"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions," the artist Pablo Picasso once remarked. Colors are used to express my emotions when I watched La La Land.
First, I recorded every moment of strong emotion with the color that could express the emotion at that time in the process of watching the movie.
And then, I made the mood color of each moment into gradient map to visualize the mood change of the whole movie as shown in the figure below.
Colors and emotions are closely linked. Warm colors can evoke different emotions than cool colors and bright colors can create different feelings than muted colors. It all depends on how the psychological effects of color are being used(S. Gremillion, 2019).
While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, some effects have universal meaning. Red attracts the most attention and is associated with strong emotions, such as love, passion, and anger. Orange radiates warmth and happiness, combining the physical energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow. Yellow is creative, the tone of new ideas and new ways of doing things. Blue is the color of trust, serenity, and peace. It also represents melancholy and sadness. Purple is the color of imagination and spirituality, inspiring high ideals.(London Image Institute, 2020).
While watching this movie, I used different colors to express the mood of different moments. For example, at the beginning of the movie, my emotions were bright and brilliant, so I used golden color to express my emotions, while when the protagonist failed in their career and thrie dream was looked down upon, my mood was gloomy and blue. When Mia first heard Seb play jazz, my emotions were intense red. When they sang and danced together on the hillside, my mood was purple as romantic as the sunset glow. My mood was pink when they began their sweet love. When there are cracks in our relationship, my mood is sad and depressed blue. When Mia finally fulfilled her dream and succeeded, my mood was orange with hope. When they met again, but already had their own new lives and families, I felt blue and purple with regret. And a beautiful and hopeful fantasy brought my mood to red and orange. At the end of the movie, my mood turned blue with regret for the final separation of the Mia and Seb. I think color is an effective way to express emotions.
References
London Image Institute. 2020. Color Psychology: How Do Colors Affect Mood & Emotions?. [online] Available at: <https://londonimageinstitute.com/how-to-empower-yourself-with-color-psychology/>.
S. Gremillion, A., 2019. How Color Impacts Emotions and Behaviors. [online] 99designs. Available at: <https://99designs.co.uk/blog/tips/how-color-impacts-emotions-and-behaviors/>.