Begin class by talking about color generally. To initiate discussion about the connotations associated with colors, here are some questions to pose to the class:

• What color is the classroom? Is it monochromatic, or is it made up of many colors?
  
• What is conveyed by these colors? Does it make the classroom warm and inviting or cold and impersonal? Why is the classroom painted the way it is? Does it allow students to focus on the teacher instead of the room? Is it the same color as the rest of the school?
  
• What do the colors worn by students reveal about them, their attitudes, their social status, the current season (bright spring colors vs. dark winter colors), etc?

 This should lead into a discussion about the significance of color—the meaning and connotation of colors.

Lecture: Color is used in film in many ways to convey meaning. Filmmakers carefully choose colors when designing the art of the film, the sets, the lighting, and the costumes. “Filmmakers have long considered color to be an important aspect of mise-en-scene, capable of furnishing motifs that will develop across the film. Believing that color evokes definite emotions, Rouben Momoulian claimed that the director must develop 'a complete chromatic plan for the film' . . . Carl Dreyer agreed, stressing the necessity for the director to plan the color scheme to flow smoothly, 'which creates the effect of persons and objects being in constant motion and causes the colors to glide from one place to another in changing rhythms, creating new and surprising effects when they collide with other colors or melt into them'” (Bordwell and Thompson 227).

Discussion: After these remarks on filmmakers' use of color, prompt discussion about color in film by asking questions such as: What films have you seen that use color in interesting ways? What meaning is conveyed by the color in these films?

Classroom practice: This discussion should prepare the class for the next segment of the lecture, in which the class will watch a short music video—the video for Twisted Sister's “O Come All Ye Faithful”—paying particular attention to the use of color in the video. Before showing the video, prepare the class for what they are about to see: Twisted Sister is a rock band from the late '80s and early '90s and was known for being an over-the-top “hair metal” band. The band's costumes, attitudes, and videos were exaggerated and very colorful. In this music video, a couple is exchanging gifts for Christmas. The wife is a domineering woman who constantly corrects her husband. He gives her the Twisted Sister CD “A Twisted Christmas,” which she detests. She starts yelling at him, and then Twisted Sister shows up and performs the song.

Check for understanding: After showing the video, have students share their observations about how color was used and the meanings/messages conveyed through it. Throughout the video, color is very heightened and exaggerated. Color conveys many things in the video. In the first portion of the video, reds and greens predominate conveying a typical Christmas theme. The typical red and green of Christmas convey tradition and normality. Then, Twisted Sister shows up with their outrageous costumes—Dee Snider, the band's front man, wears a costume of black leather of hot pink. He wears even more outrageous makeup—bright blue eyeshadow and excessive blush on his cheeks. The band destroys the feeling of tradition through color, which they also do in their version of the song itself. Their metal cover of the traditional Christmas song turns expectations of the season in its ear, which is also conveyed through the use of color.

Introduction of Amélie: The practice with the music video should prepare the students to observe heightened color in Amélie, the film that they will watch during the week. Background information: Amélie was made in 2001. It was written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. He is French and made films in France (like Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children before being invited to come to the United States to direct Alien: Resurrection. ) His other films tended to deal with issues in post-Apocalyptic societies:

• 1991 = Delicatessen deals with cannibalism in post-Apocalyptic France.
  
• 1995 = The City of Lost Children takes place in a surrealist society in which dreams are stolen.
  
• 1997 = Alien: Resurrection is a sci-fi/action film continuing the Alien film series. Then, Jeunet left the dystopia theme to deal with stories that are more humanistic:
  
• 2001 = Amélie is still highly stylized, but it is about Amélie finding simple pleasures in life.
  
• 2004 = A Very Long Engagement is a more realistic film that takes place during WWI.

 Jeunet collected stories—some of his own; some told to him by other people—for 25 years. These stories were brought together to create the script for Amélie. Amélie is Jeunet's first film shot on-location, so it is interesting to see how he used color (and digitally saturated it) because he did not have the control of shooting everything in a studio. The whole title is The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain. The film intertwines destiny and chance. Jeunet sees destiny and chance playing key roles even in the making of the film.

He wrote the character of Amélie for Emily Watson. Since she couldn't speak French well, he rewrote some in English, but she ended up not wanting to leave London for personal reasons. That's when Jeunet began casting in France and met Audrey Tautou.

Amélie sees things in a very childlike manner. Adult themes (like sexuality) are presented almost in a childlike way. This is demonstrated in the way the film was made. Look for how this is conveyed through color. The characters each have an object that is associated with them—kind of like a child who collects stamps, micro machines, etc. or who has a favorite thing like rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings. Amélie seeks small pleasures, but these small pleasures are presented in a very ornate and beautifully-crafted film.

The cinematography and art direction is very painterly. In fact, in the optional article above, Jeunet states, “I believe that every shot should be a painting.” Additionally, he says that his motto is: one idea per shot. In the film, Amélie is actually friends with a painter, who keeps painting the same painting. That painting has a girl with a glass. Ask yourself, “Is that girl supposed to be Amélie?” Why or why not? Look specifically for color. The color is very saturated. Jeunet wanted “an explosion of color.” He uses a lot of green and red and the occasional blue and yellow. What do these colors represent?

Film clip: After setting up the film, show a clip from the film itself. Chapter 2 on the DVD is particularly good to demonstrate the use of color without needing to explain too much about the film itself. During this clip, the character of Amélie is introduced growing from a child to an adult, and her coworkers are also introduced. This introduction to the film helps the audience get to know the characters, and color plays an important role in this. Follow up the clip by asking students to share their observations about the color in the clip. This should help them be prepared to look for color as they watch the film on their own.

Closure: This discussion should lead into a wrap-up about color. Re-emphasize the importance of color in film, and introduce the assessment assignment.

Each student will write a 1-2 page response paper to their out-of-class screening of Amélie, focusing their remarks on the use of color in the film. The response papers should be turned in before the next class. Also, the first half of the next class will be a discussion about Amélie for which they should be prepared.

Written by Brett Stifflemire.