yellow submarine

I have always been a fan of The Beatles and Yellow Submarine is one of my favorite albums.  I remember watching the movie when I was a kid and thinking it was the strangest thing I had ever seen.  I still find it an odd movie watching it now.

I never noticed the rythmic movement of the animation before today.  Don't get me wrong, I intuitively understood the idea of stop/limited animation the film used to create the moving image, but I didn't realize how well synced it was to the score.  Not just The Beatles album tracks but the incidental music that helped move the story along.

As for color.  Yes, I think we are all going to agree that there are plenty of saturated, vivid hues in this film that add to the psychadelic look of the 1960s film. But what I found interesting was the contrast between the BLUE MEANIES and the YELLOW SUBMARINE.  Very striking contrast (bordering on a complimentary contrast of BV-YO.)  Love that.

I also, really appreciated the contrast of vivid saturates hues to the muted tones and tints.  The tones and tints were usually used in more somber unhappy moments and the vivid pure hues were used in happier joyous moments/characters.

My thoughts on the Yellow Submarine

The “Yellow Submarine” is a very colorful and graphic animation movie. It is highly reflective of the organic shapes, clashing colors and almost hypnotizing contrasts in the 70s. The following are some of the way color was used in a powerful way to compliment the music and the narrative of the story:

• In the opening scene, Pepperland was a harmonious and happy place. The scene had an organic and hand-drawn illustration quality, and was composed of whimsical objects, floral and foliage in backgrounds, and vibrant warm colors of greens, yellows and reds. All these elements suggested of harmony and nature. A cheerful classic music was playing in the background.
• In the scene where the villains “the Blue Meanies” appeared, the backdrop has been changes to a bleak monochromatic white and grey scheme, with the villains colored in contrasting deep blue. The cool and harsh color scheme is strikingly different from the previous scene. The music also changed from harmonious to dramatic and sharp. As the Blue Meanies attacked the people of Pepperland, and all victims that were frozen and turn into black and white statues, further emphasizing the contrast between the two worlds.
• In the scene of “All the Loney People”, we see a backdrop of the grey cityscape of London, and this time, the graphic is more photo-like and realistic, giving us a sense of seriousness and reality compared to the organic hand-drawn illustrations before. This of course corresponded with the seriousness of the music and lyrics of the song. With this backdrop, the bright yellow of the submarine really stood out, creating a strong focal point.
• At the large whimsical mansion where the members of the Beatles were living, it is interesting to see the different theme, music and colors in the different rooms. For example, the India room has a warm, deep violet color scheme, and had Indian music as the background music. The interior hallways of the mansion also had neutral colors and simple design, creating a contrast to the rooms, which were overfilling with whimsical and colorful characters and objects.
• In the Yellow Submarine” underwater “scene, the graphic was very vibrant and energetic, very much like the beat and the pulse of the song. The fishes had contrasting colorful patterns, which flashed in tune with the beat of the song. The contrasting stripe patterns on the sea rocks also added to the busy and mesmerizing scene.

Metamerism examples in interior design

One example of metamerism I have personally encountered is the impact of lighting on wall paint color. I am sure many of you have picked a wall paint color in a store based on the samples, and when you actually paint your wall at home, the color appears warmer.

This is due to the different light sources used in the store and at home. Fluorescent lighting is usually used at the hardware stores, causing the color samples to have a cooler tint. On the other hand, the lighting we have at home is usually sunlight or incandescent lights, so the paint color will look warmer.

Another example of metamerism is the effect of finishing/texture on color. On glossy or polished surface, more light is reflected, creating the illusion of a cooler color. I have tried to apply a semi-glossy paint to a wall in a neutral muted grey color, and due to the reflective finish of the paint, the color actually appeared to be violet during daylight.

Metamerism

When developing for garment production, designers always have to check the color correctness of trims and fabrics to make sure the lab dips are true to what their color standards. When I interned at Theory's fabric department this summer, my boss would usually go under the light box to check the colors because normal indoor lighting is not good enough to tell the differences. She'd always write on the headers: 5% more blue, 5% less yellow etc. It was really an estimate she said but I'm sure it takes a lot of experience to do that too. Below are two pictures of zippers and trims under different lighting.

 

 

This is someone comparing perhaps a lap dip with the original color under a light box.

This is how the light box look like. Every big fashion companies have at least one.

 This is a pre-owned truck with a bad paint job, probably under bad lighting. Funny. :)

Metamarism

The first time I got in contact with this term was while working at a design / advertising agency. We were producing a catalogue for a local department store and our client was obsessed with matching the colors of the printed catalogue with the actual fabrics. 

I remember going to the printing factory in order to make sure that all the surfaces, textiles and paper, were reproduced exactly under some specific light. (The one they got in the store and daylight) At first I thought it was going to be an easy job, but when I got there almost every color differed from the actual color in the textiles. What I thought would be the work of one day become a week, we constantly had to print out samples and compare them to the textile swatches under a "light source" which simulated different lights. 

After having matched almost all the colors exactly, I realized how important this part of the work was. Because, if we hadn't done that many clients would have been disappointed while coming to the store to find the garment they had see in the catalogue.  

Metamerism Examples

I think nothing screams Metamerism more than... getting dressed in the wee hours of the morning with very little incandescent light in the bedroom and thinking you have on two black socks....

..... only to get in front of the fluorescent light of the office or a day-lit street - just to find you have on one blue sock and one black sock!

Fashion Failure!

Just wanted to share this

I saw this painting on tumblr and it reminded me of our time of day assignment.
(This is not about Metamerism btw!)