Deliberately Monochrome: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8.5
m (Mass update links) |
(Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8.5) |
||
| (19 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
The method of intentionally employing a black-and-white palette as visual shorthand.
[[File:Monochrome_9776.jpg|frame|[http://www.cracked.com/article_18444_17-more-images-you-wont-believe-arent-photoshopped.html Not Photoshopped.]]]▼
__NOTOC__
▲[[File:
== A wide spectrum of meanings ==
=== [[Monochrome Past]] ===
Works set in the 19th or early 20th century, particularly historical films or homages to historical films, tend to use black-and-white or sepia tone to invoke the appearance of early photography or television. In typically colorized films, a switch to black-and-white can denote a [[Flashback]] or other such jump to the past. It's not uncommon to parody this usage of black-and-white by claiming that the real world actually was black and white prior to the invention of color.
Works set further back in time are increasingly less likely to use desaturated palettes, as using the effect before the invention of photography creates a rather confused metaphor.
▲Sometimes, the less we say, the more gets said. Despite and because of its simplicity, complexity, [[Chiaroscuro|stark contrast]] and cultural cachet, Black and White movies and stand-alone TV episodes have remained popular in a few genres and story niches that can pull it off without seeming pretentious. Its uses vary, but these works are [[Painting the Medium|deliberately desaturated]] to help the [[Environmental Symbolism|general mood and theme]] of the [[Film]].
=== [[Film Noir]] ===
While no genre has a lock on
=== [[Too Incompetent to Operate a Blanket]] ===
In [[Commercial Tropes|infomercials]],
== Common Variants ==
'''Desaturating''' the color of a film can also be used to [[Retraux|mimic the look of older films]], particularly colorized black-and-white films or faded prints of color films. This has led to use of Sepia tones ([[Real Is Brown|browns]] and tans that mimic faded photographs) [[Flashback Effects|to indicate the scene in question is a flashback]]. It's worth noting that combining a Desaturated picture with Splash of Color can result in a Limited Palette.▼
=== Desaturation ===
▲
See also: [[Retraux]].
A '''Limited Palette''' is a work completely in Black and White except for one or two recurring colors, shown in full vibrancy and linked to an important character or object. It's as if someone was making a "Paint by Numbers" movie with only two colors available. The net effect of these strategic and recurring uses of color in a B&W film may help to draw the viewers attention; whether it’s to the [[MacGuffin]], the [[Femme Fatale]] or [[Chekhov's Gun]]. The colors themselves also inform roughly what emotions or themes are present in the work. Whereas Splash of Color is usually just a visual grab, a Limited Palette with colors like red or blue means the world is violent or sad, and that the character or object is somehow more alive or real than the world they're in. This is why a common [[Flashback Effect]] is to use a limited palette of warm colors to signify [[Happy Flashback|happy and old memories.]] Until [[Troubled Backstory Flashback|the tragedy kicks in]], anyway. ▼
=== [[Fade to Gray]] ===
Often used as a "trip down memory lane" effect, this occurs in film or TV shows (usually referencing a film) when wishing to confer an obvious stylistic nod to the black-and-white era of moviemaking upon the audience. A simple trick, the saturation (color) of the effect is slowly drained until the picture is completely monochromatic or grey, just like all those [[Film Noir]] pictures of the 1940s and 1950s. The effect can also be used more subtly, with only a slight change of hues and saturation to simulate the effect of a dream (fuzzy edges), fantasy (usually with a cloud) or flashback sequences as required.
=== Limited Palette ===
▲In [[Commercial Tropes|infomercials]], [[Deliberately Monochrome]] signifies the "old-fashioned" (and usually inferior) way of doing things. [[Too Incompetent to Operate A Blanket|The woman tangled in a mess of cling wrap or cutting her fingers off while paring potatoes with a knife]] will usually be in black-and-white, while the woman easily covering leftovers with a Covermate or "peeling" a potato with the Handy-Peel will be in full color.
▲
See also
{{examples}}▼
===
Whereas a Limited Palette work employs a restricted set of hues throughout, a work employing the Splash of Color technique restricts the use of color to a select few characters or objects. These strategic and recurring uses of color in an otherwise black-and-white film serve as a visual grab to direct the audience's attention to points of interest, such as the [[MacGuffin]], the [[Femme Fatale]] or the [[Chekhov's Gun]].
▲{{examples}}
== Advertising ==▼
== Pure Black and White ==
* Most "comparison" shots for diets, acne medicine, and other cosmetic applications will happen to have the "before" shot in black and white, and the "after" in color. ▼
▲=== Advertising ===
* There was an advert in the 1980s for Courage Best beer that was deliberately shot in the style of a 1930s film -- they actually got a cinematographer from the '30s involved to ensure authenticity. The advert is known as "Gercha"; it's supposed to hearken back to an era where Courage Best was apparently served in every pub across the land. Or perhaps it's supposed to show that Courage Best is timeless. Either way, "Gercha" is the name of the Chaz & Dave song that plays during that advert, and in fact Chaz & Dave did do more jingles for other, similar Courage Best adverts in the 1980s.▼
▲* Most "comparison" shots for diets, acne medicine, and other cosmetic applications will happen to have the "before" shot in black and white, and the "after" in color.
* The Trope [[Too Incompetent to Operate A Blanket]] is in turn practically built around ''this'' trope.▼
▲* There was an advert in the 1980s for Courage Best beer that was deliberately shot in the style of a 1930s
▲* The Trope [[Too Incompetent to Operate
* Most attack ads during political campaigns do this, usually with the candidate they don't like. Magical colors reappear when the candidate they ''do'' like comes on screen.
* Ads for kids show the boring world in black and white before the introduction of the new product that gives everything color.
=== Anime ===
* The last episode of ''[[
* ''[[Clannad (
* ''[[.hack]]'' depicts the [[Real Life|real world]], as opposed to The World of the on-line VR games, in grainy black and white... ''except'' in the very final scene, where two of the players joyfully meet up in real life for the first time.
* ''[[Darker
* Episode 7 of ''[[
* When Iori is telling ghost stories to Makoto and Yukiho at the beach during the night in the anime version of ''[[The Idolmaster (
=== Comic Books ===
* ''[[The Crow]]''
* Most of ''[[Sin City]]''; taken [[Up to Eleven]] in that it's ''entirely'' black and white, i.e., no gray. Starting with "That Yellow Bastard," certain characters are highlighted in color, falling somewhere between the other two versions of this trope.
* The two prequel books to ''[[
{{quote|
* The ''Batman Black and White'' series has stories where it's in, you guessed it, black and white! {{spoiler|Except for the last story in the last volume, which has splashes of red}}. One story features a villain, the Black and White Bandit, who is colorblind and whose [[Idiosyncrazy]] involves things that are black and
* The German version of ''[[Hellboy (
=== Comic Strips ===
* ''[[
** The world, in one of the more surreal Sunday strips, turns into a bizarre patchwork of heavy monochrome blotches. The last panel returns to the normal color format:
{{quote|
'''Calvin:''' ''Sometimes that's the way things are!!'' }}
** ''Calvin and Hobbes'' used this theme on several occasions. For example, Calvin's Father's explanation of why old pictures are in black-and-white....
{{quote|
'''Dad:''' Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It's just the world was black and white then. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
'''Calvin:''' That's really weird.
'''Dad:''' Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
'''Calvin:''' But then why are old paintings in color?! If their world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
'''Dad:''' Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
'''Calvin:''' But... but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then?
'''Dad:''' Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the '30s.
'''Calvin:''' So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
'''Dad:''' Because [[Fridge Logic|they were color pictures of black and white]], remember? }}
* As a matter of fact, for much of newspaper comics' history all the comics were printed in black and white (except the Sunday editions) due to the cost of printing them in color.
=== Films -- Animation ===
* While the art of the French [[The Future Is Noir]] film ''Renaissance'' is purely black and white, its story is told in [[Black and Gray Morality|shades of gray]].
* ''[[Persepolis]]'' (except for scenes in the present day).
* For a brief scene in the original ''[[
* Similar to the example above is the shot of the White Rabbit's watch being smashed in ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Disney film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''.
* The opening scenes of ''[[The Triplets of Belleville]]'' (a.k.a. ''Belleville Rendez-vous''), done as a pastiche of early 1930s cartoons.
* In ''[[Turtles Forever]]'', this is how the Turtles Prime world, a.k.a. the original Mirage Comics Turtles, is entirely black and white. The only exceptions are the characters and things from the 1980s world and the 2000s world.
* In ''[[Mary and Max]]'', Mary's world is shown in sepiatone, whilst Max's world is in black and white. There are occasionally shades of red that stand out, a la ''Schindler's List''.
* The [[Mamoru Oshii]] film ''[[Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* The opening to ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
* The opening sequence of 2006's ''Casino Royale'', prior to Bond receiving his 00 rating, is shot in black and white.
* In ''[[A Matter of Life and Death]]'', Earth is in color and Heaven is in black and
* Famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky really liked black and white and usually only used color as a specific visual device. Two notable examples are ''Andrei Rublev'' where the only color sequence is the ending montage of the title character's paintings and in ''Stalker'' where the characters' home town is black and white while the Zone is in color.
* ''[[
* Most of [[
* The French movie ''Paris brûle-t-il ?'' (''Is Paris Burning?'') was shot in B&W in 1966 (save for the final view of modern Paris). It allowed the stock footage of the actual liberation of Paris to mix more seamlessly with the film. Also, hanging red Nazi flags in Paris wasn't allowed by the French authorities, even for a movie; the flags had to be gray instead.
* Similarly, ''Task Force'' (1949) has the early parts in black & white to match existing footage; once it reaches WWII, the movie switches to color to match that footage.
* The 1960 [[All-Star Cast|Star-Studded]] epic, ''[[The Longest Day]]'' is also in Black and white to give it a documentary feel.
* The rock concert sequence in ''[[Bedazzled]]'' (the 1967 version) is in black and white, perhaps to mimic the look of mid-1960s television. Logical, since Britain's two main networks didn't get color until 1969.
* Some scenes of ''[[If
* ''[[Paper Moon]]'', set in the Great Depression.
* ''The Last Picture Show''
* ''[[
* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' was supposed to be in black and white until the first chorus of ''The Time Warp'', signifying the entrance into the new, colorful world of the Transylvanians.
* ''[[
* The comedy ''[[J
* ''[[The Elephant Man]]''
* ''[[Raging Bull]]''
* The low-budget [[Serial Killer]] [[Black Comedy]] ''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'', translated as ''[[
* ''[[
* The vampire movie ''Nadja'' (1994).
* ''[[Ed Wood (
* While ''[[Clerks]]'' used black and white film to save money, ''[[Clerks II]]'' has brief scenes shot in black and white as a [[Call Back]] to the first movie.
* The French movie ''La Haine'' by Mathieu Kassovitz. The scenes shot in the inner city of Paris were originally intended to be shot in colour, to create a more stark contrast with the black and white scenes shot in ''les banlieues'', but the budget wouldn't run to it.
* ''[[Pi]]'', [[Darren Aronofsky]]'s first film, was notorious for combining extremely high-contrast B&W with his "hip hop montages" to show the character's distorted world.
* In ''[[
* Nolan's feature debut ''[[Following]]'' is filmed this way.
* ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There]]'' is an interesting case; the film was shot in color, made monochrome for the US releases but released with the color in Europe due to the contract. The black and white is presumably an homage to old noir films.
* Parts of ''[[
* In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many directors such as [[Stanley Kubrick]] choose to stick with black and white film despite the rapidly rising popularity of color film, precisely for these reasons (not to mention at the time black and white still had an edge in picture clarity and contrast, and B-movies used B&W for budget reasons). Arguable examples include Marilyn Monroe's last film ''The Misfits'', the original ''[[
* [[Billy Wilder]] and Ingmar Bergman mostly directed black and white films until the 1970s. Wilder's ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' was shot in black and white because the make-up used to drag-up Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon looked too garish on color film.
* ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'' is in black and white, being an [[Affectionate Parody]] of 50s B monster movies.
* The opening scenes of ''[[
* ''[[Good Night and Good Luck]]''. This made the black and white footage of the real Senator Joe McCarthy in the film integrate very well visually.
* The 2005 ''[[Lovecraft
* [[Clint Eastwood]]'s films ''[[Flags of
* ''The Good German'' was shot in color (because this allowed the use of faster film than currently available in black-and-white, and the ability to use "green screen" techniques), but the color was then converted digitally to a grainier black and white, in order to recreate a 1940s ''film noir'' style, and blend with carefully restored period archival footage.
* ''Control'', a biopic of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, was shot entirely in black-and-white to recreate the appearance of '70s band photography. Particularly those taken by the film's director, Anton Corbijn, a photographer for NME, Rolling Stone and other magazines.
* The DVD of ''[[The Mist]]'' has two discs: one with the film in color as theatrically released, one with the film deliberately monochrome.
* ''Christmas on Mars'' is mostly in black and white to emphasize the dreariness of life in an abandoned Mars colony, with more fantastical or just plain [[Mind Screw]] sequences in vivid color.
* At the beginning of ''Defiance'', we see black-and-white film footage of German soldiers rounding up Jews. We cut to a scene which you swiftly realise is not contemporary footage, which then turns into color. At the end of the film, things return to black-and-white.
* The Austrian film ''The White Ribbon'', released in the United States at the end of 2009, was produced entirely in grayscale, because it is set right before [[World War
* The first ''[[Godzilla]]'' film was shot in black and white, not because it couldn't be shot in color, but because it was decided that black and white would send the message better, and because although it was possible to shoot film in color, doing so would have poor quality (see ''[[Rodan]]''), and also because it is easier.
* ''Casshern'' has scenes with liberal use of color, and scenes reduced entirely to black and white. The point is
* The 2004 ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' movie includes several black and white scenes. In this case, these are the "present day" scenes, and the past is shown in full color. There's also a [[Splash of Color]] moment at the
* There is a version of the movie ''[[Sympathy for Lady Vengeance]]'' called ''Fade to Black and White'' in which the movie starts in full color, but the color gradually fades until the last scenes are completely monochrome. Even the regular version has a similar effect: The locations and outfits in the first few scenes make use of very bright colors, but towards the end, the bright colors are replaced by pastels, greys, and black and white. Park had planned to film ''[[Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance]]'' this way, but the idea was scrapped due to budget limitations.
* The opening of the French movie ''[
* The beginning of ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062830/ The Hotshots]'' (''Les Cracks'') with [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0100186/ Bourvil] (a 1968 movie, but set in 1901) is not only in Black & White, but filmed like a silent movie. But it switches to sound and vibrant colors at the start of the Tour de France.
* ''[[
* The 2002 film ''Marathon'', aside from being a "[[Silence Is Golden]]" adherent, was also shot in black and white.
* The 1987 [[Duran Duran]] documentary ''Three to Get Ready'' was shot in black and white to highlight the ''cinema verite'' aspect of the documentary, which chronicles the band's first attempts at managing themselves while also promoting the album ''Notorious'' and preparing for an accompanying tour.
Line 138 ⟶ 149:
* ''[[Psycho]]''. Black-and-white films were common in 1960, but seven of [[Alfred Hitchcock]] previous eight films were in color.
* ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'', released in 1945, was shot in black and white, but Dorian's titular portrait is shown twice in three-strip technicolor.
* Smokey's flashback scenes in ''[[Friday (
* ''[[
* The Georgian film ''Comrade Stalin's Trip to Africa'' was shot in black and white. It uses a lot of stock footage, especially of Stalin and his victory parade, and the new footage matches. (There's also a little color stock footage.)
* 2011's ''[[
* The first half of ''[[The Reluctant Dragon]]'' is in black and white, with the main character [[Hanging a Lampshade|commenting on the switch to color]].
* ''[[The Notorious Bettie Page]]'' is mostly black and white, but changes to lush 1950s style color in order to convey the sense of release the main character feels when visiting Miami.
Line 147 ⟶ 158:
=== Literature ===
* Though its absence isn't indicated until far into the book, the majority of ''[[
=== Live-Action TV ===
* ''[[Moonlighting]]'' has a B&W episode. Introduced by Orson Welles, no less.
* ''[[Matlock]]'' has a B&W episode about Matlock's father.
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' was intentionally always shot in black in white (they could have used color if they wanted to), to add to the feeling and theme of the show.
* ''[[
* The first color daytime episode of ''[[Concentration]]'', in November 1966, had the first couple of minutes in black and white, similar to ''The Wizard of Oz''.
* ''[[Small Wonder]]'' did this in the episode "Big 'J', Private Eye".
* The [[
* The "Interview" episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (
* The Season 3 finale of ''[[Queer
* ''[[
* The TV remake for ''Fail Safe'' (the one starring George Clooney) was shot in black and white, imitating the original.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]''
** In the "Dark Wish" three-parter of ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'' this effect was used to show a world where the Mystic Rangers never existed.
** The ''[[Power Rangers
* ''[[
** Phoebe can see the future. To the audience, these visions are in black and white, but apparently she sees them in color. Later, [[Monochrome Past|she can see the past, and it is in black and white]]. Even later, she starts getting visions in color.
** ''Charmed'' Also has an episode that is set in a [[Film Noir|ninety-thirty-esque noir novel]] written by a couple of teenage witches. It is in black and white.
* ''[[
** One episode began in full old-photo sepia and appeared to take place in the early 1800s. Then a car full of people pull up. It was 2006, in Amish country.
** Also, in episode about bank robbery, flashbacks also are black and white despite being set in
* ''[[Star Trek
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' had "Monster Movie" filmed in B&W as an homage to 1930s monster movies.
{{quote|
* In ''[[Tin Man (TV series)|Tin Man]]'', when DG meets the first Dorothy Gale, she enters a black and white landscape resembling ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
* Both ''[[
* ''Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show'' (titled ''Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show In b/w'' on-screen around adbreaks) had its first run in a week shown in monochrome ("so you don't have to adjust the color on your telly") and subsequent repeats shown in color.
* A wine-tasting task on ''[[Big Brother|Big Brother Celebrity Hijack]]'' was broadcast in black and white at the behest of that day's celebrity Big Brother, Malcolm McLaren.
* In one episode of ''[[
* ''[[
** The opening scene of ''Doctor Who: The Two Doctors''.
** "The God Complex" gives us a creepy hotel. You know it's watching you when it's monochrome.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
=== Music Videos ===
* Black & white videos were a ''huge'' fad in the 90s. In fact, virtually every significant musical act from the period has at least one. The most famous is undoubtedly the mega-hit "Every Breath You Take" by [[The Police]].
* [[Mariah Carey]]'s performance in the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Everything was in black and white, except the singer and her red dress.
=== Theater ===
* As the [[Show Within a Show]] in the musical ''[[City of Angels (musical)|City of Angels]]'' is supposed to be a 1940s [[Film Noir]], its costumes and sets are in black and white.
=== Video Games ===
* The Twilight areas of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
** Also, ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* A level in Rainbow Resort from ''[[
* The "How to play" movies for the official maps in ''[[
* The ''[[
* The vaporware Wii Gothic horror title ''Sadness'' is supposed to be presented entirely in black and white.
* In ''[[
* The Timeless River in ''[[
* In the original ''[[Doom (
* ''[[
* Similar to ''[[
* ''[[The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction]]'' has unlockable black & white and sepia settings.
* ''[[Shift]]'' is completely in black and white to clearly show where you can shift into. When the character shifts into the black squares, he becomes white and vice versa. Whenever you die, though, a [[Ludicrous Gibs|bunch of full-color blood appears]].
* Being badly injured in ''[[
* There's a neat use of this in an obscure [[
* In the bonus ending of ''[[Drakengard]]'', the protagonist falls through a dimensional rift into an alien dimension where everything is in black and white. That realm happens to be modern-day Tokyo; the black and white is to emphasize the otherness of that dimension to Caim and his dragon.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Nitrome
* In ''[[Splinter Cell]] Conviction'', hiding in shadows turns the screen black and white. This is to reduce HUD elements and has a fair bit of realism as you do see in black and white in darkness in real life, although they don't adjust that fast.
* Indie title ''[[Tower of Heaven]]'' was done in the style of an original Game Boy title, using shades of green rather than gray. {{spoiler|The ending sequence is in color.}}
* ''[[
* In ''[[Comic Jumper]]'', the manga-based world of "Cutie Cutie Kid Cupids" is done entirely in black and white, complete with screen-tone shading like in a real manga.
* In ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops
* World 6-3 from ''[[Super Mario Bros. (
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* The original version of ''[[
* ''1000 Amps'' uses grayscale graphics.
* ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'' does this version on a couple of occasions. {{spoiler|Such as when the Girl that looks like Asura's Daughter dies, and when Yasha does one final attack before Dying standing up.}}
=== Web Animation ===
* The "Old-Timey" universe from ''[[
=== Web Comics ===
* Inverted in ''[http://www.wapsisquare.com Wapsi Square]'', which is ''usually'' [
* The dark and serious superhero webcomic ''Shades'' takes this further. When someone has a minor flashback, the images are "actual" photographs, including polaroids for the 70s and B&W for WWII. The WWII fighter pilot has a longer flashback entirely in B&W, while a flashback to the middle ages is drawn as if on parchment (black on dust-yellow). Sadly, the flashback to 3000 B.C. was not drawn as a cave painting.
* ''[[
* ''[[Tally Road]]'' started in computer-generated grayscale, briefly flirted with color and crosshatched black and white, and returned to grayscale,
* A comic called ''Flick'' is about a series of miniature universes, each of which has a specific set of rules that pan out to different genres. One of them is film noir, which is entirely monochrome and very 40s-esque in style.
* Not only is all of ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'' done in black and white, but the entire website is. Whenever something with color appears on the front page, it's either a guest comic or a new print to buy.
* ''[[Blip]]'': For [[Something Completely Different]], the comic's format was switched to black and white for a month, citing "budget cuts" as the reason.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Soul Symphony]]'', scenes in the real world are depicted in black and white. Scenes in the "Soul World" are depicted in full-color.
* In ''[[Dreamkeepers]] Prelude'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140406203708/http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Prelude.php?pg=143 some contemplation].
* ''[[Endstone]]'' was originally done in black and white, except the covers.
* ''[[Frankie and Stein]]'' is done in only black and grey.
=== Web Original ===
* [[
* The [[The Spoony Experiment
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[Duckman]]'' has a noir parody episode done in B&W. In another where the cast travels to a caricatured 1950s milieu, the scene turns black and white; Cornfed remarks that they do not approve of people of color.
* ''[[The Fairly
** An episode switches to black and white for most of the story; it is a parody of gritty Dick Tracy-style detective stories.
** Also in the episode when Timmy stays with his grandfather and wishes to transform the world into a 30s cartoon everything turns black and white and in the style of the era.
* ''[[
** ''Garfield: Babes and Bullets'', a noir spoof that features colors only when Garfield is out of his fantasy.
** ''[[Garfield His 9 Lives]]'' has a B&W life when Garfield is a stunt cat for [[
** The first scenes of ''Garfield in the Rough'' were deliberately on Black and White and it even started with a warning telling the viewers not to adjust the TV's color set.
* ''[[Pepper Ann]]'' features a "contemporary noir" spoof, although only the flashbacks are black and white.
* An entire episode of ''[[Recess]]'' was done in black and white, involving a story in which Gretchen is discovered for vandalism and explains via flashbacks to another student of how and why [[How We Got Here|she ended up in that room in the first place]].
* All of the film and television images in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
* The series finale of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' {{spoiler|and ''[[
* The "King Homer" segment in ''[[The Simpsons (
* The bonus [[Pixar Shorts|Cars Toon]] ''Mater: Private Eye'', which is exclusive to the DVD version. However, it's revealed at the end that some of the characters are actually indeed colorful.
* Scenes at the title camp in ''[[
* Parodied in an episode of ''[[
* The first segment of the ''[[
* An episode of ''[[
* ''[[
* The ''[[
{{quote|
=== Advertising ===▼
▲== Advertising ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abrXOK8iZYw Nuprin]. Little. Yellow. Different. Better.
* Many ads use Limited Palette; a good example being the Gatorade "Is it in you?" series, in B&W except for any liquid, which is in one of Gatorade's colors.
=== Anime ===
* ''[[
=== Comic Books ===
* The Hunter Rose issues of the ''[[Grendel]]'' comic uses a palette of black, white, and red.
* One of the cornerstones of ''[[Hellboy (
* ''[[Batman]]: [[The Long Halloween]]'' is printed in normal color. But whenever the Holiday Killer strikes, it switches to a Limited Palette (black, white, and blood-red) with Holiday's calling card as a non-red [[Splash of Color]].
* In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
=== Films -- Animation ===
* The "Rhapsody in Blue" segment of ''[[
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* The 90s ''[[Dick Tracy (
* ''[[Pleasantville]]'' has the eponymous [[Trapped in TV Land]] world in B&W, but as the brother and sister introduce [[Character Development]] into the static world, elements of color enter to represent it as well.
* ''[[Sin City]]'' even uses key bits or red and yellow... albeit, this might have something to do with being faithful to the source material. The movie has noticeably more color than the comic book. For example, in The Hard Goodbye, the movie not only has red blood, but orange fire, blonde hair, red lips, a red bed, orange pill bottle, red tail lights, blue eyes and a full color (though slightly desaturated) bar. The comic version of the story has no color whatsoever. Usually in the comics color is used to signify a character or item of importance, while the movie follows the Rule of Cool.
Line 311 ⟶ 321:
* In the 2009 film ''A Single Man'', most of the sequences are filmed in color, but all the colors are flat, grey, and monochrome. The whole movie is filmed like this, except for the scenes when George experiences an emotional connection with another character or has a flashback, when the color scheme suddenly becomes brighter and tinted with red, blue, or yellow.
* The 1983 film ''[[Rumble Fish]]'' is in B&W, except for the eponymous fish, which are in colour.
* In ''[[
=== Literature ===
* ''[[House of Leaves]]'' is printed in three colors, although there are some variations between the different versions of the book. Normal text is printed in black, the word "{{color|blue|house}}" appears in blue, {{color|red|references to mythology}} or <s>{{color|red|struck out passages that are vaguely threatening to the reader}}</s> appear in red. In addition, there are a few instances of the color purple, including the phrase {{color|purple|A Novel}} on the cover, the {{color|purple|edition number}}, and one instance of a <s>{{color|purple|struck-out purple phrase}}</s> in Chapter XXI. "{{color|red|Minotaur}}" may or may not be struck out, depending on whether it's used during one of the aforementioned mythology references.
* A similar colored-text method is used in ''[[The Neverending Story (
* Some versions of ''[[
* The various characters of ''[[Shades of Grey]]'' are blind to most colors, and have organized themselves into a hierarchy based on which colors they can see. The low-ranking protagonist can only see red.
=== Music Videos ===
* Georgian pop group Ucnobi had the music video to their song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf1VbUNGbqU "Vagoni miqris"] shot in grayscale with red highlights. May have to do with red and white being the national colors of Georgia.
* The clip for "Seven Nation Army" by [[
* Aha's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ir9HC9vYg&ob=av3e The Sun Always Shines on TV] is completely monochrome for most of the video, then highlights the band members' faces and parts of the scenery towards the end.
* The performance scenes in Suicide Commando's "Die Motherfucker Die" video are monochrome except for the performers' red shirts.
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros
* ''[[
** The general setting of Castle Bleck. While the enemies and characters are in color, the entire [[Ominous Floating Castle]], possibly to show it's in the void, is completely monochrome.
** ''[[Paper Mario:
* The Pale Realm in ''[[
* When using the demon morph [[Super Mode]] in ''[[Painkiller]]'', Daniel's vision becomes black and white, with enemies tinted red and black.
* The Wii game ''[[
* ''The Lost Crown: A Ghosthunting Adventure'' falls somewhere between this and the Splash Of Color option, using black & white (or black & green, for night-vision camera views) as a base, but highlighting occasional elements of a scene with color to convey mood or make bloodstains apparent. It also [[
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' [[Playing
* Fully Nazi-controlled areas in ''[[The Saboteur]]'' are in a Limited
* Environments in ''[[
* The Skies Afire spell in ''[[
* The first half and the antepenultimate chapter of ''[[Journey (
* ''[[
* In the [[Adult Swim]] game ''Death Vegas'', each character has only one item (or pair of items) with color.
* One [[Game Mod]] of ''[[Marathon
* ''[[
** ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution
** To a much lesser extent, the previous two games did this, the original ''[[
=== Visual Novel ===
* [[Monochrome Past]] was part of the basis of Detective Tyrell Badd's design in ''[[
=== Web Comics ===
* Variation in ''[[Antihero for Hire]]'', where the Christmas comics are drawn only in green and red.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Every chapter of ''[[
* ''[[Count Your Sheep]]'', starring a young girl named Katie, is usually colored in shades of blue. Flashback episodes featuring her mother Laurie as a girl are in shades of mauve. In a strip where Laurie was pregnant with Katie the strip switched from mauve to blue the moment Laurie went into labor.
* The comic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131027054601/http://www.intrepidgirlbot.com/ The Intrepid Girlbot]'' is shaded in bright, warm colors, mostly orange.
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
* In ''[[Blip]]'', during a [[Pensieve Flashback]], Liz's memories are rendered entirely in purple and magenta.
* This was how the Roaring Twenties were portrayed in ''[[Ansem Retort]]'': all in black and white, with the four modern day time travelers being the only ones in color. It even got lampshaded when Zexion started to sell stocks ([[Jerkass|in the month right before the Great Depression began]]):
{{quote|
* Used in ''[[Sore Thumbs]]'', in one story arc where {{spoiler|Cecania is shipped off to Guantanamo Bay}}. Cecania is a [[Rose-Haired Girl]], and it is the first time the audience gets to see it. The guard mentions "I find I enjoy the color of your hair. [[Lampshade Hanging|I was unaware that more than two colours existed.]]
* Used in two flashback arcs of ''[[
{{quote|
** Another comic in the same universe, ''The Eagle Of Hermes'', does this as well: the comic is in black and white, and the only color given prominence is, again, red...except for one peculiar instance on a title page where the ''blue'' of [[Jon Stewart|Jon's]] tie is highlighted.
* ''South Brook'' does this very thematically.
* ''[[A
* ''[[Pibgorn]]'' for the [[Film Noir]] setting, [http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2004/01/13/ except for dialog].
* ''[[Footloose (
* ''[[American Barbarian]]'': [http://www.ambarb.com/?p=197 All blue and black in the dark.]
* In ''[[
* ''[[
=== Web Original ===
* The ''[[Colour My... Series]]'' takes place in a world where almost everything is black and white. Color and emotions are forbidden. However, the protagonist, who has found love, can use color to manipulate things within the world. Clicking on certain objects will fill spots with color sometimes, too.
* ''[[
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[
** In the first season finale, the world goes red and then grayscale when the Moon Spirit is endangered and then killed. The only exceptions are fireblasts, the blue Avatar magic of [[Fan Nickname|Koizilla]], and the still-blue eyes of Yue, which signify that a bit of the Moon Spirit survived in her, and [[Heroic Sacrifice|can be returned]].
** Aang's childhood memories, of the Air Temple, are heavily yellow and glowy, to show nostalgia. To a lesser degree, the same is true of Zuko's. Sokka and Katara, not so much.
* ''[[
* ''[[
=== Advertising ===▼
* Several US companies are doing commercials with faded color. Not really monochrome or sepia, but just faded enough to stand out. Or at least they would stand out, if every other advert wasn't doing it now.
▲== Advertising ==
▲* Several US companies are doing commercials with faded color. Not really monochrome or sepia, but just faded enough to stand out. Or at least they would stand out, if every other advert wasn't doing it now.
=== Anime ===
* ''[[
* The first establishing shots of the first (chronological) episode of ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya
* ''[[
* Borderline: ''[[Monster (
* Possibly unintentional example: the original (and international) video releases of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion
* ''[[
** The first episode was very low in coloration, as it took place underground, where there was little light. As soon as they get to the surface, the rest of the series is filled with color. Episode 5 was the same way, except even moreso, to the point of being nearly black-and-white, as it took place in an underground village with even ''fewer'' resources and less light.
** Gainax also made various close-up shots of characters desaturated (Often going to completely black and white), usually because they were doing something epic and/or dying.
** The "Celestial Being" [[Show Within a Show|movie within the movie]], which is basically a big Gainax homage with bits of ''[[Chars Counterattack|Char's Counterattack]]'' and ''[[G Gundam]]'' thrown in, had a monochrome close up of Setsuna.
** The brawl between Simon and the Anti-Spiral at the climax of ''Lagann-Hen'' also has a desaturated palette, though some colors are added for emphasis (Red for blood, green for the glow of Simon's drill)
* The ''Nue'' arc (episodes 8&9) of ''[[
* The first ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* The beautiful anime short ''[[
=== Comic Books ===
* The short-running ''[[Transformers]]'' comic ''Hearts of Steel'' takes place in the 1860s rather than the usual modern-day setting, and uses faded colors and a general sepia-toned color scheme to reflect the time period. Might also qualify as [[Real Is Brown]].
=== Films -- Animation ===
* ''[[
* ''[[
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' was desaturated then resaturated to make it dreamlike, more like a painting than a photorealistic movie. Real [[Zeerust]].
* Mexican film ''La Ley De Herodes'' uses sepia tones and era music for its set on the 1940s.
* Producer [[Tim Burton]] likes the idea, and used it for many of his own films, creating environments that are nearly completely devoid of color to flavor his films as dark and depressing as possible, although he sometimes adds one very short scene that is full of bright color... then it's back to the sparse coloration for the rest of the film.
** ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (
** ''[[Charlie and
** Burton's first two short films: the stop-motion ''Vincent'' and the live-action ''Frankenweenie''.
** Not B&W per se, but the first sequence of ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'' shows a huge set painted in monochrome tones, with the scientist played by Vincent Price as the only bright color character.
** His two ''Batman'' films come pretty close at times.
** So does ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]''. Like ''Sweeney Todd'', the colors are all bleached and only the blood is brightly hued.
* ''[[Butch Cassidy and
* The film version of ''Sir Henry at Rawlinson End'' was shot in slightly sepia-tinted monochrome, allegedly to imitate the look of an Ealing Comedy and ''not'' because the budget wouldn't stretch to color....
* Most of ''Avalon'', a film about a virtual reality [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] in a dystopian future, is deliberately shot in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TTgzumaI0w murky sepia]. The movie switches to normal color and lighting at the end, when {{spoiler|the protagonist arrives in the level "class real", which looks much like our world}}.
* [[
* ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]''
* In ''[[Stephen King|Dolores Claiborne]]'', scenes set in the present are desaturated and faintly blue-tinted to give a cold look. Flashbacks are in full color with reds and yellows emphasized.
* ''Double Jeopardy'' employs mild desaturation at the beginning of the film, with the color saturation increasing through the movie, in order to subtly heighten the audience's suspense as the chase continues.
* ''[[Cypher]]'' is shot predominantly in a heavily desaturated, high contrast and near-monochrome world of drudgery, suits and concrete. It's only at the end, {{spoiler|when Sebastian has realised his true identity and is sailing with Rita,}} that true colour returns.
* In ''[[
* The [[Dolph Lundgren]] vehicle ''Missionary Man'' (2007) is an accidental example: the film stock was ruined during processing, so they decided to desaturate it. The effect, however, suits the film's modern-western theme well.
* ''[[
* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' (the one starring John Hurt) wasn't desaturated, but it used bleach bypass, which produces a different kind of harsh, bleak look.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* Vladimir Bortko's miniseries adaptation of ''[[
* ''[[
* In the 5th season episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', after the characters find {{spoiler|Kutner dead}} much of the rest of the episode is darkly lit and desaturated to reflect the somber mood.
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[
** ''[[
** In ''[[
* In corrupted areas in the next-gen ''[[
* A couple examples from the ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The "Old Movie" filter in ''[[
* Most of the ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series does this, along with using an old movie-style noise filter.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'': Missions played via the Flashback system began and ended in sepia-tone, although in between they ran in fullcolor.
=== Web Comics ===
* ''[[Lackadaisy]]'' is made in sepia tones to resemble pictures from [[The Roaring Twenties]], since that's when the comic takes place.
* ''[[
* The Greyzones of ''[[
** The sequel, ''The Way of the Metagamer 2: [[In Name Only]]'', is monochrome with the occasional [[Splash of Color]].
* ''[[
* The first volume of ''[[
* ''[[Memoria (
* ''[[
* ''[[Dreamkeepers]] Prelude'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140406203546/http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Prelude.php?pg=157 A fantasy] [[Film Noir]].
* In ''[[Thistil Mistil Kistil]]'', [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch04-pg22/ by moonlight]. [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch05-pg17/ And again].
* In ''[[Erstwhile]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20131006223735/http://www.erstwhiletales.com/fcd-01/#.T293s9m6SuI used for] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130912084837/http://www.erstwhiletales.com/fcd-02/#.T293mdm6SuI the evening scene].
=== Western Animation ===
* Used beautifully in one episode of ''[[Recess]]'', in which recess is canceled indefinitely. As the kids' days get less and less interesting, the color slowly drains out of the picture until it finally becomes pure black & white. Of course, when recess is inevitably restored, the color returns.
=== Anime ===▼
* Played with in the ''[[
▲== Anime ==
▲* Played with in the ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' movie, where places [[Alien Invasion|directly struck by the Pict]] are ''literally'' drained of their color, leaving behind a monochrome shell of their former selves.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* The [[HBO]] TV movie ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266391/ The Cat's Meow]'' takes place during [[The Roaring Twenties]] and is about the [[Triang Relations]] between William Randolph Hurst, his actress mistress Marion Davies, and [[Charlie Chaplin]] {{spoiler|who Hurst tries to kill but winds up mortally wounding another guy instead}}. Because all the characters are involved in the silent movie buisness their [[Gorgeous Period Dress|fancy clothes]] are black, white, and grey (which makes it look like a live-action [[Edward Gorey]] story) and {{spoiler|the victim's funeral}} is in black and white.
=== Video Games ===
* ''Super [[
=== Web Comics ===
* The [[Web Comic]] ''[[
* ''[[Derelict (
* ''[[Next Town Over]]'' sometimes uses [http://squidbunnies.com/nto/?p=4 desaturation with a splash of color.]
* ''[[Question Duck]]'': black shading to white, or red, or
* ''[[All Roses Have Thorns]]'' starts off being completely in gray tones, save for blood and eye colors. But as time goes on and it gets closer to modern day, it slowly grows more saturated with colors. To the point that by the 19th century the comic is now nearly full-color.
Line 512 ⟶ 521:
[[Category:Photography and Illustration]]
[[Category:Film Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
| |||