Saturday, December 5, 2015

Red in 'Temple of Doom' - Part One - Roller


Indiana Jones observes an underground ritual sacrifice.

     Anyone familiar with this Indiana Jones sequel will likely remember it for the parts in the cave under the temple, with blood rituals, magic doll-poking, and human sacrifice—even a man’s heart being pulled bare-handed from his chest by a cult leader. Roger Ebert called Temple of Doom “one of the greatest Bruised Forearm Movies ever made […] That’s the kind of movie where your date is always grabbing your forearm in a viselike grip, as unbearable excitement unfolds on the screen.” While this is definitely true (the fast-paced mix of action and shock value make this movie one hell-of-a-great Saturday morning couch movie), the film is also a testament to skillful art direction; everything designed and chosen to be shown within the frame of the camera (from costumes, set design, and lighting) ends up being very important in augmenting The Temple of Doom’s script for the screen. I’ll be breaking down the first 3 minutes of Temple and its intentional use of red, a color that ends up being just as important a character as Indiana Jones himself.


     The opening credit sequence wastes no time before filling the screen with red. A door-sized dragon mouth glows and smokes on the stage of a cocktail lounge, the music swells and falls and then out walks Kate Capshaw. She briefly poses for the title card before she begins to sing and dance to the song, "Anything Goes." All the lyrics are in Mandarin except for the song's title phrase. This idea that "anything goes," quickly becomes an established theme that plays throughout the entire film. Many things about to happen to the characters in the next two hours of the movie are absurd and impossible and hard to believe. For this reason, the creators of the film give us a rule upfront: red is in charge, and when red is around, "anything goes."  





     Our biggest clue to the rule is the dragon. It's no coincidence that its mouth is cave-like; it feel ominous and mysterious because we can't see what's inside through the smoke and curtains. But what I find to be the most interesting aspect of the "dragon-cave," is it's mysterious spacial properties. After singing a verse or so, Capshaw walks back into the dragon's mouth and the song continues on; the shot fades from red to 30 or so tap dancers, all positioned on sets of stairs that look like larger versions of the steps sitting outside of the "cave," on either side of the dragon. The room that is transitioned to is enormous, and seemingly out of view from the audience that Capshaw was performing for. Beyond the size of the room, there are several other strange aspects to the tap dancing number:





















  • A sparkling filter frames every shot of the silver-clad dancers, and lasts until Capshaw runs back out of the dragon, back into the lounge. 
  • At minute mark 2:13 (in the previous video above) the dancers line up and fall into the splits in an elegant fashion, then, the camera cuts to a shot of them performing the same action, but this time it is shown in reverse and from a slightly higher angle; the dancers appear to perform a completely impossible action in the way that they rise from the floor. 
  • Red sashes are pulled from jackets (looking like and emulating magicians), and then one shot later they've become "magically" larger (the size of gigantic blankets) and then they immediately transform into one enormous, long, train of red that Capshaw holds onto as she runs from the room.
  • Capshaw appears out of seemingly nowhere to perform this act, and so does the ramp which she's running down.    












    When she exits the mouth now for the second time, we get a better of a view of the stage and the room it's in; the space behind the dragon is tiny and limited. The whole number was completely impossible. But this is exactly what is intended my the film makers, and it's a useful metaphor for the rest of the movie. Red is the house for possibility; crazy, impossible things will happen when ever it's around. For the rest of the film, red will act like fate rolling the dice.  























     The song ends, Capshaw and the other dancers run from the room, and then in walks Indiana Jones, dressed like James Bond. Deadly situations with unknown outcomes will soon bombard him and his friends, even before they leave the lounge.The dragon's mouth is looming in the background, and our hero is marked over his heart with the color red. The stage is set, and the bright bloody fateful color red will direct his path to the place where "anything goes."


(Stay tuned for my break-down of the opening scene's second half in Part Two of my review.)



Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087469/
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-1984

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Red Roses

Red Roses

            Giving flowers as an act of kindness has been around for many years, but by giving roses, and depending on the color, can convey many different messages.
Giving a pink rose can signify appreciation, a white rose represents marriage or new beginnings, orange can suggest enthusiasm or passion, and yellow can show friendship and good health (proflowers.com). But what about roses and the color red that has such great significance? 
           
            Red is a fierce and powerful color; it is a color of extremes. Red can signify a large range of things varying from anger, violence, danger and adventure, all the way to seduction, and passionate love. A red rose is given to someone you want to show love and passion towards, a person who has shown courage, or to those you have great respect for (thealmightyguru.com).


           Another message that can be conveyed through roses is the quantity of roses that you give to a person can serve as a different meaning. One single rose represents love, two red roses tied together symbolize an engagement, a dozen roses shows gratitude, 25 shows congratulations, and 50 roses represent unconditional love. To be a little more tedious, along with quantity, the shade of red that a rose has can be of meaning also. Bright red symbolizes love, burgundy means unconscious love, and dark crimson is used to show mourning (thealmightyguru.com).


When I think of a red rose, I instantly think of a wonderful romantic love, which is why I thought it would be interesting to look into the background of the thorns on the stem. This lead me to the famous proverb, “Every rose has its thorn.” This wise saying is commonly used to teach an important fact about human nature- that nobody is perfect. Even a red rose that is beautiful and signifies deep love also has its ups and downs. The red rose represents such an important part of life-love. Another saying that is less commonly used, but I found interesting is, “He who wants a rose must respect it.” When relating this to a red rose, this can teach us that all relationships have imperfections, but one can only have a healthy relationship with each other if each person respects the others differences and flaws (gardenbetter.com).


           A red rose is a universal symbol for love and romanticism. So now that you know so much about roses and the meaning behind their colors and quantities, go out and buy some red roses for your significant other. I can almost guarantee you can never go wrong there!



Works Cited

"Rose Color Meanings: Choose the Right Color for Your Message." ProFlowers Blog. 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.proflowers.com/blog/rose-colors-and-meanings>.

"Red." Red. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. <http://www.colormatters.com/the-meanings-of-colors/red>.

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Roses. GardenBetter.com, 2015. Web. <http://www.gardenbetter.com/rose/Every_Rose_Has_Its_Thorn.asp>.