Colors go beyond the ink and represent a euphonious pattern of non-verbal communication, that sometimes worth millions words. It is essential for audio visual communicators to keep in mind how the eye and the mind perceive certain colors and the color meanings we associate with each color. Quentin Tarantino being arguably one of the most influential film makers understood power of colors that is why the scenes of film “Pulp Fiction” carry so ample emotional value.
Besides creating psychological reactions colors can also enforce physical processes that trigger perceptions and associations. The most famous color, which has such a magical supremacy, is red. From ancient times it was wide known that red can raise blood pressure and panic fear. Mr. Tarantino has found more meanings and applications of this prevailing color and used it for different purposes, creating desired effects.
The genre of gangster bravado dictates the presence of murder, danger, violence and aggression. The director had chosen to hint the audience about the genre with the presence of the red color. In the scene where we see for the first time Jules and Vincent to go “to work”, the single bright red car stands right in the middle of the scene to cue the viewer about the bloody pool that is going to take place further. On the way to Marvin’s apartment the danger is alerted by presence of red objects in the mise-en-scene: red couch in the lobby, red plastic pail in the corner, red exit signs on the doorways. Even when we visually get into apartment the director hints us to the murder by showing a close up of bloody red ketchup of tachuna burger.
One of the most popular meanings of red color is passion, love, heat, desire. To express the sizzling sexual milieu, majority of film makes use shots of bedrooms, concupiscent of actors or open sexism. Pulp fiction has a careful and original representation of desire, by using just the colors of mise-en-scene. The scenes of passion take place around Mia and Vincent. The first scenes of the date don’t immediately introduce the heroine, but rather her full blown red lips in the style of Marylyn, that signal to the viewer about sexuality of the woman. While talking the beautiful pictures of contrasts between white teeth and sharp and playful tongue that clearly underline candent sexuality. As the date evolves the favorite objects of Mr. Tarantino, red autos, immediately strike that there is something going on or will be going between Vincent and Mia. As the heroes find themselves in a restaurant with a very “unsexy” name (Jack Rabbit Slam), the signals of infatuation continue – red uniforms of the clerks, red walls, red food server, red costume of the performer, red lips of Marylyn, red car, serving as a dining cab, even the red cherry on the top of Mia’s milk shake – a clear sign of seduction. Red napkins, red dishes, red round on the floor during the twist- all this small and smartly analyzed and positioned in order to reach desired sexual apocalypses.
From the ancient days red symbolized power. In the scene when Butch is being told by Marcellus Wallace that he must lose his next fight in the fifth round, Tarantino does nothing with the camera except leave it on Butch’s face for over a minute. This is very boring but does serve a purpose. Traditionally shots that stay on a character’s face are meant to get the viewer to concentrate on that character and think about what that character is feeling or thinking. Here the audience sees a traditionally type cast heroic actor being told what to do and being paid off to do it. Tarantino leaves the camera on him so that the audience is forced to consider how powerful Wallace is and how washed up Butch is. But the power of the scene is created by the background. Red light surrounding the hero not only serves for the purpose to refresh the shot and create vivid atmosphere, but also highlights Butch, so the viewer can concentrate. The scarlet spread glow creates the mood of power, surrounding the still and powerful siluete of Marcellus and the pod4enenie of Butch. Without the red light the scene would seem tedious and would not reach that fatal effect.
Intense and speed is the effects that can be created by the red as well. Tarantino uses red car to speed up the actions and add intensivity and aggression. This symbolism serves for the different purposes, but to my mind the main and the guiding is to create color constellations and subconscious vividness of the movie. Red cars, moving on the background of field of actions are unnoticeable, but the trained eye can spot hundreds of them passing by. In the very first scene of breakfast 4 red cars on the background swash through the window in order to create color assemblage with the red sofa and the depth of field. But this is nothing, comparing to 22 red chasing runabouts in the scene of Vincent and Jules driving around the city. The effect adumbrating murder highlighted by other red objects as fire department, red billboards , red traffic lights, red manikins in the shop, red alert on ambulance or police autos. The interesting thing is that the red spot appears with special frequency: every 5 seconds, so not to noise the perception of viewers.
The passion of Tarantino for red cars exceeded the simple use of real motto objects. In the drug dealer house the attentive watcher can notice the picture of the red motorcar that creates the color constellations with the red shoes. The identical picture can be noticed in the toilet of Jack Rabbit Slam restaurant that can be discerned the minute when Mya skittishly glides to ladies room. The imagination of the director even transformed the dining tables in the abovementioned restaurants in the notorious automobiles.
Mary C. Taylor, a famous watercolor artist once told that “using color is like walking a tight rope; one must achieve a perfect balance between what the color wants to do and what the artist wants to do, or all is lost”. I think that in the film Pulp Fiction Mr. Tarantino and red color came to the mutual understanding in order to create a rich pattern
