Reflection

In my essay, I researched how colour and composition is used in cinematography effectively. I identified different methods, such as harmonious colour schemes and the use of perspective lines, and then applied my knowledge by examining what messages they create in the anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. In my practical work, I demonstrated how this information can be applied thereafter by developing a series of storyboards showing the different methods and their effects. For instance, in one shot the convention of lead room is contradicted. Brown (2016) states that the "eyeline or gaze has some visual weight" and that, for a composition to be balanced, there needs to be room in the frame. Moura (2011) explains that the breaking of this rule by putting the subject too close to the edge of the frame will give the feeling of claustrophobia or the unknown. I designed the first storyboard to create a sense of helplessness by placing the subject on the edge of the frame. I also developed my own visual language with colour. A theme through out the storyboards is the link between orange and power which references what is shown in the short Meal Ticket and the colour red.

I think that my practical work is effective at demonstrating the different techniques I have learnt through my research. However, I feel that without a script to go along side it, some of the meaning is lost. Even so, the overall tone is communicated through composition and colour.

Animism

We had to pick an inanimate object and give it life. I picked the bun on a head bangers head.
Then we had to add life to the background. I made the table and light bounce.

I enjoyed this task and, if I had more time, I would have like to refine it and experiment with more creative backgrounds and complex movement.

Lip Sync

To start this lip sync, I made a list of mouths for every sound/shape I could think of.
After hearing the audio, I split up the sentence and selected the right mouths.
I set it to the right time and tried to add some emotion.

If I had more time on this, I would make the movements smoother and give more movement. I like how it came out but it would be better if I moved her jaw down with the long 'oo' sounds. I also think that the shoulders bunching up and then realising would be effective.

Essay Structure

Between colour and composition, what is the most effective tool in cinematography to convey power in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)?

Intro

-          Purpose of cinematography – to communicate à book 1 and 2 and 3

-          Article 2 – what are the most important

-          Rules of cinematopgry stem from paintings, pre dates photography and cinema – article 3

-          There are two types of power – artificial and primal à video 1

-          What are the divides of power – primarily split between the will of fellow man and the force of fate ?

-          Article 1

Para 1

-          Man v man – buster Scruggsbb

-          Monochromatic – article 1 book 3 – colour reflects subject and tone of story done

-          White vs black  done

-          Scale done

-          Horizon line / thirds? done

-          Off centre – centrality video 1 book 3 – disrupt pattern MAYBE

Para 2

-          Man vs fate – analgones

-          Analogous

-          Blue vs orange – article 4 breaking rules
book 4 – orange duality
book 2 – color most important. Change with him.

-          Lines of perspective video 1

-          Reuse of shots to show change – book 1 contrast

-          Off centre -> book 1 balance
centrality video 1

Para 3

-          Man vs man and fate? – meal ticket

-          Complimentary and triadic colour theme.

-          Red = worth
red/green – video 3 article 4 negative and positive components

-          Contrast – video 2

-          Nose /sight room à book1 artixal 3

-          Negative space à video 1

-          Frame within a frame – the stage…

Conclusion

-          Composition has better served the coen brothers in conveying power as they rely on a wide variety where as the colours are used to support what the composition suggest

-          Composition is what gives the colour their meaning as colour is a completely nuanced association

-          However

-          Overall, in cinema, composition will always be more important in cinematography as a tool because it is the visual necces

-          Black and white films article 6-8

-          Colour blind people  article 6

NOTES:

-          Books 1 and 2 and video 2 and 3 emphasis the innate reactions we have to colour agree colour is most

-          Vieod 1 says comp is most effective and fundamemtal
article 2 says it is the 2^nd most important therefore above colour rated 4^th or 5^th

-          Faults of colour

-          Research supports comp

Primary Research

I asked 10 people some general questions about colour and film. These are the results:

Questionnaire
What colour scheme do you find the most emotive?
(Analogous 2, Monochromatic 1, Triadic 1 and Complementary 4)
Is saturation more evocative than hue?
(Yes 0, No 4, Sometimes 5,  I don't know 1)
Do you watch black and white films?
( Yes 7, No 3)

I was surprised by how many people watch black and white films. I will reference this in my essay.

Practical

Before developing my storyboards, I experimented with the lip sync animation we made previously. I shifted and analogous scheme to a complementary one to show the shift in emotion.

Power - Wolf > Girl

Composition
- Lead Room - Shot A: Girl is stood on the right, looking right. No room left for the line of sight to give the feeling of claustrophobia, fear of the unknown and the idea of being trapped.
-Shot B: The Wolf takes up the whole frame to contrast shot A. The snarling nose is almost pushing against the side of the frame to build anticipation and the idea of complete power.
Colour
- Shot A : Analogous. Blue is the colour of despair, it washes over everything. The feeling of helplessness.
Shot B: Complimentary. Orange and blue
- Orange chosen to symbolize power - the orange mouth and eyes of the wolf .

Power - Girl > Wolf

Composition
-Shot A: Dutch Tilt. Contrasts the balanced levels in the two previous shots --> signifying power change.
- Shot B: Negative space. Emptiness shows the diminishing power of the wolf. Significance given to the severed paw and blood as the only subjects.
Colour
Shot A - Triadic. Blue Red and Green. Red is more intense then orange to imply a viscous want for power. Green is introduced to disrupt the complimentary scheme --> another change, this time more violent.
Shot B - Trail of orange blood to show that the power has physically left he wolf, there for the girls taking. Return to complementary.

Power: Girl > Grandma

Composition

- Scale: Grandma is small in the corner, weak (Shot A). The girl is close to the camera (Shot A) and then is towering over the lens, filling all the screen. Similar to the wolf, taking up space infers intimidation.

- Orange light does not touch the Grandma through the window. Grandma has her back to it, nursing wounds. Power is left unguarded ready of the taking.
Colour: Complementary scheme.
- Shot A : orange does not touch the Grandma, power is free for the taking and enjoying

.- Shot B: Orange light behind Girl. Almost has orange/power of her own but is still blue. The backlight is tinging the edges of her orange suggesting power is within reach.

Power: Girl > Grandma

Compositon
- Contrast / Repeated imagery - the trophy (the wolf paw) turns into the Grandma's severed hand, revealing that she is a witch/werewolf. Identifiable by the ring.
-Centre frame - the centre of all conflict
-Symbol of her amputated power.vs Girl's hand in same pose clasping a rock to stone the grandma to death with and assume all primal power. Girl has fully obtained all power from the older woman. The girl prospers with the downfall of the senior.

Colour

- Analogous shots that contrast in saturation and hue --> Grandma has lost all orange and is bathed in blue, complete despair. Girl has almost lost all blue. Remaining blue encourages a cycle may start (and the circle of the ring) where someone in the future will come to assume power from the Girl too.

Study Task 6 - Practical

Linking to the folklore-esque style of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs  anthology, I am going to experiment with demonstrate different colour schemes and compositions to explore the power dynamic changes in a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. 

I will produce several developed storyboards focusing on colour and composition exclusively. 

The specific retelling I am going to allude to is The Werewolf from The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1979). I think referencing another anthology will best support what I've found analysing the Coen Brother's film. 

The Werewolf generally has three shifts in power:

• Wolf > Girl - the wolf attacks the girl
• Girl > Wolf - the girl fights off the wolf
• Girl > Grandma - the wolf was her grandmother. The girl hunts the grandmother. 

Study task 5 - Introduction

Between colour and composition, what is the most effective tool in cinematography to convey power in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)? 

• I am looking at colour and composition in buster scruggs to show power
• Scene analysis will be the way I begin to determine which is more effective
• Articals, books, videos, magazines
• I aim to find what the limits of these tools are and their strengths 
• I predict that they work best together
• I predict a limit will be technology or colour blindness

• My practical will demonstrate what I have learnt 
• I will storyboard showing how these tools are most effective (most effective use of colour and examples of strong composition)
• My practical will be an example of the real-world value of this research 

Intro:

The ballad of buster Scruggs is an anthology of six tales exploring themes of morality and death across the American frontier. Written and directed by the famed Coen brothers (Ethen and Joel Coen), it premiered in 2018 with great anticipation that was not met with disappointment. Fitting snuggly in with the rest of their formidable filmography, the off-beat humour mixed with drama and unusual characters are traits of their film making. A secondary theme explored throughout these stories is the inevitable shift of power and the struggle to maintain control against the force of both your fellow man and the very nature of fate. The first half (comprised of: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Near Algodones and Meal Ticket) utilise the most effective tools of cinematography in diverse and complex ways. Cinematographer Blain Brown (2016) summarises the ultimate purpose of successful cinematography as “more than just a picture- it is information”.  Norman Hollyn (2008), a well-established editor of films such as Heathers (1988) and lecturer at the School of Cinematic Arts, clarifies that the art of it “is entirely wrapped up in the details of the story” meaning that cinematography serves the more nuanced propelling of the narrative through metaphor and symbolism. Cinematography as a discipline is comprised of all visual aspects of film; exposure, to lighting to camera movement. The two tools favoured by the Coen brothers’ cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel, are colour and composition which he equips both independently and in tandem. 

Study Task 4- Images Examples and Theories

My area of research in cinematography with a focus on colour and composition.

1. Select and define important terms / concepts you have discovered through your reading. 

Colour:

Monochromatic - one colour, multiple shades

Complementary - Opposite colours on the wheel (green and red / yellow and purple)

Analogous -  Range of colours all close on the wheel (greens, blues, purples)
Triadic -Three colours evenly spaced on the wheel (red yellow and blue)

Composition:
Frame within a frame - we seek order
Negative space and contrast - we know something by what it is not

Rule of three - points of interest should align
Scale - Size = importance

Power is split between artificial control and primal control

Colour is reliant of context.
Composition gives context. 

1. Collect and analyse examples / images / phenomena that could be interpreted as following these concepts.

The short opens with a strong complimentary colour scheme. The combination of green and red can imply a range of meanings but, within the context of the story, it is a discussion of wealth and value. Red reinforces the idea of profitability. It marks the performer as important with a bright sash and connotes a reference to red’s cultural relationship in china as the colour for wealth. The performance and thus the performer holds power within the interpersonal relationship with the caretaker as the tool to provide. As the financial yield of the performance lessens over time, a third colour is introduced to the scheme and the colour wheel turns. By unsettling the established scheme, the power dynamic is, in turn, changed. At the camp fire, instead of feeding the performer, the caretaker is drinking. The forest is blue, his face is red and the fire is yellow. The scheme reverts from triadic to the complementary green and red palette at the brothel. The red has escaped the performer and now sprawls out, gradually filling up more and more of each shot. Red finally takes up the whole frame when the caretaker happens across a counting chicken. The chicken is marked twice as valuable by, first, the crowd and secondly the red box and feathers. Colour has expressively translated the Performer’s loss of monetary value which renders him a burden to the caretakers survival. By the time the performer is eliminated, his clothes have gone from green to blue, signifying his impending disposal as he is one with the surrounding landscape.  

1. How could they be used to interpret your theme / question? Triangulate with theorists and critics.

Blain Brown emphasis the power of colour as a key cinematic tool for it’s “ability to reach people at a gut, emotional level” (2016). The multimedia editor and, now, director Jon Fusco corroborated with this view by saying that there is no better way to communicate subtle messages, themes and emotional depth than colour (2016). The reason why colour is so effective is down, essentially, to the innate physical/mental reactions triggered in animals by colour (The Psychology Behind Colors 2017). Some colours have been proven to accelerate our heart beats and tense muscles without need for narrative context. However, it is this unfocused reaction that prevents colour from truly out doing composition when serving a theme. Composition is the “most fundamental principle” of cinematography (Composition in Storytelling 2016 00:00:48) because it directs the use of colour and all other visual storytelling techniques. Sudhakaran, a celebrated creator, places composition above colour a cinematic tool in his online cinematography class (The 5 Most Powerful Elements of Cinematography 2019). Composition is an expressive technique that creates an “everlasting metaphor” (composition in storytelling  2016 00:00:24). As a metaphor, composition strives to communicate a specific sense of tone and further the narrative wholly. The effectiveness of cinematography can be measured the “more  you disrupt the emotional stability of the scene” (Draven 2016). By combining multiple different techniques of composition and colour, creating patterns and then breaking them, Delbonnel unsettles the placement of power. Without composition, colour is open to a wide range of interpretation. In this, all meaning can be lost. It is imperative to note that the history of cinema starts with black and white film where composition manages to convey wholly independent from colour (The Science and Media Museum n.d). Another reason why colour is unreliable on it’s own is that it depends on the viewer having complete colour vision. Currently, the estimated amount of potential viewers having some form of colour blindness is approximately 300 million people. Without a full range of colour vision, the cultural connotations of colour (e.g reds relationship to wealth in china) and the subtle shifts in colour scheme (e.g complementary to triadic) would be completely missed. While the cinematographer has used complex colour schemes throughout the anthology to explore power successful, the technique itself is limited by who can percept it. Composition, however, is more effective as it is universally perceived as it was designed to.

New idea

After seeking feedback with my peers, I feel that my question is too broad and vague. It has no real-world clear use for the research I'm doing. I revisited my interests:

In my research I discovered that the most important thing to supporting the narrative is cinematography.

I think I need to step away from technology as a broad subject and focus on the narrative side of my original question.

Revised question: "What are the most effective tools in cinematography?"

After some more research, I've found that colour and composition are the most effective, diversely and clearly used.

I might narrow this field of discussion further to: "Between colour and composition, what are the most effective tools in cinematography to convey power?"

To keep my essay concise, I will focus on a particular work, most likely the Ballad of Buster Scruggs because it is made up of 6 stories and uses many different cinematic elements for each one.