Book review of Colors of Film by Charles Bramesco

Color: We can’t not see it, and but we’re ceaselessly unaware of the facility of its strategic use, at the same time as we really feel the consequences. But you’ll by no means take shade with no consideration once more after perusing Charles Bramesco’s Colors of Film, which explores the palettes utilized in 50 iconic movies by means of 4 eras of cinema.

Bramesco’s dialogue dives into technical developments in shade copy in addition to the symbolic and emotional forex held within the shade selections for pivotal scenes. For every movie, a small grid of shade blocks printed adjoining to movie stills, together with hex and RGB codes, makes the case visually. For 1952’s Singin’ within the Rain, “the Technicolor reds, greens, and yellows portray Broadway as a playland of exuberant fakery,” Bramesco writes, “its colors bewitching not in spite of their unnatural pop, but because of it.” A garish Pepto pink steals the present in Jamie Babbit’s queer cult basic But I’m a Cheerleader, whereas the gentle pink of cherry blossoms characterizes Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

This e-book offers a captivating object lesson in how visible data wields energy. As Bramesco places it, “Color is the perfect hiding place for significance, most powerful when left unstated.”