There are a wide variety of production choices that I felt represented different underlying themes throughout the film. The main ones that I noticed were the color choices, the video cuts and the music.
I think that the color choices used help to represent different emotional tones for the specific scenes they were used in. Initially, I mostly noticed the switches between black and white and colors. One of the best examples was the elderly man who got passed by a bus where the transition happens as the bus passes by him. Honestly, it was harder for me to understand the color transitions than the tone of colors. As I continued to watch the film I noticed the tone of colors being lighter or darker. The darker tones symbolized times that may have represented the challenges and obstacles that the characters were facing. In contrast the brighter tones may have represented times of hope and resilience.
The scene cuts were something really noticeable in the beginning of the movie. The speed stood out to me and created a tone of urgency and sometimes stress in those scenes. At the end of the movie the scene of MLK behind the bus mirrors the scene at the beginning with Rosa Parks. I thought this was really interesting because it revealed the foreshadowing that happened at the beginning of the film.
The music choices also stood out to me because of the different associations with the songs or types of music being sung/played. For example, the use of gospel music stood out to me because of the importance of faith in African American culture during segregation. This also connects back to representations of hope and resilience. Another example where music is used to show messages of the strength and courage of African Americans is the march to the courthouse. The use of the freedom song before the message talking about the 1956 Supreme Court ruling further highlighted the use of music being symbolic in the film.
I like the question you raise. I found this topic very interesting as well because in the film I could not figure out what the color changes meant and what significance they held. The Smith reading really cleared this up for me. In addition to what you mention, I think the color changes, specifically the color change that occurs in the opening scene with the Santa Clauses has a different meaning. This I found particularly interesting because it shows the two different race Santa’s in black and white and then in color. When in color, it just seems to be an unimportant scene because it is something mundane to current viewers, however, when the film is put into black and white it reminds those watching of the time period this film is set in and how it was a period of Jim Crow and segregation and we are reminded of the differences between the two men in society and in Montgomery, Alabama to be specific.
I also think something very interesting to touch on about music in the film is also in the opening scenes of the movie when “Sweet Home Alabama” plays. We briefly touched on this in class, but the points that Smith brings up about it I found very insightful for several reasons. First, the song is very upbeat as we are introduced to a time period that is not optimistic, initially, and does not seem happy making for a disturbing few scenes. I also found it very interesting that the song played is a cover which is mixed with contemporary gospel. I think this highlights the fact that this song does have to do with the history of the time period which many listeners may not originally pick up on, as I haven’t in the many times I have listened to the song.