The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles offers a fascinating chromatic exploration of over a century of cinema.

There's never been a better time to stop off for a few hours at the Academy Film Museum in Hollywood. The beautiful "Color in Motion" retrospective offers a sensory, hands-on and instructive experience through the history and evolution of color. More than 110 internationally acclaimed films, dynamic film installations and nearly 150 objects from the silent era to the digital age are highlighted. The Californian institution thus explores 130 years (1894-2024) of colorimetric possibilities in the seventh art around six major themes: color choreography, technology and spectacle, monochrome film installation, color as character, experimentation, and the color arcade.

VISUAL FEAST IN MULTICOLOUR

The exhibition, curated by Jessica Niebel, gives way to a wide-ranging, in-depth study of the role of color: from technological advances to its psychological impact on the public. On the program? Objects classified according to the colors of the rainbow. These include the ruby slippers designed by Gilbert Adrian for The Wizard of Oz (1939), the green dress created by Edith Head for Kim Novak in Vertigo (1958), a Wonka chocolate bar in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971), a blue outfit worn by Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained (2012), Jack Nicholson's red velvet jacket in The Shining (1980) and a model of the yellow house in Up There (2009).

The tour opens with "Choreographing Color", illustrating the link between color, music and movement. This gallery includes The Serpentine Dance (circa 1894), one of the earliest examples of color in film history. Costumes include the ballet slippers in The Red Shoes (1948), made by Hein Heckroth, and the red ensemble worn by Maggie Cheung in Hero (2002), designed by Emi Wada.

HIGH-TECH AND PIONEERING WOMEN

The next area is dedicated to "Technologies and Spectacles", presenting equipment that covers the advances and growing importance of color technologies (Technicolor camera, Kinémacolor projector, digital colorimetry console, 35 mm color crank camera...).

This section highlights the essential role played by women in the evolution of cutting-edge techniques and the development of film colors. Pathé is a case in point. The French production and distribution company, founded in 1896, is renowned for having employed hundreds of young women. Notably to " hand-paint films at the turn of the century, before moving to a more industrialized stencil process in 1903, with over 200 female talents in its workforce by 1906 ".

The same can be said of Disney's Ink & Paint department, founded in 1923 in the USA, which was the first to be staffed entirely by women in the animation industry.

LOOKING, LIVING AND FEELING

The exploration continues in earnest with "Monochrome Film Installation", which awakens our emotions through our eyes in the face of chromatic power. Three large-scale screens project excerpts from tinted films from the silent era, showing "the hallucinatory, vibrant and sometimes supernatural quality of monochrome film colors".

"Color as Character" focuses more on case studies, centering on its use by directors, production designers, costume designers and cinematographers. Using objects, the gallery shows how color can be used to " drive a film's narrative, create meaning, determine character traits and moods, and establish time and place ".

Finally, the "Color Arcade" section pushes the boundaries and is dedicated to interactivity. This participatory space immerses visitors in a futuristic design inspired by neon cinema, allowing them to physically interact with color through the movement of their bodies. This magnificent curatorial experience ends with a nod to the Stargate corridor in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), transporting the audience into a colorful universe.

" COLOR IN MOTION: CHROMATIC EXPLORATIONS OF CINEMA"
ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES
6067 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES (USA)
UNTIL JULY 13, 2025
ACADEMYMUSEUM.ORG