Tag Archive | calm

Prometheus – monochromatic (blue) wash

Prometheus begins with a pre-dawn blue light. This scene feels as calm as morning coffee before the hustle and bustle of a world springing to life. The morning look works as a sort of double entendre of figurative foreshadowing: present day in lush Scotland finding cave paintings like the scene before, as well as linking that past with the monochromatic alien world to come.

Other colors in this film are almost exclusively reserved for humans and human habitat. The sterility of monochromatism isolates the cerebral logic and monolithic power of the alien world from the nature and emotion of humanity.

Prometheus - Stephen Nakamura Digital Intermediate Colorist Red Epic Redcode RAW (5K) (dual-strip 3-D) source format

Prometheus – Stephen Nakamura Digital Intermediate Colorist
Red Epic Redcode RAW (5K) (dual-strip 3-D) source format

Prometheus - Stephen Nakamura Digital Intermediate Colorist Red Epic Redcode RAW (5K) (dual-strip 3-D) source format

Prometheus – Stephen Nakamura Digital Intermediate Colorist
Red Epic Redcode RAW (5K) (dual-strip 3-D) source format

 

Backlit Dark/Bright

Here we see two backlit yellow scenes, one from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the other from Children of Men.

Both cases communicate the negative properties of yellow: an uneasiness or dissatisfaction.

In Benjamin Button it is a monotone life with shadows into which his face cannot be seen -he does not know himself, only his paltry accommodations. This shot is soon juxtaposed by his leaving to see the world in cyan daylight.

In Childrenof Men, it is a frenetic unease in the face of cerebral antagonism. We quickly realize that he has a long established rapport with his kidnapper, and the light returns to normal for their more cordial conversation.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)  -  Senior D.I. Colorist Jan Yarbrough Arriflex 435, 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision3 500T 5219) Sony CineAlta F23, Thomson VIPER FilmStream Camera; 4:4:4 1080p log

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) – Senior D.I. Colorist Jan Yarbrough
Arriflex 435, 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision3 500T 5219)
Sony CineAlta F23, Thomson VIPER FilmStream; 4:4:4 1080p log

Children of Men (2006)  -  Digital Colorist Steven J. Scott 2K D.I. from 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 Expression 500T 5229)

Children of Men (2006) – Digital Colorist Steven J. Scott
2K D.I. from 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 Expression 500T 5229)