Week Seven | Nelson

When thinking about an example of monochromatic color, or a case of very little color being used, I immediately thought of the movie Sin City. The whole movie is in black and white, other than a few select characters getting a hint of color (such as the yellow guy in the preview, blood, blue eyes, etc). The color use was effective and seen as very innovative when it came out, since in this day and age, we're used to seeing all movies in color; it was a bold move to only have certain aspects of the movie in color and the rest left to the viewer's imagination. Also, the colors that were used were very bright and expressive, as well as mostly staying on the warm side (red and yellow are mostly used, though some blue is also brought in). Looking at the colors themselves, red is a very dramatic, aggressive shade, making it "unignorable." The light blues seen here and there give the feel of calm and serenity amidst the danger and chaos felt in the scenes and associated with other characters. The combination of yellow with the black and white in the rest of the film is also unable to be ignored, drawing into the power of a bee, for example.They're meant to give high contrast and tell the viewer what to focus on in the scene.

This Coke ad is an example of a bold use of color. The ad is very bright and fresh and there is great dynamic in what's going on. Amidst the chaos of the multiple butterflies errupting from the bottle, the main focus remains the iconic silhouette of the coke bottle in red; red can never be ignored, and so in the rest of the ad light colors of pinks and blues and purples are used. As said in the article, the lighter shades of pink give a feel of romanticism, and are commonly used around Easter time which signals spring as well. Purple is said to express creativity and be more daring, which almost encompasses the ad in itself; it's allowing the product to speak for itself in embedding it among nature, the bottle and the Coke name the only telling of what the ad is for. Since this ad is focused on the concept of spring, these colors are pastel and bright and make the viewer think of spring for sure. An analogous color scheme is used throughout, staying within the same color groups and just using different shades and tints of the colors.

The Givenchy cologne ad utilizes solely black and white. To make for a more visually appealing image, great contrast was used in the lights and darks, drawing the eye in. With the visual itself, since the man is our main focus his hand is positioned in a way that he appears to be pointing towards the bottle of the cologne in the corner. The ad has a very crisp, edgy feel and--to me anyway--feels very modern. It's a simple ad and an image that could have easily been taken by anyone on any given day on a plane; white is viewed as very simple and clean. Paired with the black in this ad, it becomes more classy and dramatic. Perfume and cologne ads alike are generally very sexualized images and since it's often difficult to distinguish one cologne from the next, the imagery of the ad is what can sell the buyer. A simple black and white shot shows class, drama, and simplicity; they don't need to go to extremes, but let the product speak for itself.

The Gap Red ad is an example of strong contrast in values. The only true color in the ad is the red of the shirt, which immediately catches the viewer's eye. The rest is made up of browns and greys and the pale cream of her skin. Anne Hathaway is shot in a way that gives contrasting shadows against her pale skin, as well as being in front of a gradient background that goes from a light grey to a deep brown. A spotlight is on her face so her skin glows even more and allows for the creation of shadows. Though the only true color is red, the others are faded and manipulated in a way to make that color pop and be as bold as possible. Though the red shirt isn't the biggest image of the ad or put dead center, the viewer can easily tell that it's the focus purely because of its color.