Analysis of the 1994 drama/romance film ChungKing Express
During my initial idea development I started by looking at visual and aesthetic styles that I find pleasing to myself. What I like most about film is cinematography and the use of colour for storytelling. I knew that I wanted this to be apparent and be the main focal point for my final major project, however am still unsure on what I will actually be producing (narrative wise).
When researching films with visually aesthetic styles I stumbled across ChungKing Express, the 1994 drama romance film. The film was written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai, it consists of two stories, each about men experiencing breakups and heartbreak. The film has apparent themes of love, sadness and isolation and is shown especially through the use of colour and lighting. For my final major project this film is paticularly inspiring to me as I want to use these aspects to tell a story too.
For my final major project I want to include the information that I learnt when I researched how colour can tell a story, and wrote about for a unit in my sketchbook. I particularly want to use a neon effect for my video, similar to the green ones used in the above pictures. I would also want the clothing and props used to correlate with this as I want there to be an obvious colour theme, but ensuring that it also tells the story.
I also like how the colour used in ChungKing Express reflects the characters mood and feelings. It effectively portrays how empty the men feel by isolating them in an empty apartment room. The props used, like the empty food cans also link to the characters loneliness and isolation, again these are lit up by a pink neon hue of a fish tank.
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