HER (Movie,2013) COLOUR SCHEME AND COSTUME
NAINIKA CHAUHAN| Roll No. 20130120041
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For the purpose of this assignment, I will be doing a semiotic analysis of the colour scheme and costumes of “Her”, a science fiction comedy drama film, released in 2013; written, directed and produced by Spike
Jonze. The film is set in an unspecified time in the future. It is about a soon to be divorced lonely writer,
Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who embarks on a melancholic relationship with his newly purchased operating system Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). The futuristic love story captures the bizarreness of modern human relationships and the anxieties of an era in which real human contact is gradually disappearing.
The reason I choose this film is because while the tonality is a mien of disorienting but warm and fuzzy hues, it is also a more believable and human future as opposed to say other “science fiction future” pieces such as Star Wars, The Matrix, Wall-E etc. Also, the director has used an interesting interplay of signs to demonstrate a bittersweet future for humanity as it slowly becomes one with technology.
The entire film is in a series of floaty, hypnotic shots. It reminds you of a drowsy afternoon, with only a few rays seeping through the blinds; illuminating dust particles. I am also attaching four alternative movie posters in order to illustrate my point and because alternative movie posters are an excellent crowd sourced creative medium through which most crucial aspects of a film are illustrated.
Poster No.2 beautifully captures the floatiness I mention earlier. The film has a constant red-orange-coral tone, digressing from the usual cold steel grey costumes of films set in the future. The reddish blush pink tone is present in almost every frame, from the costumes to the sets, the color red is ubiquitous. The resulting emotion in the