Picture perfect
How does if at all, the use of color contribute to the creation of dystopian/utopian associations? The street scene above from the pre-schoolers TV program Balamory is used as a setting for a happy environment where all problems may be resolved and life is pretty much picture perfect. The houses in this program are painted in bright cheery colors, instilling an association in the viewer that contentment may be depicted and expressed through color.
The use of pastel shades in the creation of a Utopian perfect suburbia is effortlessly captured through the street scene above, Edward Sissorhands. The repetitious use of colour gives the viewer a sense of uniformity and ease with the familiarity of the visual structure.
The absence of color may be equally instrumental in the creation of a utopian / dystopian association. In the EDC course movie Worldbuilder (2009), we witness the creation of an environment through the use of colour in an empty canvass. It is through this colour that the creator fabricated textures, shades and objects. The end result is a city mirroring all of the elements found within a ’real’ city.
At one point the creator builds a flower. Unhappy with its composition he returns to it to further enhance its beauty and realism…through the concentration of yellow colour.
Real = Beauty
Beauty =Colour
Landscape devoid of colour conjures association with dystopian state. We see in Splitting the Atom / Massive Attack (2010) that shades of grey and black dominate the video and the limited use of colour, the blood red eyes of the shackled jaguar and the skeleton sentry serve to highlight the bleak horror of the city battle scenes. The reworking of this scene in pastel shades could not convey the same meaning. Likewise, a visual overhaul of Balamory in black, white or sepia would have pre-schoolers scrambling for the remote.
Very fine visual analysis, here, Nikki – nicely done. Pastels have certainly become visual shorthand for safety and familiarity, and things at so-called ‘human scale’. However, the suburban and its palette have other connotations, too, not so positive. I’m thinking about (for example) the films Pleasantville and The Truman Show.
Did you see Steph’s ‘rural cyberpunk’ post? recommended! http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/stephaniec/2013/01/27/rural-cowboy/
This made me think of how, in working with print publications, colour always = cost. Digitally, this just doesn’t matter anymore…unless you use the wrong colours!
Interesting you mentioned Pleasantville Jen–isn’t it all black-and-white until they start being…Freudian? : )
Candace, I had a totally different mental map of Pleasantville and its relationship with colour, but you’re right!