"Girl with a Pearl Earring" is a literary love film directed by British director Peter Weber. It tells the story of a young girl, Greet, who had to pick up her luggage because her father was blind and went into a rich family to help. In the process, Wei May He discovered a Greet who was independent of the secular world, which inspired him to create the world famous "Girl with a Pearl Earring".
1. Introverted classical colors and symbols of color
Classical color pursues a stable, restrained and quiet color state, and then shows the heaviness and delicacy of people and things. The scene arrangement and the color saturation of the characters' costumes in the film are maintained in a state of moderate to low, so as to express the classical beauty of the 17th century. Taking the picture on the right as an example, the blue and white of the vase and the light brown of Greta are The clothes and the light red curtains on the paintings are all displayed with a low-to-medium color saturation, which shapes the picture into a classical sense and makes the coexistence of various colors in the picture more harmonious.
Color can often also become a window for the expression of a character's character and emotions, just as the human eye is the window to the soul. The one-way conflict between Vermeer's wife and the young girl Greet has always been highlighted in the film. The most important factor is "jealousy", which is especially prominent in the second half of the film. The color of the clothes is fully reflected, and "green" often represents "jealousy", which is exactly in line with the wife's jealousy of Gree, and also vividly shapes the image of the wife's emotionally fearless character, which is also the second half of the film. The wife made a certain preparation for the hysteria of her husband's new painting.
Vermeer's clothing color changes can reveal a conflict between art and reality from another angle. When Van Laven, the art dealer, came to Vermeer's house as a guest, most of them wore brightly colored clothing, but Vermeer, the owner, wore black clothing, which showed Vermeer and the surrounding people from the color. For example, before Vermeer's dinner, when he stared blankly at Greer, the dark blue clothes he wore could express a kind of depression, a kind of desire, a kind of desire from an art dealer. Van Raven's artistic kidnapping, the philistine snob from his mother-in-law, the vanity from his wife, and the desire for an artistic confidant stemmed from his heart.
From this we can see the loneliness of Vermeer as an artist, his wife cannot understand him, his mother-in-law only knows that paintings can be sold for money, but does not understand the meaning of paintings, not to mention the art dealer, who is just a profit-seeking, full-mouthed pig. It’s just a capitalist of oil, but Greete, a maid, suddenly “breaks into” Vermeer’s art world, not only giving him artistic inspiration, but also injecting youth into his depleting artistic soul. Vermeer and Greet were in the same room and had a painting studio. Vermeer's clothes were changed to white, because it was a kind of purification of the soul, so as not to be blinded by the world.
2. The emotional meaning of lighting and color tone
If the subjective emotions of the characters are put aside, the lighting angle and strength of the lighting alone can enable the lighting engineer to manipulate the emotions of the characters. This is my understanding of the powerful role of lighting. Facing the flower of jealousy in her heart, Vermeer's wife couldn't sit still. She tried to use the method of framing to drive away Gree, accusing Gree of stealing her precious comb, but in the end, Vermeer chose to believe Grief. Li Ye, and frantically looking for a comb, broke his wife's fantasy. When Vermeer found the comb, the light shot down from his head. The typical top light can intuitively see the emotional state of Vermeer when he found the comb, showing that Vermeer wanted to frame his wife and drive away Ge. Liye's helplessness and resentment, because in the cruel philistine society, only Greye is full of the purity and simplicity he yearns for.
In the first attempt to paint, because Greer's turban always covered her face, Vermeer wanted her to change the turban. At this time, Vermeer quietly walked into the cloth room and slapped him in the face. The light on the top also enters the light from the side, showing the details of his face and the expressions of the characters at a glance, revealing his soft expression when he sees Greer changing his turban, and expressing his love for Greer's pure beauty. Desire, likewise, also uses side lighting when showing Greet changing her turban, showing her purity, beauty and vitality.
The film started with cool tones as the basic tones, creating a quiet, indifferent and sad atmosphere. It also responded to the words of Greer's mother: "I never expected that my family would be reduced to this." At the same time, When Greye bids farewell to her father, the intensity of the light is also different. The light on Greye is obviously stronger than that of her father, implying that her father is no longer the pillar of the family, and may even be marginalized by society. The role of the pillar is supported by the young Greer.
Changes in hue are often accompanied by changes in the emotional environment. When Greet assisted Vermeer to complete the painting, he searched for the butcher's son alone and dedicated his youth, and in the process, the tone changed from warm to cool, that is, he was passing through the men and women who were looking for love and having sex. The warm tones at the time were transformed into the cool tones when the two released their youth in the barn. This transformation represents the transformation of the relationship between the two, from the original generous friend relationship to the green and yet unspecified "lover relationship". An unclear and helpless status quo, just like when the butcher's son asked: "marry me", Gree can only kiss his lips silently, because in a society where the powerful and powerful, the people at the bottom cannot decide Their own destiny, and even love, are only in the hands of powerful people such as Vermeer and Van Laven. Even if the two are wishful thinking, no one can guarantee the final result.
3. Layers and Emotions of Light
Most of the scenes in the film are located indoors, and in the 17th century houses, there are only lighting objects such as stoves and candles, and the indoor lighting arrangement is greatly limited by the times. Therefore, the director focused the light arrangement on the light outside the glass of the house. The use of outdoor light makes the objects in the room change with the distance of the object from the window, so that the shadow of the object can show a clear sense of hierarchy, so that the layers of the object and the subject can be clearly distinguished, highlighting the depth of the picture space It can enrich the space of the picture with light and shadow, and the gradual change of the shadow of the light shining on the object can make the object have texture, show its artistry, and make the picture have a visual effect like oil painting.
The last thing is the emotional processing of the light. In the process of Greet’s interaction with the butcher’s son, there are two scenes where the two are walking alone, and the lighting in these two scenes is completely different from other scenes in the film. The pictures on the right are the scenes of walking alone at both ends. The light in it is very strong. Compared with other scenes, the first scene even has a lot of overexposed details of the picture, which makes people even have the illusion of being in a dream, because when the two are alone together During the time, both of them were comforted in their hearts. Greet was able to get rid of the difficult hostess and naughty and unreasonable children at that moment, while the butcher's son was able to have a moment of good time with his beloved. Under the social background of the infinite pressure of the bottom people at that time, such a beauty seemed like a dream, and the two were able to run freely in the dream to imagine their free future.
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