Why is it b+w if it's from the 80's? - The Elephant Man (1980) Discussion

[–] mkd825 15 years ago

I finally watched The Elephant Man about a year ago, and for years I'd assumed that it was a much older film having only seen short clips of it on various television programs. But yes, the choice to film in black and white was purposeful, done for artistic and practical reasons (i.e., the John Merrick makeup looking more realistic in b&w).

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[–] lady-dinobug 15 years ago

This seems very possible. Thank you. Strangely, it's not discussed on any website.

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[–] mkd825 15 years ago

They discuss this in the dvd commentary. The makeup was very lifelike, made from casts of the real John Merrick's head. Yet in color, it looked rather artificial, and admittedly unsettling. The filmmakers were concerned that sensitive moviegoers wouldn't be able to get past Merrick's appearance and immerse themselves fully into the story. The choice of black and white took some of the edge off, while creating an interesting sense of mood.

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[–] Cyclo Rider 10 years ago

They discuss this in the dvd commentary. The makeup was very lifelike, made from casts of the real John Merrick's head. Yet in color, it looked rather artificial, and admittedly unsettling. The filmmakers were concerned that sensitive moviegoers wouldn't be able to get past Merrick's appearance and immerse themselves fully into the story. The choice of black and white took some of the edge off, while creating an interesting sense of mood.

Old post, yet a perfect explanation. Hence quoted.

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[–] DJMan-51 10 years ago

Old post, yet a perfect explanation. Hence quoted.

Nice to read this. Years ago I ventured (on a message board) the opinion that the Merrick makeup would have been distractingly repulsive with califlower skin and pink, slobbering mouth, and would have damaged the sensitive performance. But I was dismissed with the response that David Lynch said he did it in b-&-w to invoke the early industrial revolution, so that was that.

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[–] 5thHobbit 15 years ago

Strangely, it's not discussed on any website.

That's because black and white film isn't all that rare. There are always a couple of mainstream black and white films that come out every year; it's an artistic choice.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

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[–] jackiefoxybrown 9 years ago

Yes, Raging Bull comes to mind. I think it enhances the atmospehere and really makes the viewer feel like they are watching an older film.

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[–] franzkabuki 15 years ago

No it was an accident - nobody realized it was b/w before it hit the theaters. And then it was too late.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ZookGuy 15 years ago

Color film existed thirty-some years before The Elephant Man was released.

Not changing my sig until John Lennon gets a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] jvanderide 14 years ago

Captain Obvious doesn't have a costume. Everybody knows that.

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[–] Adam_P_L 14 years ago

Color film existed thirty-some years before The Elephant Man was released.

More like forty-some. The first feature-length color film was "Becky Sharp" in 1935.

http://ocdviewer.wordpress.com

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[–] TaylorTC 14 years ago

It is in black and white because this was the choice of the filmmakers. As the previous poster stated, feature-length color films had existed since 1935 - yet black and white films continued to flourish. Even in modern times the occasional black and white film still comes about, though it's obviously far less common these days.

There are numerous reasons that filmmakers chose to shoot in black and white over the years. One good example is the classic western film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. John Ford had shot numerous color films in the past, but chose to do this one in black and white since Jimmy Stewart was in his 50s or so at the time, and supposed to be portraying a young lawyer type in his 20s! Obviously, B and W made it easier to hide his real age.

"Why do movie stars think we want to watch them play poker?" -Hank Hill

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[–] craigballantyne2006 13 years ago

you're wrong. toll of the sea was the first colour feature made in 1922 (in two-strip colour, but it's still colour) you can get it on youtube and on it's imdb page it says in the trivia bit that it was the seventh colour feature.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] illhoosierbird 14 years ago

totally unrelated to this movie...

Nobel Prizes are NOT awarded posthumously in any category.

Most significant snubs in this respect:

1) Mahatma Gandhi for leadership in non-violent revolution
2) Rosalind Franklin for discoveries on the shape of DNA (along with Watson, Crick, and Wilkins)

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[–] ChrisB13 9 years ago

There is one posthumous Nobel Peace Prize, to Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961. From 1974, the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. Before 1974, the Nobel Prize was also awarded posthumously to Erik Axel Karlfeldt (Nobel Prize in Literature 1931). Credit for information contained in this post goes to: nobelprize.org

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[–] buckshot69 14 years ago

Thirty, try fifty. Gone With the Wind 1939. Thats the earliest color I can think.

Takes no nerve to do something, ain't nothin' else you can do.

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[–] DeclanCochran 11 years ago

It existed far before that, they used colour in the original Phantom of the Opera, admittedly through painting each film cell, but still.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A man who does not spend time with his family can never be a real man."

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[–] chefjoseph 10 years ago

THIRTY years ? lol. That would be 1950. Know your history before posting something so moronic.

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[–] ChrisB13 9 years ago

Far from it! Color film as well as the ability to utilize color goes back to the beginning of film...around the turn of the last century!

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[–] jumaward 13 years ago

Besides, Ted Turner just bought the rights, so expect a colorized re-release in about 6 months.

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[–] jonnylikesballs 14 years ago

that is clearly a joke isn't it.

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[–] Vilian 14 years ago

LMAO!!! I heard the same thing happened with Dune, so they had to re-shoot it in a week's time.

That Lynch.

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[–] npagano05 10 years ago

lol

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[–] murray_taylor99 15 years ago

I personally enjoyed the fact that it's in B&W... if it looks like it's from a time when makeup effects perhaps weren't so advanced, it just seems to add realism.

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[–] WillaCronkite 15 years ago

You're joking....right?

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[–] zumber1969 15 years ago

Tell me, what year did Schindler's List come out?

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[–] conorbe 15 years ago

1993

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[–] ZookGuy 15 years ago

Because it would work better for the mood, and it does it successfully.

Not changing my sig until John Lennon gets a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize.

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[–] billy51482 15 years ago

I thought movies were always in color. You mean they used to make movies in black in white once? Woooowww!!!

Are people so dense? Hasn't this person heard of style, mood, atmosphere? It's a modern film shot in black & white to help enhance the reality of the film's period. Plus it looks like a David Lean picture or something.

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[–] knoxville322 15 years ago

damn you sound hilarious. Can we hang out and write jokes togeather sometime?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DPCu-TsSXQ - greatest film of our time

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[–] JParallax 15 years ago

does it really matter? it's just a great movie.

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[–] knoxville322 14 years ago

take it easy man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DPCu-TsSXQ - greatest film of our time

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[–] RoddmannW 14 years ago

Because the movie works 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times better in black and white than it would in color.

This is hardly rocket science people...

Terrorism is the war of the poor, war the terrorism of the rich - Peter Ustinov

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[–] knoxville322 14 years ago

yeah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DPCu-TsSXQ - greatest film of our time

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