Movies

An exploratory study on the correlation of viewers perception and interpretation of meaning through color

There is almost no need to express the importance of restoration and conservation in the humanities. In art most especially, restoration is key in continuing cultural heritage and preserving it for generations hence as well as in furthering national identity. Works of great artists of old would not be enjoyed and studied by scholars and students at present, and they would not be appreciated by the passive layman if it were not for the considerable effort exerted to make old originals appear as their creators intended them to be.
Film, for one, is a product of human creativity and culture. But it has worth being a shared experience and it registers as a multiple-sense data unlike other art forms. It is a visual medium that has to be preserved and improved on.

The technical side of production has involved photochemical means as well as electronic and artistic since film was first produced for commercial purposes in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Film formats and storage do not last forever, as any other painting or sculpture heading to deterioration, and they have to be continually maintained especially if the material itself is of value to the field. An Orson Welles masterpiece has to be preserved as much as a Caravaggio.

Film, like painting, cannot be allowed to deteriorate, especially in details of elements and colors. They are a medium of visual communication, and it is important that they convey the same message and project the same mood as the filmmaker intends it to be. Art can only be said to withstand the test of time if spectators through the years would sense similar meanings communicated by the material  the meanings forged by the author, and not by chance or temporal circumstance.

Technologies have been developed, therefore, to ensure that these meanings are retained for new audiences. Color correction as a process is a vital component in any analog or digital film restoration project, since it not only enhances the original color and lighting, but reinstates damaged portions of reels.
After a films color has been corrected, there are given nuances that may leave the original slightly altered. Colorization of black and white films is definitely a big leap from what has been initially intended by the filmmaker.
What these nuances leave the audience is an interesting area to explore. And has the corrected film conveyed the same meaning as the original as perceived by the viewers If so, is color correction necessarily a helpful aesthetic practice or otherwise These questions would necessarily lead us to delve into color theory, human psychology and culture, as well as aesthetics and communication.
Taking a further look at the relations between the viewers interpretation of color meanings in film, and especially how these very interpretations may vary upon seeing a material that has undergone changes from color restoration, correction or enhancement would lead us to understand both ends of the filmmaking process  creating or conveying meaning and how this meaning is received.

HYPOTHESES AND RELATED DATA

Personal Relevance

As a student in this institution, I believe in the call to further cultural ends, and express and meet the inner yearnings of man through filmmaking and its subsequent preservation. Art is very much a part of me, and this conviction brings me to look at the business of restoration and the venues it provides in conserving cultural products created for audiences.
Studying the processes behind color correction and whether or not it is a worthy option to take in the development and storage of films is something, I believe, would be of much help to filmmakers, studios and academic organizations in considering the intrinsic values and conditions of both the film and the market it serves.
I am also interested in the study of color, and this paper and topic would give me the opportunity to read more about color theory and the accompanying concepts of perception and interpretation of meanings. Since I have delved into filmmaking myself, I am aware of filmmakers concern over the message they are delivering, and if it is being received the way they intend to. A study of this kind would thus be of significance to the industry, especially in the field of cinematography, by providing feedback from the receivers of the message channeled through several mediums. Color correction is a factor that affects the message, and its effects are definitely very interesting to explore.

Hypothesis

The preliminary proposal the author wishes to substantiate with this study is the influence of color in conveying the films meaning and the viewers interpretation of this very meaning.
Color correction, aside from changing the original film materially and objectively, affects the perception of audiences and their interpretation of a particular scenes moods, its predictability and surrounding theme, and their identification of symbolism. This assumption also connotes that due to the nuances made in the original film caused by color correction methods, the filmmakers intended message is also reshaped.

Aims, Nature and Target Audience

The objective of this study is to communicate how audiences interpret meaning through their perception of color. This is to get across the idea that changes of color, especially after a movie has undergone color correction, have considerable effect on viewers. This paper would also consequently aim to show whether or not the fear and panic surrounding many restoration projects are unfounded, by attempting to look into the thought products of the viewer.
It has to be recognized that there is not much literature available that links preservation practices and their effect to viewers. This paper, therefore, is fundamentally exploratory in nature, aiming to provide preliminary work on restoration and color theory in film. It is no attempt, however, to provide an extensive data that could be generalized for every situation. Further validation across cultures would eventually be needed.
This study would help filmmakers and cinematographers as well as archival entities to improve on their methods and be more accurate in their operations by being increasingly aware of the aspirations, patterns of interpretations and expectations of their audiences.

Color Correction Process and Development

Salgia (2005) notes that the process of restoration and color correction involves stabilization of the frames, removing of scratches and dust, rectification of pinholes, stitching of ripped and torn frames, correction of color dyes, reduction and enhancement of grains (p.131).

Digital softwares such as Effect Plus, designed by the Indian Academy of Arts and Animation, primarily works on the grey shades of the black and white picture to make the reproduced image as close to the original as possible (Salgia, 2005, p.132).
Salgia (2005) enumerates the steps involved in the restoration-correction-colorization process. Each scene is divided into shots with a single-camera point of view, then art stills using polygons are drawn to identify objects from which an art director chooses the colors that match they grey shades of the key frame (p.132-133).  A historian is also consulted to verify the accuracy of colors used in the shot.
Animators start their work by filling in colors in the remaining frames of the shot, usually done digitally. Patience and an eye for details are key in colorizing hundreds of frames per shot. Animating the shot also entails choosing major motion key frames, and the subsequent tweening. The job of the supervisor is to ensure the quality of the image. Scanned black and white frames are then uploaded into a digital disc recorder, from which the shots are transferred to software installed in a computer for the colorization process (Salgia, 2005, p.133).
Color stabilization is the final step to ensure a uniform color level throughout the film (Salgia, 2005, p.133). Image adjustment is also done by tweaking the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) levels and the gamma to correct the lighting and exposure.
Colorization was invented and developed by Wilson Markle, founder of Colorization, Inc., and was first used in 1970 to add color to the footage of the moon from the Apollo mission (Burns, undated). It is a time-consuming and expensive process that entails more than a few hands. According to Burns (undated), that it cost around 3,000 per minute of running time, amounting to over 300,000 in 1988 to colorize an entire film. Such expense can therefore only be justified by public demand.

2.5 Key Terminology

Original  the material, film or clip before color correction methods were applied
Corrected  the material, film or clip that has undergone restoration, correction or color correction
Perception  the viewers identification of color
Interpretation  the viewers mental representation of the meaning or significance of a film, clip or material
Meaning  the message that is intended or expressed or signified (Word Web dictionary, accessed 2010)

Scope and Limitation

Due to constraints of time and resources, especially that the subject matter of the paper has not yet been considerably explored by existing literature, this study will only be for mainly exploratory purposes. It cannot also be used to generalize among different audiences and for all kinds of films that have undergone color correction given that practices and methods used worldwide differ depending on the staff carrying out the operations.
Color correction is used in this study to refer to the changes in color made to an original material in varying degrees from minor corrections in lighting, RGB levels or exposure, to full-scale colorization.
The following rough timeline will be used in conducting the study. Note that this will serve as a guide and not to be taken as a definite outline of schedule.

PSA Production Study PeriodCommencing October 2009 and running until the end of December 2010.
PSA Testing and Assessment Period
This period of study will take place between January 2010 and February 2010
Total Hours into Study and Research
One hundred and Ninety Hours (190 hours)

Literature Review

2.8.1 Discussions on Restoration and Color Correction

The restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes by Michelangelo teaches the world an important lesson. For many years, fine art scholars have been articulating how the masters works that is dark and gloomy contrast in an age of grandeur and vivid color such as the Renaissance. Restoration work commenced in 1984 and was completed ten years after, cleaning up intense details which turned out to be only cracks, dirt and candle soot much to the surprise of art scholars. Fulford (1998) quotes John Osborne from the University of Victoria who says literature on Michelangelo have to be reconsidered because the restoration of the Sistine Chapel has shown that he both an unexpected and rewarding colorist (p.C-2).
In film, there is similar talk surrounding major correction and colorization projects. Woody Allen has been cited by Time Magazine to have dubbed the colorization of original black and white as criminal mutilation, while the Directors Guild of America calls it an artistic desecration  (Krauthammer, 1987, p.44).
Salgia (2005), on the other hand, praised the recent restoration and colorization of Mughal-e-Azam, the 1960 film that cost almost 10 times the average production budget in India (p.128). The author concludes that the effort effected magnificently and says that it was to enhance the viewing pleasure of the films audience (p.134). Basing the selection of color on the original grey tones and hues, according to Salgia, also ensures that the final output is close to master copy (p.132).
When a valuable film is deemed to already be of a quality not anymore suited for presentation, be it because of damage or chemical reaction, studios resort to restoration which involves the meticulous process of color correction. Color correction refers to the various techniques used to clean badly-damaged films (Carroll, 2005, p.18) or colorize black-and-white films or both (Salgia, 2005, p.132). Such restoration work is done using either digital restoration techniques and software, manual techniques such as dyeing, or photochemical restoration technologies means that are still generally preferred (Turci, 2006, p.113).
Turci (2006) notes that restorers at several studios in Europe put strict limits when it comes to the manipulation of film, and that they were seen to have shown concern about respecting the original film versions. This has been a perennial problem for any restoration team, and this is somehow addressed by ensuring that the makers of the original film are involved in the correction process.
Carroll (2005) argues, however, that the restoration process, more than a means to retain cultural memory, is also an instrument of capitalism, by saying that such demonstrations are less concerned with archival conservation than actively shaping the market of cultural memory (p.21).

2.8.2 Color and the Expression of Meaning

There is a significant relation between the use of color and the conveying of meaning in film. Neale (2001) explains that color is neither purely subjective nor purely objective (p.92), and that color transcends cultural conventions. The objective aspect is inscribed in the material itself, the photographic or cinematic image, while the subjective part is mainly implied in motivation and implication of symbolism.
Neale (2001) confirms that the use of color systems especially in mainstream cinema enables the capacity of color to produce a pulverization of meaning, a multiplicity of meanings was marked, recognized and contained through the construction of color systems, the matching of color to dramatic mood, on the one hand, and to the referential exigencies of landscape, dcor and so on (p.93).

METHODOLOGY

Practical Components and Limitations

3.1.1 Method

A controlled experiment is to be undertaken for this study to find out whether or not color correction of original materials affects the audience and the meaning of the film. A selection of 10 original film clips are collected, recorded and setup in a way that there is a 2-minute break in between each. Another set of film clips which are corrected versions of the original ones will also be recorded, collected and separated by 2-minute breaks. Two control groups will be tested. The first will be made to watch the original set of film clips, using the break for them to answer certain parts of a questionnaire that seeks to find out how they interpret the preceding scene. The second control group will be given the corrected set of film clips and asked to answer the same questionnaire.

3.1.2 Respondents Sampling

The respondents per control group will be based on convenience sampling. Each control group is comprised of 50 respondents, for a total of 100 participants for the study. Respondents to be selected are those that have not previously watched the film clips in order to ensure non-spuriousness in the factors and variables involved.

3.1.3 Clips Sampling

Clips to be gathered should have both the original and the corrected versions at hand. They will be selected according to different degrees of corrections made from minor corrections in lighting, RGB levels or exposure, to full-scale colorization.

3.1.4 Research Instrument

A close-ended questionnaire will also be developed. The choices will be different types of interpretations of a certain scene. Options would be ordinal-polytomous, with a 4-point Likert scale. An example question would be, I think this scene is bright, vivid and happy. 1. Strongly disagree, 2. Strongly agree, 3. Agree, 4. Strongly agree.

Ethical Considerations

The instrument will be administered using the paper-and-pencil questionnaire mode while in a closed room in order to avoid uncontrolled factors to influence the results.
Three to four items of questions will be asked about each film clip, balancing positive and negative responses, and  or other possible interpretations in order to avoid the tendency of acquiescence and central tendency biases.

Final Thoughts and Personal Learning

I am personally convinced that this study will be of help to the ongoing debate on colorization, which is essentially an ethical battle between aesthetic-cultural considerations and commercial motivations. It is also important for people to consider not only the practical consequences of restoration practices, but also the intrinsic meanings associated to and intended by the film. A black and white film, after all, has been composed to be such, and the actual colors while in production would always be variably different from the digitally recreated ones. In many situations, Compromise can be reached by not drastically changing the colors in the process of restoration, while at the same time still aiming for an enhanced audience experience by re-recording, dubbing, mending and rectifying.