Five Shots: BETTY BLUE and Colour
just what it says on the paint can
Betty Blue has so many spectacular shots, we couldn’t narrow it down. We focus on colour today, our next two posts will look at ‘frames within frames’ and dramatic blocking.
Light From Outside
Does it necessarily make sense that the colours from outside every restaurant door and window would projected onto the ceiling, IE the light source be on the ground? Doesn’t that suggest an expensive electricity bill, as well as massive liability where drunk patrons constantly trip over giant light fixtures?
Of course.
But why on earth does that matter when you can create this stunning look?
Different Rooms, Different Tones
As Betty (Béatrice Dalle) swigs wine in the dining room, Eddy and Lisa flirt and cook in the kitchen. The pass-through where waitstaff pick up orders allows them to talk, but also separates them, and both rooms are distinctly lit in different tones — Betty is in the warm, sunny yellow room, while Eddy and Lisa are in the cool, hazy blue room.
The effect on their skin is also distinct, giving a feeling they’re in different worlds even though they’re within talking and almost touching distance.
But Betty Blue doesn’t only use this technique at a distance:
Different People, Different Tones
Here Betty and Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) are in the same room, touching, yet the lighting is completely different on each.
It’s a technique the film uses often to highlight when Betty is fighting and disagreeing with someone, or sometimes simply to distinguish her visually as she’s quite different to her boyfriend, friends, and acquaintances.
Every Colour at Once
Betty Blue takes a maximalist approach, but note how it still makes certain elements — a saxophone, a wrapped present, a green pharmacy sign — stand out in the way they’re framed, or situated against a contrasting colour, or being not only bright and centred but also reflected in a blank area of wet asphalt.
Blue Skies, Yellow Accents
While Betty Blue makes use of all colours, majority-blue-with-yellow-elements is a combination the film continually comes back to (including on its poster).
Love how wardrobe gives Zorg a yellow coat (which he’s carrying in the first photo), set dressing creates yellow posters and finds smaller items, and vehicles procured or painted the perfect car for Zorg and Betty.
