Color Choices in Film: A Look at Cinematic Color Craftsmanship

The 3 films I've selected as having striking color are:

Director: Lars von Trier. Synopsis: A rural town in America. Czech immigrant Selma lives with her son Gene. Though they live modestly, surrounded by the friendship of their neighbors, she spends happy days enjoying musicals, her source of joy. But she has a sad secret. Selma is losing her sight to a hereditary illness, and unless Gene undergoes surgery, he'll suffer the same fate……

*Synopsis quoted from "Eiga.com" — Dancer in the Dark

Director: Takeshi Kitano. Synopsis: The sequel to "Outrage," the violence film directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano, depicting fierce power struggles between criminals. Five years after the conflict within the Sannokai—the largest yakuza organization in Kanto. As the Sannokai expands excessively, reaching the top of Kanto and even entering the political world, the police begin to take action to destroy the organization. Targeting the Hanabishi-kai, the kingpins of Kansai, the police plot to set the two giant East-West yakuza organizations against each other—while they officially maintain friendly relations. Meanwhile, the fact that the yakuza Otomo, supposedly killed in prison during the previous conflict, is still alive comes to light, and his release is suddenly announced. Continuing from the previous film, Beat Takeshi, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, Hideo Nakano, Fumiyo Kohinata, and others return, with Toshiyuki Nishida, Sansei Shiomi, Katsunori Takahashi, Kenta Kiritani, Hirofumi Arai, and others joining anew as Kansai yakuza.

*Synopsis quoted from "Eiga.com" — Outrage Beyond

Director: Barry Jenkins. Synopsis: Set in Miami, this human drama depicts a young man searching for his place and identity, told across three stages of his life—childhood, teenage years, and adulthood. It won three awards at the 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. Living in a poor neighborhood in Miami, the timid Chiron is bullied at school where he's called "Little," and at home he's neglected by his drug-addicted mother Paula. The only people who treat Chiron kindly are Juan, a drug dealer who lives nearby, and his wife, and Kevin, his only male friend. Eventually, Chiron begins to feel something more than friendship for Kevin—but realizes that such feelings would never be accepted in his community, and confides in no one. Then, one day, an incident occurs…… Naomie Harris of the "007" series plays mother Paula, and Mahershala Ali from the TV series "House of Cards" plays drug dealer Juan. Brad Pitt, who has also produced the Academy Award-winning "12 Years a Slave," serves as executive producer. This is the second feature film directed by Barry Jenkins.

*Synopsis quoted from "Eiga.com" — Moonlight

In this film, scenes where the protagonist lives in reality and scenes where she frequently fantasizes are clearly distinguished.

In terms of color, the reality scenes are faded like sepia, while the fantasy scenes are vivid, bright, and crisp—even the clouds floating in the sky are clearly rendered.

It's not just the colors that are distinguished—the camerawork is too. In the reality scenes, the camera is mostly set at eye level and held by hand, giving a shaky, somewhat hard-to-watch impression. In the fantasy scenes, the camera is fixed, and angles like low-angle shots and close-ups are used extensively, allowing you to feel the protagonist's sense of freedom in her heart.