The Artistic Use of Colors in Zhang Yimou's Films Research (Essay Sample)

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The Artistic Use of Colors in Zhang Yimou's Films
Zhang Yimou is an internationally admired former cinematographer and a Chinese filmmaker born November 14, 1950. He is one of the best-renowned artists in the Fifth Generation of Chinese film directors. In 1987, he made his directorial entrance with the film Red Sorghum. Zhang's recurrent themes emphases on the stubbornness and celebration of the resilience of Chinese individuals in the face of adversaries and, a theme which has happened to Live in 1994 hardly past 1999. His films are mainly noted for their use of color, which can be seen in his early series (Wang, & Rawnsley 32).
The use of artist impression of colors by many filmmakers is planned and deliberate. To make sure that any film will possess the color that will bring a clear reaction from the audience; they usually do test screenings, for instance, Zhang Yimou a director and trained as a cinematographer does. This filmmaker tested different paints and colors to find the "look” needed for each scene. Whereas the use of color in films can be viewed essential aspect that can bring a substantial effect on emotions and mood many times cinematographers always work by what looks like right and instinct (Ye & Yun 57).
According to Zhang it is normally easy to perfect any film into its color palette. Zhang Yimou shows quite clearly how films can have a distinguishing color palette. In his most works, Zhang Yimou produced each film into a color and made some impressions for those films (50). The best performing film directors have used colors almost the whole range to help them in storytelling and passing very crucial messages to audiences. Zhang Yimou started his career as a cinematographer and then climbed ranks to become one of the best directors in the world. The filmmaker quickly established a status as a director with vast visual skill and, in particular, the application of color. During his early career as a director in the film industry, he created three ‘period melodramas’, Raise the Red Lantern (1991) Red Sorghum (1987) and Ju Dou (1990). Ju Dou was portrayed in a dye-works and an audience or a cinematographer can probably use the other two films that ‘red’ figures strongly appear in these films.
Summarized by Chan films are very carefully controlled and composed, so that the image appears in an art photograph. While Mr. Zhang and other directors such as Mr. Doyle maintain that the choice of colors was for the esthetic purpose and not symbolic, the coloring itself suits the movie's theme. A section of the beauty forms one story colored by various perceptions (211).
The Red color
There’s no rejecting that the color red is used in most of the film, particularly during the most powerful scenes. In previous moments, this color was extra than clear, in such significant scenes: Tianqing’s and Ju Dou sex scene. In this cast, possibly the most remarkable application of red is used when the red cloth loosens quickly onto Ju Dou’s face. The red garment represents extreme passion, but the threat and possibly death. The desire originates from the fact that Tianqing and Ju Dou and are, well, romantically and sexually and romantically. Conversely, the danger of this state is the reality that the two individuals are involved in a life-threatening relationship. Additionally, the color red is used to mean irony, it reveals the realities of situations. Zhang established a way to create images that would match the rare red of the hand-made costumes (Salway 12). To accomplish this success, he decided to change from Fuji, the most common brand used by other filmmakers, to Kodak which is a Kodak red. The style is much more saturated rock-hard red.
The blue color (top right)
The two filmmakers staged the climax of the next story on an outstanding lake in the Jiuzhaigou region of China. They believed that the color of the water inspired them to create this part blue. According to Mr. Doyle, he asserts that most filmmakers knew that one piece was to be red; however, they did not know what other colors were. The filmmakers meandered around China searching for spaces that were unexpected or interesting or maybe hadn't been shot previously. Their decision worked for them; therefore this section suited the selected color because it evolved organically (Chan 211). The filmmakers intentionally created a contrast between the setting and characters. The main issues about color in the works were like the light. In order for the audience to see darkness on film, the filmmakers use a bright spot in parts of the frame. On the other hand, they need to use a contrast. In such film, the cast is surrounded by one color, which is very rare. In Red Sorghum, the night scenes are mostly shot outdoors; Zhang uses blue filters to suggest a fairytale setting. In this imagery, the blue filter is in a totally different to the red imagery of the earlier shot characterizing the landscape with a mythical quality sky of quiet and lyrical glum.
The white color (bottom left)
In the third part of ‘‘Hero,’’ white color is used when Maggie Cheung hurries to save her lover, She cycles by a dramatic setting of cliffs which the filmmakers believes it looks like ancient walls falling apart. They decided to shoot a main part of the third tale in Kazakhstan near a desert; the two picked the white color of the desert at noon to suit the costumes in this part. In the actual shooting, however, the crew established that the desert at noon is attractive but intolerable. They were forced to wait until late in the day when it was cool enough for them to work. In this section, the white color became warmer than white (Ye & Yun 58).
The Red Sorghum film, Zhang's applies sunlight that is also important. For instance, as Nine defiantly pushes the mule into a center for her to escape her father's condemning, the cameras captures her exactly riding into the vivid orb on the horizon. This image captures Nine’s strength of character and also develops the mythical aspect of both the Nine’s character and the narrative. Indeed, the key characters are repeatedly shot against the sun, the striking light bestowing on them an aura of vitality. The Red Sorghum uses the relations between human beings and nature to produce white images filled with vitality. Nine and Yu perfect their love under an intense sun in the sorghum field and avoid the darkness. Their passionate encounter leads to the birth of Douguan (Liu Ji), highlighting the fact that passion is the only source of life brought in the presence of light, both figurative and literally. The film shows that lightness can depict human passion apart from using sexuality
The green color (bottom right)
There are green flashbacks in the ‘‘Hero’’ film. Mr. Leung goes into the palace hung carrying floating green curtains. Whereas a good part of the movies has bold colors that were achieved by applying filters and treating, the film in a rare ways and using filters. The curtains were color-corrected on a computer to generate the precise shade the filmmakers they intended to achieve. The artists are impatient with common theories of color such as the one presented by an Italian cinematographer known as Vittorio Storaro (Lombardi 21). Storaro believes that green color repres...