[Leica] Black and White

[abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

Well I note that the new film about Murrow and Friendly, by George
Clooney is in black and white. The scenes I've seen look fabulous.
Friendly's book, which came out in the late 60s, was highly motivating
for me. A terrific look at TV news.

So black and white is being rediscovered and used in new ways. Maybe
"Pleasantville" was a bit of a gimic but it also was well shot and
effectively used black and white and color together.

Colorizing old movies, though, ICK.

Adam

On 10/12/05, B. D. Colen <bdcolen@comcast.net> wrote:
> I think you're absolutely correct, Peter, in suggesting that black and 
> white
> doesn't mean the same thing, and hold the same power for a 25-year-old as 
> it
> does to and for those of us well into the second half of our lives.
>
> And as horrifying as the results are, Ted Turner was simply making a smart
> business decision, knowing that most young people equate black and white
> movies with old, bad, dull. As an antidote - anyone seen "On The Beach"
> lately? Wow.
>
>
> On 10/12/05 4:41 PM, "Peter Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net> wrote:
>
> > Very good points, Clayton.
> >
> > Food for thought.  Does B&W speak to us "traditionalists" in ways that it
> > simply doesn't to younger people without a background in taking or 
> > viewing
> > B&W?  Is there something universal about B&W that can be learned quickly 
> > by
> > an uninitiated viewer?  Or does one have to have some background or
> > training in it before one truly gets it?
> >
> > Case in point.  When Ted Turner "colorized" all those classic B&W movies
> > for rebroadcast, I don't think he did it just to stick it to the
> > traditionalists.  I suspect he made a business decision, based on either 
> > a
> > hunch or some data.  He bet that colorizing the films would bring him 
> > more
> > viewers than it lost him, especially in that sacred teenage/young adult
> > demographic.  I suspect most people here would consider "The Maltese
> > Falcon" in color sacreligious.  But maybe Mr. Turner had a point.  (I'm 
> > not
> > talking about the *quality* of the colorization, only the perceived need 
> > to
> > do it at all).
> >
> > I'm 51 (for another month anyway!!).  When I was a little kid, B&W 
> > pictures
> > were the norm.  Color was special.  This gradually changed, but the old
> > aesthetic held, particularly in arty circles.  Someone thirtyish or 
> > younger
> > would have grown up with a very different photographic grounding, unless
> > they were specifically interested in the medium, or hung out it arty
> > circles.  :-)
> >
> > --Peter
> >
> > At 11:01 AM 10/12/2005 -0700, Clayton wrote:
> >> I think perhaps BD came close, that B&W is Documentary, but I'd think
> >> that in this case the degree of intimacy and comfort in the photos
> >> suggests that the color set is more akin to perhaps Karen's idea of
> >> photoethnography than to it is to tourism.  The color sense in the
> >> pictures isn't secondary, it's an intrinsic part of the indigenous
> >> culture and mindspace.
> >>
> >> It's not surprising that of the LUG would go for B&W, though; with
> >> the possible exception of Kyle we're all to one degree or another
> >> traditionalists and this is a classic execution of traditional B&W
> >> subject matter.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
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