Symbolism & The Road Home

  

The film begins in black and white, most likely to represent the sad atmosphere the characters are experiencing due to the death of their father/husband. However, throughout the film the past is represented in vibrant vivid colors. This is most likely done to differentiate between extremely sad times and extremely blissful times. The color red is a common undertone throughout the film especially in those vibrant flash back scenes. I've learned recently that the color red is a color that symbolizes happiness and bliss is china, whereas the color white represents pain and sorrow and despair.

The Power of Camera Movement

    

This scene from the little princess is an extremely interesting scene because the movement of the camera solely represent the change in the mood of Sara. This scene has many shots within in it however, the most notable shot is an objective shot. The way the camera captures the balloons, both the green and white balloons, as well as the black balloon is almost hypnotizing. You can tell from the color change and camera movement that Sara's life has changed, not just the scene.

The Visual Style of 400 Blows

I’m one of those people that believes that the way in which a film is shot can make or break it, and the way in which 400 blows is shot definitely makes it. There was something very raw and real about this film, from the initial shaky pan shots to the interesting subjective shots, to the highly emotional close up shots this film was a good visual representation of the pre-maturity and roughness that Antoine himself represents throughout the film. If this film were made today in the flashing lights realm of Hollywood that exists now, it would be passed off as a low budget independent film, however it’s all those qualities that make this film the classic that it is!