For my screening analysis project, I chose to watch the film Blue Valentine, directed by Derek Cianfrance. I was able to acquire this film by watching it in the pop culture floor at the Jerome Library on campus. There were several ways in which this film related to Block’s visual concepts. Overall this film has great visual intensity, which makes it have a huge impact on how the story is told. Some of the main motifs in this films that were related with Block’s visual concepts is the use of color to communicate certain emotions, the aperture of the camera, and the use of tonal contrast.

In Blue Valentine, it is clear that the color blue has significant meaning. I learned quickly that the director used the color blue to often show sadness or pain in the character’s lives. The first example I noticed is when the couple in the film were having marital issues. There was a long shot that focused on the husband’s hands that were covered in blue paint. On his hand was also his wedding band. The blue paint and the wedding band showed that there were problems to their relationship.

Throughout the film, the color blue continued to be a major motif. When the family found their dead dog, they wrapped it in a blue bag. When the wife was going to proceed with an abortion, she was wearing a blue gown and the doctors were wearing blue gloves. Both of these examples show great sadness that often is affiliated with the color blue. Showing this repeated color to the audience was a great choice on the director’s part because it was a visual aid to the characters conflicts and sadness.

The aperture of the camera was another major motif that is related to Block’s visual concepts. In Blue Valentine, whenever the storyline was focusing on a certain character’s emotions, everything else would be out of focus except for that character. This use of aperture literally focuses on the importance of how that character is feeling and it shows the audience the significance in each scene. For example, the main character, Dean, goes to look for the mystery woman he has fallen for. When he happens to run into her at the subway, the camera focuses on his facial reaction and blurs out the woman. This was a great way to show the audience his emotions and it was clear to see how important it was that he finally finds his true love.

The last important motif was the use of tonal contrast. In many of the scenes that were depressing, the tones were dark and the characters silhouettes are shown. Whenever there are flashbacks, the tonal contrast goes away because those were “happier” times. The tonal contrast was visually appealing to myself because it gave off a dark vibe of the character’s emotions. An example of this would be the ending scene of the movie. The married couple decides they are getting a divorce and he is walking away from the family. His silhouette is shown while the wife and daughter are shown in perfect view. This use of contrast shows the different feelings for the married couple and the darkness to divorce.