Zodiac Killer

We can observe the selection of blue color symbolizing melancholy in these scenes. Also, during the film, another color scene, this time yellow, can be seen, reflecting madness, insecurity, and obsessive by these scenes in the jury and streets. The catastrophic events, scenography and audio incremented the tension of every scene and complemented the facial expressions in the characters, creating a circle of the dramatic tension in the movie.

     While the film is in color, sometimes it appears to be in black and white. There are no bright colors in the film. Most of the colors are either browns, beiges, whites, blacks, and grays, so that even when the characters are outside or in daylight, there are contrasts between lights and darks. For example, at the beginning Mr. Gettes is seated in a somewhat dark office, yet he is wearing an all-white suit. Later, when he goes to examine the dried up river bed, his black suit contrasts with the bright sunlight and light colored sand.

The colors in this piece are instrumental in moving the eye across the piece and drawing attention to specific parts of the piece. For instance, for the most part, the colors that are used are dark. However, to emphasize General Wolfe, the focal point in the middle, his outfit is painted in a brighter red and yellow and the ground beneath him is light as well. Also, in order to allow the eye to glide across the painting almost all of the soldier’s uniforms are red, creating rhythm. One solider, who is apparently rushing into see Wolfe, is painted in green, which is the complimentary color to red. The use of complimentary colors brings the eyes attention to the panicked solider, emphasizing the overall sense of urgency in the piece. The piece is also well balanced and uses appropriate scales and proportions.

Lucas Kelleher/ Street Law 10/3/08 The Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. His identity to this day still remains unknown. The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press. His letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Others have also been suspected to be Zodiac victims, but they have been ruled inconclusive. The lack of consensus about the number of victims, the inability of law enforcement

Because of her variety of hues in the work, she uses muted colors to avoid a highly saturated painting. Her use of blue throughout brings the whole work together. The splash of red orange in the background helps create balance and unity in the work. Because red is complimentary to green, it makes the flowers stand out against the green bushes. This helps to balance the work without calling much attention to the background. The background in the work also seems to be slightly blurred which calls focus on the subject, thus creating less distractions for the viewer.

“I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in

Anyone who has ever paid close attention to the way different news stations change the facts around in the favor of their opinion or what will build rating realizes how the media can affect a person’s perception of reality. Likewise, people who read books and then later watch the movie based on the book quickly realizes that the movie never really fits the book. The producers take items out and put items in to not only make it their own but make it a “hit”. The movie Zodiac is no different than others; however, it is closer than most to accuracy. James Vanderbilt did an amazing job at bringing the facts to life; however, a few of the inaccuracies will be discussed.

Most of the actors are wearing darker clothing as well which makes their faces stand out even more. This lighting style also adds to the tension and the mystery of the scene. It makes the audience on edge. The contrast filled lighting of film noir is also effective at bringing out the extremes of emotions and thought. The darkness of the genre makes anything that goes wrong seem less taboo, because the lighting of the genre sets up the norms for the world that the film lives in—and in that world, bad things happen. The lighting of the film helps the audience understand the world that the characters are in.

Though this plot-reinforcing setting motif advantageously simplifies the film, the use of black and white is ineffective to simplifying the film. Whedon shot in black and white due to the low budget, therefore the choice lacks meaning and leaves the audience searching for the significance. Also, it causes characters to fall back flatly into the background. The grayscale would work better if the tones of people were more separate from the tones of the backgrounds; the film looks bleached-out and overexposed without the contrast of color. The grayscale also lacked meaning and made the film feel more shallow, where the grayscale could have been used in a way to create depth. While this does eliminate part of the distracting quality of backgrounds

Colour schemes are used to unify artworks and it consists of three common schemes: warm, cool, and neutral. The warm colour scheme is vivid and energetic and tends to advance in space. It consists of red, orange and yellow. Cool colours give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. Blue, green and violet are a part of this colour scheme. Neutral colours give a feeling of calm and quiet atmospheres and it consist of grays, blacks and whites. The monochromatic colour scheme is based on several values of one hue. The analogous colour scheme is made up of hues that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Complementary colours are

For example, Lynda and a friend are shown talking under a shrub about her affection for Bob (162). On the first panel, the colors are very vibrant which symbolizes the type of season and the general tone of the conversation. Linda and a friend are discussing about her affection for Bob. The conversation shown in the speech balloons confirms this notion as well. Bright shades of yellow, orange, and green are used as a backdrop for this.

The director uses colors to suggest moods. The colors symbolizes Sy’s unstable mind. For example, in one scene, when Sy discovers that Will is having an affair, the whole scene is covered in red, which demonstrates Sy’s rage and anger at will. In another iconic scene when Sy is having a really bad and graphic nightmare, his eyes start gushing red which is a contrast with the white background. White is also seen many times throughout the film: white is the color of the superstore, the color of Sy’s house, and ends up being the color of the interrogation room where Sy is taken to after being arrested.

Alfred Hitchcock’s attention to detail in his films is one of the many things that makes him one of the most recognized film auteurs of all time. He was very particular what about he wanted seen on screen and how he wanted to get those shots. From camera movements to the things found in the mise-en-scène, Hitchcock was very precise about every little thing that is seen in his on screen worlds. He would strategically place objects throughout the mise-en-scène and have characters wear certain clothing. By doing this, Hitchcock is able to let the audience know things about the characters and the plot without it having to be said on camera. Hitchcock once said that “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on” (Tiffin). That’s why there’s no surprise that when Hitchcock finally made his first color film, he began to use color as another way of communicating with his audience.

     The mood of these two pieces is remarkable in that color does not play as great

An analysis of how cinematography, editing and mise en scene creates meaning and response in the Blood Bath scene of Taxi Driver (d. Scorsese 1976) Taxi Driver was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, in the film the director explores the journey of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) and his slow descent into madness and eventually to murder. In the final scene of the film Travis goes to a brothel to murder the people inside and save the young prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster). Meaning and response is provoked by lighting, shots, editing and costume and I will discuss how this relates to the context of the time. The scene opens with Travis parking the taxi, the colours in the scene are muted and desaturated creating a dismal atmosphere.