been that lines and colours never can be compared in terms of #hich is most important His te't* filled #ith metaphors and analo!ies* actually claims that paintin! is much closer to the black"and"#hite ima!e In black"and"#hite film everythin! is composed from the same substance (similar to paint)* and is therefore connected #ithin the same scale of li!htness* there is a substantial bond bet#een the characters and the landscape 4ith colour film this unity is broken or* as %chefer puts it* mutated The proected #orld is split into different obects and bodies* substances and entities* and there is no lon!er any bond bet#een the characters and the landscape The dream"like* impressionistic environment of black"and"#hite is replaced by the real #orld The distinction bet#een obects that colour produces* and the fact that they stem from nature are probably the main problems #hen it comes to composin! film ima!es in colour Tarkovsky emphasises the director$s inability to choose the e'act colours he #ants for his compositions as one of the main problems of colour film (22) .nd .umont actually links these difficulties in terms of control to a difference bet#een painter and film director(23) The painter has a direct* physical and immediate relation to colour and #orks #ithout any intermediaries The relation is totally personalD the painter has control over the choice of colours and ho# they should function in relation to each other The director* ho#ever* is dependent on his staff and the technical e-uipment .umont even sho#s ho# there are !reat difficulties in controllin! the contents of the ima!es because any accurate reproduction of #hat is filmed is impossible(25) The colour in the ima!e is never the same as in the real #orld .lon! #ith all the other elements in a film* it involves a ne# #ay of re!ardin! the #orld This does not mean that is completely unrealistic* but it is neither completely real* it is influenced by certain technical limitations Tryin! to perfect the analo!ue reproduction is therefore a utopian idea esides* the search for accuracy is reductionistic and an obstacle in the #ay of the e'pressiveness of colour ut of course it is still as reductionistic to reect naturalism alto!ether and avoid any form of naturalness for the benefit of colours that are consciously different from nature(27) .ccordin! to .umont* colour film is more natural* more realistic than black"and"#hite* but still this century has been marked by the follo#in! doxa: althou!h colour is more natural* it is still less common .umont claims that the concept of ima!es in colour usually is attributed to paintin!s* #hile black"and"#hite ima!es !enerally are linked to film and photo!raphy(2) The chromatic histories of these t#o kinds of ima!es are also opposites: paintin! be!an in colour and after several centuries it (in certain #orks)
turned black"and"#hite* #hile photo!raphy started in black"and"#hite and !radually !ained colour Therefore colour film* in terms of tradition* e'ists in a position bet#een paintin! and photo!raphy Even #hen it is inde'ical* a photo!raphy in colour is not al#ays fully accepted as a true photo!raph To !ive one e'ample: even thou!h oland arthes accentuated the inde'ical aspect of photo!raphy* its status as trace* he still felt that 0color is a coatin! applied later on to the ori!inal truth of the black"and"#hite photo!raph For me color is an artifice* a cosmetic (like the kind used to paint corpses)0(2) This point of vie# is of course opposite to the vie#s of .rnheim and ain* #ho both emphasised ho# the addition of colour constituted a !reater realism 4hat these t#o opposite points of vie# have in common* is ho#ever the fact that they both differ from #hat #ere the !eneral vie#s and conventions at the times these te'ts #ere #ritten .rnheim and ain #rote about the realism of colour film durin! the thirties and forties #hen colour normally #as connected #ith fantasy and spectacle* #hile arthes #rote about colour as artifice in 19;* #hen colour photo!raphy had been the absolute norm for the last 1;"15 years* in both film and television These are ust a fe# e'amples of to #hat de!ree the discussions on colour film are based on very different opinions* caused by preferences* and by #hat the individual authors actually are searchin! for* motivated by #hat functions they attribute both to colour and* even more important* to film and photo!raphy esides* as Bunnin! points out* the 0#hole -uestion about colour versus black"and"#hite in relation to realism is e'tremely ve'ed* because you can !o throu!h different periods of film history* and the relation s#itches around0(29) The problems in the discussion about the $naturalness$ of the colours and the overall 0realistic0 effect of colour film of course have as !reat ideolo!ical as aesthetic implications The fact that the reproduction of colours never is accurate* that even various colour film stocks actually render certain colours differently from each other* raises the -uestion of #hat standards and #hat aims are informin! the research and the decisions made in relation to the technical development of photo!raphic colour film material .ccordin! to rian 4inston* 0the research a!enda for colour film (and more latterly colour television) #as dominated by the need to reproduce aucasian skin tones0(3;) .nd still colour films 0do not render black skin tones as easily as they do #hite0(31) Therefore a particular consciousness about the use of the ri!ht li!htin! and camera an!les is vital #hen tryin! to render $natural$ black skin tones ichard >yer$s book White has numerous e'amples of difficulties connected to this* one of the bi!!est problems seemin! to be li!htin! a scene #here both black and #hite persons are present at the same time(3/) There are not only elements of racism in the decisions made in the technolo!ical development* or in ho# the term 0flesh tones0 al#ays is associated #ith #hite skin ut there are even connections to a more !eneral symbolism of colours* #here #hite represents !oodness and purity and black represents the opposites* and this symbolism has racial implications as #ell 8articularly revealin! is* accordin! to
4inston* that the ideal of $pleasin! flesh tones$ did not imply attainin! a reproduction that #as as accurate as possible In fact* the skin tones #ere made more $pleasin!$ than they #ere in reality The colour stocks that #ere considered successful in this respect actually reproduced #hite skin tones that #ere far paler than in reality 4hat #as preferred* #as therefore 0a #hite shade of #hite0(32)
Colour and meaning
ut !enerally* the topic of colour symbolism is very difficult to apply to most films This is particularly the case for the use of tintin! and tonin! The problems in findin! any clear systematicity re!ardin! the functions of the different colour systems may of course be another reason #hy the colour"elements in silent films #ere suppressed for so many years In many te'ts about tintin! and tonin! there are attempts to define a number of colour codes* to apply certain identifiable associations to specific colours .ccordin! to Herto!s and de ?lerk* 0these $associations$ may #ell be more statistical than semantic0(33) In his chapter on tintin! and tonin!* %teve &eale #rites: 0The common practice #as to tint each scene accordin! to mood and to the specifics of the settin! and action: a fire scene #ould be tinted red* a ni!ht scene blue* a sunlit scene yello# and so on0(35) There is particularly a problem #ith the concludin! 0and so on0* su!!estin!* a!ain accordin! to Herto!s and de ?lerk* 0that other colours have e-ually strai!htfor#ard meanin!s that the #riter is unable " for reasons of space* in an introductory te't* or #hatever* to list in full It #ould indeed be impossible to produce a comprehensive list* but not for such reasons0(37) >avid ord#ell and ?ristin Thompson also #rite in their $introductory te't$ on film history about certain colour codes and their narrative functions* but they are still far more cautious about establishin! ri!id systems* they are primarily !ivin! a number of e'amples(3) %till they have an e'ample of a fire scene that is tinted pink* not red as in &eale$s e'ample .lon! #ith blue* red is actually one of the t#o $stereotypical$ colours that serve as e'amples in Herto!s$ and de ?lerk$s te't* but here the standardised function for red is $love$(3) .nd Bunnin! even claims that yello# tintin! usually is a code for artificial interior li!ht* not a sunlit scene* as in &eale$s e'ample (39) &ot only are there !reat variations in terms of the actual practices* but even the attempts at constructin! standardised codes in our time are full of contradictions .nother problem #ith the chosen sentence in &eale$s te't may be ho# he does not specify the differences bet#een 0mood0 and 0specifics of settin! and action0 The three e'amples he is !ivin! do all fall under the latter cate!oryD their associations are someho# linked to referential levels of meanin! Herto!s$ and de ?lerk$s e'ample of red 0si!nifyin!0 love falls under the 0mood0 cate!ory* #here the colour is associated #ith more symbolic levels of meanin! +f course the applied colour could #ork on and play #ith several different levels of meanin! at the same time*
and therefore the search for one particular association is very problematic The fact that even non"fiction films #ere coloured causes additional problems to the attempts at establishin! colour codes and systems .ccordin! to Bunnin!* 0#e very rarely understand #hat is happenin! because of the colour 4e more often !et the meanin! of the colour from the narrative situation0(5;) This illustrates an important aspect of colour$s function in film* -uotin! Ed#ard rani!an: 0To say that colour has no intrinsic meanin!* ho#ever* is not to say it has no meanin!0(51) This is even the basis of an article by %er!ei Eisenstein* entitled 0olour and 6eanin!0* #here a !reat number of attempts to attribute specific meanin!s to specific colours are criticised(5/) He e'plains ho# the meanin!s and values of colours are dependent on the or!anic unity of each individual #ork* and he even claims that this is a prominent feature of art: 0In art it is not the absolute relationships that are decisive* but those arbitrary relationships #ithin a system of ima!es dictated by the particular #ork of art0(52) This may even imply that the same colour " in t#o different films " can 0assume absolutely contradictory meanin!s* dependent only upon the general system of imagery that has been decided upon for the particular film. 0(53)
From colour to lac!"and"#hite
&eale #rites about ho# tintin! and tonin! #ere used in almost every film durin! the 19/;s* but that this practice* after the comin! of sound* suddenly almost disappeared completely(55) +ne of the e'planations of this has been that the colour dyes interfered #ith the soundtrack Ho#ever* dyes modified for use in sound films #ere produced and applied to a number of films* durin! the 192;s and even the 193;s %o the opportunity to use tintin! and tonin! #as still there* but it #as not very often e'ploited &eale$s e'planation is rather that the comin! of sound introduced a ne# kind of aesthetic realism* based on the synchronised* recorded sound* and this soundtrack of course had the same kind of status as trace as the photo!raphic ima!e Even #hen the colour had a referential connection to #hat #as takin! place in the ima!e* the addition of colour did not have any particular realistic effect* it al#ays implied a metaphorical potential Herto!s even attributes a chan!e in the monochrome ima!es durin! the 19/;s* related to narrativity in fiction films(57) . lot of films #ere printed on pre"coloured stock* and therefore the ran!e of available colours #as much more limited than in the 191;s This may be connected to the fact that film in !eneral #as more narrativised durin! the 19/;s than in the 191;s* and conventions #ere to a certain de!ree constricted to the ideals of $classic cinema$ and its emphasis on narrative functions .nd someho# the narrative information that tintin! and tonin! could add became more and more superfluous
Early in the 19/;s black"and"#hite stock chan!ed from orthochromatic material to panchromatic material The perhaps most standardised colour code* blue for $ni!ht$* had a very clear narrative function of addin! 0darkness0* motivated by the difficulties in filmin! scenes at ni!ht #ith orthochromatic stock 4ith panchromatic stock ni!ht scenes could be rendered $photo!raphically$* because this stock to a much !reater e'tent allo#ed filmin! #ith less li!ht* and !enerally produced ima!es #ith a !reater ran!e of contrast Enno 8atalas describes ho# this technical development coincided #ith a !ro#in! a#areness of the photo!raphic aspects of cinema(5) In Bermany durin! the 19/;s there #as a number of individual films that actually #ere released only in black"and"#hite versions* amon! them so"called E'pressionist films by Frit eleue claims that 0it is undoubtedly E'pressionism #hich #as the precursor of real colourism in the cinema0(5) This kind of colourism is photo!raphically based* and in particular connected to the use of li!htin! in E'pressionist films* and ho# these films play #ith li!ht and darkness and the !rey shades bet#een these t#o entities* both on a visual and on a narrative* symbolic level >eleue links these ima!es to Boethe$s colour theory* #here the t#o entities black and #hite* infinite darkness and infinite li!ht* constitute the basis for understandin! all colours Every colour e'ists some#here bet#een li!ht and darkness* and therefore in black"and"#hite film #hat ori!inally #as a specific colour in the outside #orld is e-ualled by a particular shade of !rey .rnheim describes the #orkin!s of the black"and"#hite ima!e as a 0reduction of colour values to a one"dimensional !rey series (ran!in! from pure #hite to dead black)0(59) The black"and"#hite ima!e does not sho# the specific colour in terms of hue or saturation* but it still conveys lightness * the position of the 0reduced0 colour #ithin the !rey series* its value in terms of li!ht and shade .nd panchromatic stock rendered these 0colour reductions0 #ith !reater contrast and accuracy The virtual disappearance of non"photo!raphic applied colours is therefore related to an aesthetics of realism* and an a#areness of photo!raphic and inde'ical aspects of film* due to technolo!ical developments like the chan!e to panchromatic material and the comin! of synchronised sound The emphasis on both narrative functions and also on the decisions made by the individual directors* made the more arbitrary function of the applied colour seem less important(7;) This actually means that the e'planations of #hy applied colours disappeared are almost e'actly the same as the e'planations of #hy* to a !reat e'tent* later archival policies in !eneral have suppressed these same colours for such a lon! period The disappearance of colours marks a shift in the #ay one #as definin! film* and the return of these colours in more current archival policies also marks a similar shift from " or at least an e'tension of " this definition The introduction of Technicolor in the late 19/;s* the first $natural$ photo!raphic colour system that really proved to be commercially successful* represents*
accordin! to &eale* 0the colour technolo!y appropriate* so to speak* to the predominant aesthetic of sound cinema0(71) Ho#ever* in practice* it took much lon!er time before Technicolor became $naturalised$ than #as the case #ith synchronised sound %ound cinema became a norm after a couple of years* #hile colour cinemato!raphy did not 0eliminate0 black"and"#hite until the late 197;s* almost four decades later .nd in the 192;s and 193;s " and to a certain e'tent even durin! the 195;s " colour #as primarily associated #ith spectacle and fantasy* and used for musicals* dream se-uences etc In the 19/;s the use of Technicolor #as limited to short se-uences in other#ise black"and"#hite movies Ed#ard uscombe claims that durin! the first decade of Technicolor* its ideolo!ical appeal #as limited to t#o possibilities: si!nifyin! lu'ury and spectacle* or celebratin! technolo!y(7/) This of course had a lot to do #ith economic and technolo!ical factors olour #as much more e'pensive and more technically complicated than black"and"#hite* and* as 4illiam ,ohnson points out* it altered the ima!e in a #ay that is not easily defined(72) It #as neither an addition in the #ay sound #as* nor #as it a simple modification like for instance #idescreen There has been very little* if any* research on this* but perhaps there even is a connection bet#een the use of applied colour and the initial response to Technicolor Tintin!* tonin! and hand colourin! very concretely !ained the status of bein! e'ternal additions* and did not either have any particular realistic effect or narrative function %eein! colour in film as a more historically !eneral cate!ory* this status may in some #ay have influenced ho# Technicolor #as used and perceived durin! its first decades %till* as 8hilippe >ubois points out in the article 0Hybridations et m@tissa!es0* the introduction of Technicolor marks an important shift in ho# colour functions rhetorically(73) In the cinema of attractions* throu!h tintin! and tonin!* and hand and stencil colourin!* the colour intervened in the black"and"#hite ima!e 4ith Technicolor* colour in cinema chan!ed its lo!ic and became 0full0 ( pleine)* perfectly inte!rated #ithin the photo!raphic ima!e* #hich !ave it a more natural place #ithin the die!esis of classic cinema
Colour and $cultural heritage$
>eleue$s description of the 0precursory0 black"and"#hite colourism in E'pressionist cinema is of course also linked to ho# a certain #ay of thinkin! about film and its relation to colour directly influenced archival policies .s >eleue$s te't e'emplifies* the suppression of applied colour in silent film of course even influenced the #ritin!s and the thinkin! on these films* and on the relation bet#een black"and"#hite in !eneral The status of black"and"#hite has alternated bet#een realism and abstraction in the same #ay as the status of colour .ccordin! to %tanley avell* the abstraction of black"and"#hite presents an 0ima!ination
confined to the shapes of theater0(75) His main e'ample of the achromatic competition 0#ith reality by opposing it0 is The abinet of Dr. aligari * #here the e'pression of madness and fantasy and the connection to theatre 0is a function of its e'istence in black and #hite0(77) +ri!inally* ho#ever* aligari #as released in colour* and in an article In!e >e!enhart even sho#s ho# the use of tintin! #as planned by the director* and the mise"en"scne #as carefully elaborated* so the combination of photo!raphic ima!e and tintin! #ould produce a particular ran!e of monochromic !radations(7) The common apprehension that colour #as non"e'istent in cinema until the 192;s also has informed the discussion about computerised colourisations of black"and" #hite classics .s 6ichel hion points out* perhaps contrary to popular opinion* colourin! black"and"#hite material #as not a ne# idea invented in the 19;s* it is of course a techni-ue used throu!hout the history of photo!raphy(7) There is obviously a !reat aesthetic difference bet#een the application of colours on silent films* #here this practice #as a natural part of contemporary film industry* and the colourisation of films from the 192;s* 193;s and 195;s that #ere intended to be sho#n e'clusively in black"and"#hite ut still these discussions convey a certain $colour code$ often attributed to black" and"#hite* that of si!nifyin! history In an article* Hannu %almi sho#s ho# the $reality$ attributed to photo!raphy* both in film and still pictures* the domination of black"and"#hite in documentary foota!e* the use of black"and"#hite flashback se-uences in more recent films* etc* all add to the use of the black"and"#hite ima!e as a narrative and stylistic element* si!nifyin! the past* the idea of history(79) In fact* durin! the last t#o centuries* #hat has been considered as a $true depiction of history$ mainly has been in black"and"#hite The associations bet#een colour and attraction have in fact !iven colour a status as $non"history$ +ne of the main ar!uments a!ainst computerised colourisations* apart from the aesthetic ones* has been ho# they distort and destroy our cultural herita!e* our sense of history .s harles .cland points out* there is confusion about #hat the films are representin!: 0the coloried classic simultaneously signals particular histories and transforms them0(;) In the mid";s* these versions #ere e'tremely popular* and .cland$s e'planation of this popularity is not the colour itself* but the colourisation* the technolo!ical novelty of the refinished product In his opinion* this implies that because the audiences actually reco!nised and found an attraction in this alteration* the colourisations did not chan!e their sense of history Instead* they actually #ere entertained by the playin! and tamperin! #ith this history that the ne# technolo!y offered
The effects and uses of colour
ut still* if applied colours neither have any clear reference to reality or any clear narrative function* #hy have they al#ays been addedK In #hat #ay #ere and are they appreciated by the audiencesK Bunnin! outlines t#o primary roles of colour in film* on one hand as an essential part in creatin! a total illusion* a complete reproduction of the visual #orld* as it is in ain$s vie#* but on the other hand* he #rites* 0color can also appear in cinema #ith little reference to reality* as a purely sensuous presence* an element #hich can even indicate a diver!ence from reality0(1) Here the colour becomes a value in itself* an autonomous entity This idea of a pure sensual colour is of course e-ually relevant in relation to Technicolor or colour cinemato!raphy in !eneral* as uscombe illustrates #ith this conclusion: 0olor* then* need not serve realism It may simply provide pleasure0 (/) In his article* ho#ever* Bunnin! primarily relates it to the different kinds of applied colours found durin! the silent era .lthou!h he stresses the non"realistic aspect of this colour as #ell as the problem #ith establishin! colour codes #ith clear narrative functions* he does not only look upon this kind of colour as pure spectacle* he even stresses its metaphorical potential This potential depends on colour$s role as a 0minority option0D althou!h 0the use of color in an era dominated by black and #hite does not necessarily function as a metaphor* its less familiar nature* like a turn of speech* endo#s it #ith a metaphoric potential0(2) Bunnin! #rites about the relation bet#een colour and black"and"#hite* and a certain resistance to colour* similar to .umont$s description of the opposite chromatic histories of paintin! and photo!raphy* and %almi$s description of colour as non" history Bunnin! describes this resistance and development #ithin a specific cultural and historical conte't* startin! in the A%. in the 17;s .ccordin! to him the 0sur!e of color into previously monochrome territories constitute one of the key perceptual transformations of modernity0(3) This transformation took place in different media* 0first the mechanical reproduction of ima!es* then still photo!raphy* cinema and finally television0(5) .s an e'ample he compares the film The Wi!ard of O! from 1929 #ith < Frank aum$s book of the same title that it is based on* first published in 19;; The chromatic structure of sho#in! reality and daily life in monochrome ima!es and then s#itchin! to Technicolor for the dream se-uences is in perfect accordance #ith film conventions at the time the film #as made* and allo#in! the colour to have both spectacular and narrative functions Ho#ever this color scheme is also found in the te't itselfD ?ansas is described in #ords that are -uite similar to Borky$s description of the orothy in the
advertisin!* comics and film These stron!* saturated colours threatened and #ere dissociated from so"called elite conceptions of taste %o .umont$s and other theorists$ conception of colour film as close to paintin!* an art form #ith more of an 0elite appeal0* has perhaps more to do #ith a discussion about 0pure0 aesthetics than #ith financial and ideolo!ical aspects ut still these analo!ies to paintin! #ere used actively in order to make colour film more culturally accepted &atalie ?almus* #ho #as the leadin! colour consultant of the Technicolor company in the 192;s and 193;s and #ho also #rote e'tensively about her #ork and ideolo!ies* named a number of painters " embrandt* Lelas-ue* Boya " as inspirations for the preparation of colour charts for the films she #as #orkin! on* " a deliberate attempt at !ivin! colour film a status as an art form() In an article* ichard &eupert presents ?almus$ #ritin!s and her #ork In order to use Technicolor in a production* one had to hire e-uipment and a number of personnel from the company* amon! this a colour consultant* plannin! the color schemes and compositions ?almus$ solution to makin! colour more tasteful and less intrudin!* #as #hat she called 0color restraint0 The colour chart #as compared to a musical score* and colour$s function #as similar to that of musicD it should amplify and serve the purposes of the narrative This #ay of thinkin! about colour is usually presented as reductionistic in most recent te'ts about colour film* and already in 1925* udolf .rnheim* #ith reference to ?almus* criticised 0the present !rotes-ue habit* Ghavin! a color specialist subse-uently put color into a scene already established as action in the shootin! script and as bodily shapes and movements by the director0(9) %till* there obviously #ere Holly#ood !enres like the musical #here both music and colour played more prominent parts* that #orked a!ainst this ideal of restraint and realism .nd even the association #ith paintin!* su!!ested by for instance >reyer* and even ?almus herself* called for different #ays of thinkin! about colour* but accordin! to ?almus* it #as necessary to 0!uide G realism into the realms of art*0 to 0au!ment the mechanical process #ith the inspirational #ork of the artist0(;) In her #ritin!s about colour* ?almus still seems to ackno#led!e the e'istence of the autonomous* pure sensual colour that Bunnin! #rites about as dominant durin! the silent era ut in her opinion* it had to be restrained and controlled in order to serve a specific purpose Eisenstein* like ?almus and many others* #rites about the functions of colour as similar to that of musicD colour is 0!ood #hen it is necessary0* as he #rites in a letter to
visual e-uivalent to the subtlest curve in melody +nly then complete visual orchestration #ill rise to the level of the #ealth of orchestration in music0(/)
The autonomous colour: e%ents and thoughts
4hat makes the coloured film material from the silent era interestin! is* accordin! to ,ac-ues .umont* particularly that 0it helps us form ideas about colour in !eneral and ima!es in !eneral* and about the cinematic ima!e in particular0(2) He uses the term $colour events$* as a #ay of avoidin! discussions about 0thin!s like intentions or coherence* systems or meanin!s*0 and instead discuss ideas about colour @la alJs also* as I have sho#n* described the specifically cinematic movement of and chan!e in colours as an $event$ .nd a similar term* $colour incident$* #as used in 1939 by 6aor . orn#ell"lyne in the article 04hat$s 4ron! 4ith olourK0 and it seems to discuss the same kind of role for colour that .umont stresses* but in this case* the colour incident is seen as a ne!ative distraction: 0The observer should never be conscious of colour at all until it means somethin!0(3) .umont$s approach is of course the opposite of this* and it allo#s him even to discuss ho# colour can create an event independently of anyone$s intentions* for e'ample even in films that have been decayin! or solarisin! .mon! other e'amples* he talks about ho# hand" paintin! and stencillin! produce autonomous colours that float freely in front of the colourless* filmed obects and distort the identification of these obects (5) These e'periments and discoveries in film (not only in early film* but also throu!hout film history)* and e'plorin! and thinkin! abut these colours !enerate #hat .umont calls $colour ideas$ Billes >eleue$s approach to colour is similar to .umont$s in stressin! colour$s autonomous po#er re!ardless of any form of representation >eleue finds the formula of colourism by -uotin! Bodard " $it$s not blood* it$s red$* meanin! that 0the colour"ima!e does not refer to a particular obect* but absorbs all it can0(7) Ho#ever* >eleue re!ards the colour"ima!e as representative of #hat he calls the affection"ima!e and the $any"space"#hatever$ These cate!ories have their ori!ins in the close"up* a kind of ima!e that isolates the face and thereby abstracts it from concrete causal relations* 0they are e'pressed for themselves* outside spatio" temporal co"ordinates* #ith their o#n ideal sin!ularities0() This pure affect is some#hat different from .umont$s notion of colour events* #hich treat colours more like autonomous dramatic elements %till* the absorption of obects that >eleue is describin! has elements of action and event similar to .umont$s concept* and both emphasise the autonomy of colour* its independence from the drama The !reatest difference bet#een >eleue and .umont is probably ho# they deal #ith the relation bet#een colour and obect 4hile >eleue #rites about absorption* .umont seems to claim that colours and obects in a #ay e'ist independently .lthou!h he is primarily addressin! coloured black"and"#hite ima!es from the silent era* the filmmaker ,Mr!en eble even attributes this
distinction to colour photo!raphy: 0In fact* #hen #e use colour film stock to film some real surface* there$s actually more illusion than #ith black"and"#hite stock* because a black"and"#hite ima!e is much closer to the physical structure of #hat #e see %o the idea that colour only is a -uality of the film material is very interestin!0() >eleue$s ideas about colour and the affection"ima!e in !eneral are to a !reat e'tent inspired by % 8eirce The pure affect is connected to 8eirce$s cate!ory $Firstness$ (9) .ccordin! to Eva ,Crholt* $Firstness$ to a certain de!ree corresponds to 8eirce$s t#o cate!ories $icon$ and $-uality$* and refers to somethin! that e'ists by virtue of itself #ithout representin! anythin!* to -ualities that do not need to be 0realised0 in order to e'ist(9;) +ne of 8eirce$s o#n e'amples of Firstness is the colour red The colour is perceived and understood as a -uality independently of the obect that possibly carries it In many cases* the -uestion of colour in film is used as a primary e'ample of elements and -ualities in the medium that are difficult to conform to those theories that are mainly based on narrative functions ,Crholt$s article* for instance* uses the thou!hts on colour in >eleue$s inema"books as a main e'ample for a more e'tended ar!ument about these books and >eleue$s thinkin! in !eneral .n article by >aniel Frampton* that emphasises ho# film can function as thin#ing rather than a narrative device* uses colour as a primary e'ample of $cinematic$ thou!hts and ideas that achieve a level of importance #ithout necessarily representin! anythin! in particular(91) .nd in the colour events and any"spaces"#hatever of .umont and >eleue* there are connections bet#een colours that e'ist independently of obects or actionD the colours* in fact* construct a 0story0 of their o#n (and thereby causin! the e'act distraction feared by filmmakers and theorists durin! the first decades of Technicolor) These 0stories0 may be found in the applied colours of early films* in a !enre like the musical* in the elaborate colour schemes in the ban-uet se-uence of the second part of Eisenstein$s I$an the Terrible (#here there even is an interplay bet#een the cinematic colours and %er!ei 8rokofiev$s musical score)* in certain e'amples of so"called $modernist$ cinema* but still " as ,Crholt points out " in a narrative film* colours are inevitably al#ays carried by obects and characters that are involved in specific actions* and therefore the pure affect* the pure colour" ima!e is very difficult to apply to most films(9/) In Eisenstein$s opinion* it is important that both levels are discussed +ne can possibly never (and probably one should not) i!nore the actual obects* but to ackno#led!e the autonomous* e'pressive -ualities of colour* is essential if colour is to be !iven any artistic function: 0efore #e can learn to distin!uish three oran!es on a patch of la#n both as three obects in the !rass and three oran!e patches a!ainst a !reen back!round* #e dare not think of colour composition0(92)
Literature
.cland* harles * 0Tamperin! #ith the Inventory: oloriation an 8opular Histories0* Wide %ngle Lol 1/* &o / (.pril 199;) .rnheim* udolf* &ilm as %rt (ennis >obson* 195/) arthes* oland* amera lucida* -eflections on hotography (
>all$.sta* 6onicaD 8escatore* Bu!lielmo* 0olour in 6otion0* &otogenia. 4torie e teorie del cinema * nr1* 1993 (olo!na: Editrice eleue* Billes* inema 1* The 3o$ement5Image (6inneapolis: Aniversity of 6innesota 8ress* 199) 'Disorderly' Order'* olours in 4ilent &ilm. The 1667 %msterdam Wor#shop * eds
>aan Herto!sD &ico >e ?lerk (.msterdam: %tichtin! &ederlands Filmmuseum* 1997)A<* 0Editors$ 8reface0 >reyer* arl* 0olor and olor Films0* The 3o$ies as 3edium * ed ubois* 8hilippe* 0Hybridations et m@tissa!es: yer* ichard* White (over 8ublications* Inc* 19;) Frampton* >aniel* 0Filmosophy: olour0* e" 4cholarship from 8&I -esearch * eds olin 6acabe and >uncan 8etrie (
""* 0Filmens farver: En hvid plet pQ filmvidenskabens landkort0* 9osmorama &r ///* 4inter 199 &eale* %teve* inema and Technology* Image, 4ound, olour (
%almi* Hannu* 0olor* %pectacle and History in Epic Film0* &otogenia. 4torie e teorie del cinema * nr1* 1993 (olo!na: Editrice avid* &ilm :istory* %n Introduction (&e# Oork: 6cBra#"Hill* Inc* 1993) 4inston* rian* Technologies of 4eeing* hotography, inematography and Tele$ision (
Films
The abinet of Dr. aligari;Das 9abinett des Dr aligari (obert 4iene* 1919) 0ogel
Notes
1 La couleur en cinéma* ed ,ac-ues .umont (6ilan=8aris: 6aotta=in@math-ue franNaise* 1995) / 'Disorderly Order'* olours in 4ilent &ilm. The 1667 %msterdam Wor#shop * eds >aan Herto!s* &ico >e ?lerk (.msterdam: %tichtin! &ederlands Filmmuseum* 1997)
2 ,ac-ues .umont* The Image (
Ed#ard rani!an* 0olor and inema: 8roblems in the 4ritin! of History0* 3o$ies and 3ethods 0olume II * ed ill &ichols (
ibid* 1/2ff 9 ibid* 1/5ff 1; ibid* 1/ff 11 ibid* 12/ff 1/ 0Editor$s 8reface0* 'Disorderly Order' * )A< 12 8aolo herchi Asai* 0
13 ' Disorderly Order' * 1 (Eric de ?uyper)* 5/ (,ac-ues .umont) 15 ibid 17 Ed#ard rani!an* 0The .rticulation of olor in a Filmic %ystem: Deux ou trois choses )ue 2e sais d'elle0* Wide %ngle Lol 1* &o 2 197* /;
1 Eva ,Crholt* 0Farver o! film " En hvid plet pQ filmvidenskabens landkort0 > 9osmorama /// (not yet published)
1 f discussion bet#een Ennos 8atalas* Frank ?essler and &ico de ?lerk* Disorderly Order' * /;ff 19 6a'im Borky* 0
/1 udolf .rnheim* &ilm as %rt (
/3 .rnheim* &ilm as %rt * 7/ /5 udolf .rnheim* &ilm ssays and riticism (4isconsin: The Aniversity of 4isconsin 8ress* 199)* /1f /7 .ndrei Tarkovsky * 4culpting in Time (reyer* 0olor and olor Films0* The 3o$ies as 3edium * ed
/ @la alJs* Theory of the &ilm* haracter and +ro"th of a e" %rt (ennis >obson* 195/)* /3/
/9 Billes >eleue* inema 1* The 3o$ement5Image (6inneapolis: Aniversity of 6innesota 8ress* 199)* 11 2; ibid 21 ,ean"reyer* 19 22 Tarkovsky* 129 23 ,ac-ues .umont* 0
31 ibid* 31 3/ ichard >yer* White (
37 'Disorderly Order' * 7 3 ?ristin Thompson* >avid ord#ell* &ilm :istory* %n Introduction (&e# Oork: 6cBra#"Hill* Inc* 1993)* 3
3 'Disorderly Order' * 5 39 ibid* 72 5; ibid* 3;
51 rani!an* 0The .rticulation of olor in a Filmic %ystem0* /1 5/ %er!ei Eisenstein* The &ilm 4ense (
57 'Disorderly Order' * /2 5 ibid* 37 5 >eleue* 5/ 59 .rnheim* 7/ 7; 0I$ve been throu!h 6urnau$s o#n annotated copies of his scenarios* hopin! to find somethin! on colour .ll I could find #as a point in the scenario for 0ogel
71 &eale* 119 7/ Ed#ard uscombe* 0%ound and olor0* 3o$ies and 3ethods 0olume II * 9;f 72 ,ohnson* /12 73 8hilippe >ubois* 0Hybridations et m@tissa!es:
75 %tanley avell* The World 0ie"ed* -eflections on the Ontology of &ilm (ambrid!e=
77 ibid 7 6onica >all$.sta* Bu!lielmo 8escatore* 0olour in 6otion0* &otogenia. 4torie e teorie del cinema* nr 1* 1995* reference to In!e >e!enhart* 08resence and .bsence of olour in Films0 in the same issue* pp /2" /1 A<
7 6ichel hion* 0olorisations0* La couleur en cinéma* 72 79 Hannu %almi* 0olor* %pectacle and History in Epic Film0* &otogenia. 4torie e teorie del cinema* nr1* 1993 (olo!na: Editrice
; harles .cland* 0Tamperin! #ith the Inventory: oloriation an 8opular Histories0* Wide %ngle Lol 1/* &o / (.pril 199;)* 15
1 Tom Bunnin!* 0olorful 6etaphors: the .ttraction of olor in Early %ilent inema0* &otogenia. 4torie e teorie del cinema * nr 1* 1995* /39 )
A< .s I have already sho#n* .rnheim uses the similar phrase 0diver!ence from nature0 #hen describin! the advanta!es of the black"and"#hite ima!e .rnheim* 7/
/ uscombe* 9; 2 Bunnin!* /5; 3 ibid 5 ibid* /39 7 ibid* /51 ibid ichard &eupert* 0Technicolor and Holly#ood: E'ercisin! olor estraint0* ost 4cript * Lolume 1;* &umber 1 Fall 199;* /3f
9 udolf .rnheim* // ; ?almus -uoted in &eale* 15; 1 %er!ei Eisenstein* otes of a &ilm Director (&e# Oork: >over 8ublications* Inc* 19;)* 1/1 / ibid* 11 2 'Disorderly Order' * 5/ 3 6aor . orn#ell"lyne -uoted in &eale* 139 5 'Disorderly Order' * 52ff 7 >eleue* 11 ibid* 1;/ 'Disorderly Order $* 55 9 >eleue* 9ff 9; Eva ,Crholt* 0>eleue i farver0* 9osmorama nr //1* %ummer 199* 1;5 91 >aniel Frampton* 0Filmosophy: olour0* e" 4cholarship from 8&I -esearch (
9/ ,Crholt* 0>eleue i farver0* 1; 92 Eisenstein> otes of a &ilm Director * 1/
