The art of sound pictures (1930)

26o THE ART OF SOUND PICTURES throwing away, or something would be done to put natural colours on the screen. Moreover, if the indicated psycho-neural associations between primary colours and primary emotions can be substantiated, the emotional effects upon the audience might practically be dictated, throughout an entire film, merely by emphasizing the appropriate colours in each portion of the play. \Vhen motion pictures reach such a colour development, they will possess an esthetic value enabling them to portray realistic, homely emotions that now have to be left off the screen altogether because they fall quite flat when portrayed in black-and-white. Also, the emotions of greater masses of people might be reached and improved through this medium than possibly could be touched through any other.^ The time seems to have come when motion picture producers are realizing the added emotional value of color. In one motion picture studio, as this book goes to press, a color program of approximately one picture per month is being put into effect. Stories for these twelve pictures will be selected primarily on the basis of their color possibilities. Already, several stories which had previously been accepted for production have been scrapped, and the story department of this producer has received orders to obtain new stories especially adapted to the color program. In another studio, orders have been given to the scenario department to obtain an original story especially adapted to utilize the color background of Yosemite Park. In practically all Hollywood production studios, similar story adaptations to color are being made. Many musical revues, college stories, and sporting youth pictures are being planned, largely with a view to their color possibilities. The motion picture writer, while he cannot be expected to master completely all the technical details of the two 1 W. M. Marston, “Primary Colours and Primary Emotions,” Psyche, October, 1927.