COLOR USE

 THE STAR RAINBOW

COSTUMES

I've briefly touched on color in my blog post about costuming, talking about why we selected what color outfits for what characters. Let's do a little recap on those, since there were some costume alterations.

This is Juliet's first outfit. The colors included are black, white, and pink for the hair. The stark contrast of the black and white is indicative of the internal struggle that Juliet faces. Good versus evil, her old self versus her new self. The pink wig is ironic, as pink is a color of calm, while Juliet is suffering and freaking out.

For Juliet's sleepwear, we kept it very neutral to emphasize the peace of sleep. She feels no specific way about it, just happened to be sleeping.

Juliet's daywear prior to her turn to "the dark side" is all white and light blue, reflective of her innocence. The blue is also a hint at her sadness, which lives within her, although maybe more deep down in these days.

Juliet's mother wears brown and white. The brown represents her reliability as a stable figure in her daughter's life. She cares deeply for Juliet, and this is reflected in her clothing, as well as (not pictured) her purse. The white is indicative of her simplicity, a character without much depth, but is there for the purpose of progressing the story of the main character.

SETS

This goes more into the mis-en-scene of the film. Of course, costume colors are a big part of that, but they only reflect the emotions and vibes of the characters themselves, whereas the colors of a set tell a larger story.

In the dressing room, everything is a neutral color. We have a brown dresser with brown mirror in a room of white walls. The walls are expressive of Juliet's isolation she feels in that moment of weakness, crying and hopeless for reasons unknown. Brown also has the connotation of ostracized, with a bit of grounding, like the dirt of the earth.

Juliet's room is so bright and full of color. The collage on the back of her wall ensures this. Even her bedsheets have a pop of color. All this brightness is a facade for which Juliet stands out upon with her depression. The stark difference is what really depicts to the audience the difference, yet deep-rooted similarity between the Juliet from the flash-forward to the current Juliet.

The dining area is similar to the dressing room in quality of colors, though this time, rather than a very dark wood, we have more tan hued furniture. The decor is colorful and bright yet again, reflective of a happy life, at least that's how it seems. The lighter brown shows that this house is holding the family within up, rather than the dressing room bringing Juliet down.

Outside, everything is very green. Of course, this is just how nature is, but only when flourishing. This fits right in with the rest of Juliet's home, in perfect, healthy condition compared to her mental anguish. Her mother's car is gray, the true neutral.

As for the school, the halls are white. The building is white. Everything is so lifeless and lacking color, just like how the school lacks life due to Juliet being late. The slight appearance of color is in the reddish-orange doorway, indicative of strong emotions. Interestingly enough, as it is the doorway, it's almost as if these emotions are being left behind by Juliet once she enters this hallway, isolating her emotions from herself upon finding the poster, which is the same colors as her first outfit.