Color and/is narration. The narrative role of color in Wes Anderson’s filmic images

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23738/CCSJ.130101

Keywords:

Wes Anderson, Color Palette, Films, Chromatich perception, Narrative color, Movies sequences

Abstract

American Director Wes Anderson’s films are an interesting case study on the use of representation and visual language as elements capable of implementing the narrative underlying the film plot. His films, in fact, are constructed according to a logic similar to that of architectural representations. The combination of geometries, perspectives, textures and colors generates a code of signs capable of mediating between the intelligible and the sensitive, between the idea and the image. In particular, chromatic aesthetics constitutes a carefully curated component in the image sequences. The balanced and perfect color compositions, however much they may seem a decorative whim, represent a clever narrative device that, designed according to logical patterns, is able to embody symbolic and communicative values. This research, therefore, aims to investigate the language of color in Anderson's films, with the aim of analyzing its narrative potential. The color is investigated both as a narrative content of the filmic atmosphere and as a narrative container of emotions and symbols. The double register of analysis used for Anderson's films can become a trace of a general methodology of analysis, applicable not only to the works of other directors, but also to other forms of visual narration. 

References

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Published

2021-04-09

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Section

Papers

How to Cite

“Color and/is narration. The narrative role of color in Wes Anderson’s filmic images” (2021) Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science, 13(01), pp. 07–13. doi:10.23738/CCSJ.130101.