Friday, March 2, 2007

Color & the Economy



My film professor had a theory about production design, color and lighting that linked those elements to moods of the people and events in the actual world.
He believed that in times of greatest upheaval, films became brighter, colors more intense and the lighting more artistic to highlight certain aspects of a character's emotion. During times of peace, color and lighting became darker, more intense and more abstract. To check out his theory in color design, I picked 1931 -- two years after the Great Depression; 1971 -- the Vietnam War era; 1994 -- a year of relative peace and prosperity following the years of Desert Storm; and 2002 -- one year after the WTC and Pentagon attacks.


1931 --The Great Depression strangles the United States. the greens, yellows, blues and golden hues serve up a richness you don't see in the bleak world outside.
1971 -- The resistance to war and civil unrest yell from the streets. But inside, it's a bright yellow, hot pink and electric blue world.




2002 -Just months after the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, these two ads speak of blue skies, vibrant colors and life lived in perfection.





2004
Remember when President Bush said we should "go on about our daily lives"?

Apparently George Lucas heard him. The colors are the dark, deep, contrasting reds and blacks. They speak of the darkness of life and the conquest of good over evil.

1 comment:

serena fenton said...

This is one of the better theories explaining color trends that I have seen yet. Makes sense. I'm sure that one could find thousands of exceptions, but as an overview, it does explain the bizarre pendulum swings of color/tone popularity.
In considering the colors of the 1930s, you might want to view Gallery of Regrettable Food www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html, which reprints illustrations from dozens of old cookbooks and lists them by date. My favorite is the 1930s Jello cookbooks. Jello: the ultimate depression solution, in full rich pastel glory: http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/jello/index.html The illustrations are accompanied by biting commentary.