In my discussion posts this semester, more than once, I have drawn upon references to one of my all-time favorite movies, La La Land. This film, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling tells the touching tale of true love built through a shared love of music, art, and culture. It never fails to make me cry. Despite the amazing soundtrack, the flawless acting, the intricate dance routines, and the catching storyline, I would say that the reason for my love towards La La Land is the director’s brilliant way in which he uses color to evoke mood in the story line.
I spent months in high school, researching the different colors of the rainbow along with the different shades of them and how these different colors and shades help affect a viewer’s mood. I entailed a link in this blog post because I feel as if the use of color in the song, “Someone in the Crowd”, is one of the moments where it is best seen. This is especially seen when Stone’s character, Mia, performs her quick solo of the song in the bathroom of the party. Here, the song slows, the red lighting of the room fades to dark, and the screen is just focused on just Mia and her blue dress. The blue being the main color shown in this moment emphasizes the effect that Mia is sad and unfulfilled. Blue is an appropriate choice to the audience focus on in this moment rather than pink, yellow, etc.
However, through my research I have found that the color psychology portrayed in this musical has deeper meaning than merely “red means love.” In this article, I will elaborate on specific colors and the contributions they have to the storyline.
I suppose since I already mentioned the color blue, and some effect that it had in that particular moment in the movie, I will begin with that. Throughout the entirety of the film, Mia is constantly surrounded by the color blue. Yes, in some instances it shows how Mia is sad, living the life she did not have dreamed for herself. Blue is also a representation of her inability to escape from her same routine.
Red, quite literally, represents the opposite of blue in this movie. Scenes where the audience is drawn to notice the color red, are scenes where Mia feels sensations of warmth, of adventure. She also seems to be more comfortable and relaxed than blue-dominating scenes, and is typically in the presence of Gosling, or Sebastian.
Yellow will be the last color I bring up. Do not get me wrong, purple, green, orange, all play a significant role in this movie and help push the viewers to feel a certain way, whether they notice it or not. However, blue, red, and yellow are the three primary colors which is why the director chooses to utilize the most through background, clothing, and props. Whereas Mia is constantly wearing the color blue, Sebastian is adorned in the color yellow. He dresses himself in brown suits, the restaurant he plays piano in dark yellow. Vibrant yellow is typically used to symbolize happiness and playfulness. However, La La Land surrounds Sebastian with a darker shade of yellow, helping the reader come to the conclusion he is steadier and happier with where he is in his life than Mia is.
The three primary colors, red, blue, and yellow, all have their significant roles. Essentially Mia is blue, Sebastian is yellow, and red is the comfort and the passion they possess when the two are together.
