MovieChat Forums > Young Frankenstein (1974) Discussion > One thing that's lost in the black and w...

One thing that's lost in the black and white is....

posted 4 years ago by AmeriGirl26 (12653)
4 replies | jump to latest

...the Monster's skin coloring. See, I didn't know this until I actually saw artwork and behind-the-scenes color videos, that his skin was actually bluish-green, whereas in the black and white film, it looks bleached white like nearly everyone else's skin. It's like....aside from his height and behavior, there wasn't much to make this guy really look all that monstrous. You have to look closely to find the stitches on his head, or the zipper on his neck (they did that as a sight gag instead of bolts). I mean, when he came out on stage during Freddy's demonstration, I was confused because there wasn't really much to make the audience freak out. Again, I didn't know this guy had a freaky skintone, which really would have tipped people off.

[–] Ace_Spade (9435) 4 years ago

I don't recall losing that. I wasn't necessarily thinking "green", but "deathly" and "unsettling" for his pallor.

But what you gain with the black and white! They used original set pieces and props from Frankenstein, why not the (lack of) colour? It makes the movie so much better to put it in black and white.

[–] Costumer (1798) 4 years ago

What you should remember is that color in black and white films supports the black and white, not that it is the color the item is supposed to be in. Some colors film better in B&W than others.

The same is true of color films. Sometimes the color you see on screen, which is the color the director wants you to see, is not the color of the garment the actor is wearing. Again, this is because of the filming medium. A classic example is Star Trek: The Next Generation. The bright red, gold and blue of the uniforms isn't the actual color the actors are wearing. They simply appear that way when filmed.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12653) 4 years ago

It's true. In fact, many costume enthusiasts are surprised when they see some of their favorites on display and find the color isn't the same in real life as it was in the film.

A fine example of this would be Cinderella's blue gown from the 2015 Cinderella movie. While the gown is a beautiful, deep, glowing blue in the film, in real life it is more of a pastel kinda blue, but the special-effects people enhanced the color in post-production.

What is really surprising is finding iconic costumes from famous black-and-white films, and discovering that the costumes themselves were actually vivid, but nobody could tell on the silver screen. They seemed more chosen for pattern and having designs that would look good in black and white, rather than for their actual hues.

[–] Costumer (1798) 4 years ago

All very true. I am a costumer (what these days is usually called a cosplayer) if you couldn't tell from my screen name. Seeing some of those costumes from b&w movies in color is a fascinating experience.