Black Swan (2010, Fox Searchlight)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cinematographer: Matthew Libatique
Starring: Natalie Portman (Sarah Lane as dance double), Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
















A tragic tale of a tortured ballet dancer was one of the best films of 2010. Along with 'Never Let Me Go' it was a film I had been looking forward to watching for months and it certainly didn't disappoint. There were a few scenes that were awkward to watch such as the masturbation and lesbian love scene mainly as they are such taboo subjects but I felt they were necessary, the first to demonstrate Nina's loss of innocence as a result of her obsession with dancing and the latter her being tipped completely into the deep end. All essential as part of her emotional journey towards the epic finale.

To complement this thriller is a muted palette that compliments the superb acting and really lends to the depressing feel of the movie. The recurring colors being black, white and pink. The grain also lends to the film's honesty.

A lot of controversy had arisen over whether Natalie Portman really did dance the entire movie or whether that was just part of a PR strategy to generate hype about the film. It's still uncertain how much she did actually dance but she did have a dance double, Sarah Lane from the American Ballet Company who refutes the claims that 90% of the dancing was by Portman. Some scenes where Lane was shot above the torso are impressive in the special effects field where they replaced her head with Portman's. This kind of technology has really taken off in recent years in films such as Captain America where Chris Evan's head was cged onto a skinny extra's body and surprisingly even The Social Network where Armie Hammer's head was cged onto Josh Pence's body so that he could play identical twins.

Adventureland (2009, Miramax)

Director: Greg Mottola
Cinematographer: Terry Stacey
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig











Stumbling across the gem of a movie 'Adventureland' was the result of researching Jesse Eisenberg from The Social Network and obsessive watching of rollercoaster youtube videos.

Adventureland is set in the 80s and has equal amounts of scenes set in the daytime and nightime. Daytime is mostly reserved for activity in Adventureland and is filmed in a washed out yellow filter. Nightime scenes vary between the theme park with all its bright lights, bars and house parties resembling scenes from the classic, American Graffitti. The entire film has a washed out aesthetic and is multicolored in line with the funpark theme although not excessively so.

What is interesting is that the whole story takes place during summer vacation between when the lead character James (Eisenberg) graduates high school and starts college. And while everyone is wearing t-shirts and short shorts acting as if the temperature is sweltering the whole movie was actually shot in the middle of winter in Pittsburg and every day the crew had to find ways of hiding the snow that had fallen the night before.

The script is well paced but I feel that it was unrealistic that James (Eisenberg) would have been able to be such a player in the film and gotten away with being angry at Em (Stewart) for sleeping with the repairman given that he was dating another girl at the same time.

Never Let Me Go (2010, Fox Searchlight)

Director: Mark Romanek
Cinematographer: Adam Kimmel
Based on the novel "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield












Never Let Me Go was one of those movies that you got really hyped up about and then felt disappointed after watching it. Visually it was a feast for the eyes but because I had read the book a year prior I ruined it for myself. I guess it's the same with all movies based on books with Harry Potter being one of the few exceptions. I prepped myself months before by watching Romanek's earlier film "One Hour Photo" and Mulligan's "An Education". Both were excellent which is another reason why you should always walk into a cinema with an open mind. I was mainly disappointed as the film wasn't quite able to convey all the British repressed sensibility that was so ubiquitous in the novel.

The entire movie is in shades of khaki green exuding a kind of solemn feel. The only variation is mainly between the natural greens and the turquoise the latter of which only appears in scenes within the hospitals juxtaposing the natural and artificial. The whole movie is really quite grim as from the very start you come to understand that they will all die young.

Some of the most beautiful scenes were shot in the English coastal towns. My favourite being Victoria Pier in Clevedon, the scene where Ruth (Keira Knightley) speculates that they are the clones of trash and also where Tommy (Andrew Garfield) piffs a stone into the lapping waves of the ocean in anger. In fact the other coastal scene shot in Holkham Beach with the abandoned boat was the most endearing for me and it was the screenshot I used as my desktop wallpaper for a few weeks.

The sombre mood overall was well captured by cinematographer Adam Kimmel though I have a feeling Mark Romanek played a large part in deciding the palette as the film has quite a similar feel to his previous work "One hour Photo" although I'm probably just comparing the scenes in the photo lab to this movies hospital scenes which had very sterile atmospheres.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Romanek's work in the future but I hope next time he won't try to adapt such an emotion-heavy book into a 100 minute film.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005, Spyglass)

Director: Rob Marshall
Cinematographer: Dion Beebe
2006 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design











Watching Memoirs when I was 15 on a tiny tv in the corner of a ski lodge on Mt. Kosciusko was an experience that made me truly appreciate the use of color in a film. When choosing which film to create a color bible for Memoirs was the first to spring to mind. I borrowed the dvd from my university library and watched it a second time this time on my widescreen plasma and was mesmerized by the beauty of the cinematography.


When creating the color palette I found a lot of muted pastel colors were used, perfect for old Japan and for telling a story about a faded past. This was occassionally interjected with scenes of sharp contrast between light and dark and bright colors such as the scene of Sayuri's snow dance and when she is introduced to the American colonel after the Japanese surrender. The standout items in the movie were definitely the array of colorful kimono designed by the costume department which were inspired by the kimono patterns they found in Kyoto. Each female character is given a kimono style.style of kimono. Hatsumomo's for example is reminiscent of a glamorous Parisian runway model's style with loud patterns and bright colors. Sayuri's is more muted to complement her grey eyes and in line with the ongoing theme of her coming from a fishing village.


The other standout is the set design. The town (hanamachi) was constructed entirely in California. In the second scene it is nighttime when all the lanterns are on and the rain falls creating pockets of orange light which reflect off the wet cedar of the buildings in the narrow laneways, the effect is stunning. As the set was located outdoors lighting was controlled by large canvases which spanned the length of the set acting as cloud cover for the harsh Californian sun.

Finally I just wanted to mention that the cinematographer, Dion Beebe is Australian. Am I proud? Yes.

The color of the motion picture.

Have you ever watched a movie in the afternoon and come outside to realise that whilst you were lost in a story time had passed and night had arrived. Movies have the ability to transport a viewer to another place and this is all achieved through excellence in many areas including directing, acting or simply, a good story told well.

The color of the motion picture is dictated by concept artists and the cinematographer/s and they determine the look and feel of a film visually. They are in charge of the camera and lighting crews and work in conjuction with a director to make a movie look right in accordance with the atmosphere required in the scene.


This blog showcases some of the most visually arresting movies' color bibles and highlights just how beautiful movies can be when viewed in pictures.
At the bottom are custom color palettes that were inspired by the film which can be an excellent resource for those in the illustration fields and beyond.