Disney: Snow White (1937); Color in Film

This morning we will screen Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Enjoy the singing! As you watch, use the handout to complete your notes. Watch and note how color is used to characterize good versus bad characters or settings. Examine the film for its warm and cool colors.

After the film, we'll review the following short film documentary (11 min.) How Technicolor Changed Movies.

Color in Film

Color tends to be a subconscious element in films. It has an emotional appeal which often suggests the mood of the film or the characters in it. At its most effective, complimentary characters are dressed in complimentary colors--antagonists are dressed in contrasting colors to their protagonists. Characters can match or contrast their settings and a whole host of other useful symbols can be created with color.

Early Color Film (1901)

The first Technicolor film was THE GULF BETWEEN (U.S., 1917), a five-reeler made by Technicolor Motion Picture Corp. in Florida mainly for trade showings in eastern cities, to create interest in color movies among producers and exhibitors. It did not receive a nationwide distribution. A lost film today, only a few frames survive.

Kodachrome sample (1922)

The first two-strip Technicolor feature made in Hollywood, and the first to receive a nationwide distribution, was the costume drama THE TOLL OF THE SEA (1922).

Another silent movie filmed entirely in two-strip Technicolor was the swashbuckler THE BLACK PIRATE (1926), produced by and starring Douglas Fairbanks (one of the actors who started United Artists with Charlie Chaplin & Mary Pickford).

EXTRA CREDIT OPTIONS: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Cecil B. DeMille's epic, 1923) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Carl Laemmle, 1925) Demille's BEN-HUR (1925) and KING OF KINGS (Cecil B. DeMille, 1927) used color as a gimmick or in parts. Here's another Demille epic 1935 film The Crusades (full film, optionsfor extra credit!)
Later his remakes of The Ten Commandments (1956) & Ben Hur (1959) will be in color. You can watch these films starring Charleton Heston as well for extra credit this week.

The first all-talking Technicolor feature was the Warner Bros. musical ON WITH THE SHOW (1929). Various other musicals followed, such as Lockstep (1929) and Gold Diggers (1929).

All of the color films up to this point were two-color processes, which could capture only two of the three primary colors of light.

In 1932, Technicolor perfected a three-color motion picture process (also known as three-strip Technicolor, because three negatives were employed in the camera, one for each primary color of light -- red, green, and blue).

3-strip Technicolor

3-strip technicolor was introduced with the Walt Disney cartoon FLOWERS AND TREES (1932), which won the first Academy Award for Animation. Walt Disney kept a monopoly on 3-color technicolor from 1932-1935.

The first feature-length movie in three-strip Technicolor was the costume comedy-drama BECKY SHARP (U.S., 1935)

Technicolor used a three-color system: red, blue, green (these colors, therefore, are most vivid)

Early color in film was used as an expression (like expressionism) of the director’s or cinematographer’s story, and so early films with color tend to be ones that are more formalistic, artificial, or exotic. Oddly, color was often not used for “realistic” movies and was seen, still more oddly, as less than realistic. You should note that most early color films were romances, fantasies, musicals, or animated films.

Warm colors: red, yellow, orange (brown)
Cool colors: Blue, green, violet (white)

During the 1930's, Technicolor was still expensive. It was still being used as a movie gimmick as seen here. The Women (1939); here's the trailer for the film.

It was, therefore, Technicolor and the 3 strip technicolor process that rocketed the Walt Disney Studios into a formidable film studio. Please refer to the chapter on Walt Disney & Snow White to see why he's important in the film industry.

Extra, Extra Credit Option: You may view these short films from Disney and taken together (that is, reference them all in your review) you may write a review for Disney's short subjects.

• Flowers and Trees (1932) Walt Disney, but starring no one important
• Disney's The Three Little Pigs (1933)
• Mickey and the Polo Match (1936, try to spot and name the famous actor caricatures...)
• Ferdinand, the Bull (1938, Oscar Winner)

HOMEWORK: If you missed any of these links, please view them on your own time. Take notes, etc.

Your film project is due tomorrow (April 12) or by next Friday (April 19). Please upload your films to Youtube and share the URL with me in the Google classroom assignment area.

All extra credit films (there are some listed on this post...) are due by Friday, April 19 as well.

Have a nice break!