To give The Anniversary that distinct 1950's/1960's feeling, the color choices we made had to be really careful. Agfa film does a lot of unexpected things from my point of view. It desaturates when I would expect it to saturate and vice versa. Everything seems to be tinted warm, but blues can be very vibrant or very grey. Reds can pop right off the page and darks become blacks very quickly.
I posted just a few of the references I gathered below.
Act 01
At the outset of the film, as a viewer we wouldn't be aware that the Old Man was visiting the grave of his wife. That would be revealed in the third act. We set it up to look as if he was meeting his wife at their "secret" spot on their anniversary. I kept the colors warmer but relatively desaturated for Act 01. The Old Man goes about get dressed up for an occasion in positive spirits and makes his way up a hill towards a woman on a bench...
Act 02
As time passes from one year to the next, we see that the Old Man has lost the vigor of Act 01. I dropped the warmer colors closer to green and lowered the overall ambient light. Where ass my shadows were mostly warm purples, almost browns in Act 01, I start to really introduce cool grays into the scenes and the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
As time passes from one year to the next, we see that the Old Man has lost the vigor of Act 01. I dropped the warmer colors closer to green and lowered the overall ambient light. Where ass my shadows were mostly warm purples, almost browns in Act 01, I start to really introduce cool grays into the scenes and the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
Part 03
As another year passes, things get even worse. I pushed the saturation and the richness of the shadows in the interior scenes and we took care to show that the house had been neglected as the Old Man lost interest in his yearly ritual and even life itself. It's nice to see the color mood swing from beginning to end here. At his lowest, on the verge of a breakdown at his wife's grave, the Old Woman he passes every year on the bench comforts him and gives him hope. Cue the saturation as the storm clouds break symbolizing a new beginning for them both.
As another year passes, things get even worse. I pushed the saturation and the richness of the shadows in the interior scenes and we took care to show that the house had been neglected as the Old Man lost interest in his yearly ritual and even life itself. It's nice to see the color mood swing from beginning to end here. At his lowest, on the verge of a breakdown at his wife's grave, the Old Woman he passes every year on the bench comforts him and gives him hope. Cue the saturation as the storm clouds break symbolizing a new beginning for them both.
It's a shame were unable to continue this project, but a number of factors got in the way and we had to move on. But that's how it goes and the time I was able to spend on this during my 1st year at Brain Zoo was invaluable to prepping me for so many of the projects that have followed.
No comments:
Post a Comment