By
Patti Bellantoni, Patti Bellantoni studied under renowned color theorist Josef Albers. She now teaches color and visual storytelling to directors, cinematographers,
editors, producers, screenwriters, and production designers. Her faculty credits include the Conservatory of the American Film Institute
in Los Angeles, the world's premiere film conservatory. She was also previously on the faculty of the Center for Understanding Media
in New York. She has taught Color and Visual Communication at the School of Visual Arts in New York and Design at California State University,
Los Angeles.
Description
If it's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die is a must-read book for all film students, film professionals, and others interested in filmmaking.
This enlightening book guides filmmakers toward making the right color selections for their films, and helps movie buffs understand why
they feel the way they do while watching movies that incorporate certain colors.
Guided by her twenty-five years of research on the
effects of color on behavior, Bellantoni has grouped more than 60 films under the spheres of influence of six major colors, each of which
triggers very specific emotional states. For example, the author explains that films with a dominant red influence have themes and characters
that are powerful, lusty, defiant, anxious, angry, or romantic and discusses specific films as examples. She explores each film, describing
how, why, and where a color influences emotions, both in the characters on screen and in the audience. Each color section begins with
an illustrated Home Page that includes examples, anecdotes, and tips for using or avoiding that particular color.
Conversations with
the author's colleagues-- including award-winning production designers Henry Bumstead (Unforgiven) and Wynn Thomas (Malcolm X) and renowned
cinematographers Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption) and Edward Lachman (Far From Heaven)--reveal how color is often used to communicate
what is not said.
Bellantoni uses her research and experience to demonstrate how powerful color can be and to increase readers awareness
of the colors around us and how they make us feel, act, and react.
*Learn how your choice of color can influence an audience's moods,
attitudes, reactions, and interpretations of your movie's plot
*See your favorite films in a new light as the author points out important
uses of color, both instinctive and intentional
*Learn how to make good color choices, in your film and in your world.
Audience:
Filmmakers who want to improve their films with a strategic use of color or who want a better understanding of viewer reaction to color;
film buffs; film students; others in design fields (architecture, interior design, etc.) who would benefit from an understanding of how
color affects moods and attitudes
