Attack of the Potato Clock – Lighting and Colour Analysis
After our group got together and watched the animated short we started talking about who should do which part of the PowerPoint, I volunteered to do the use of lighting and colour.
The short very effectively uses colour to help make objects and characters stand out in the scenes, as well as set the mood and tone right from the start. There is a lot of primary colour used throughout the short — the school and kitchen are shades of blue, while the Potato Clock itself is a yellow brown colour; there is also the blood splatter at the end being bright red.
The blues and greys of the school are very cold and oppressive, almost like a prison. It makes the school itself seem like a threatening place regardless of the potato massacres happening inside. There is also the contrast of a place usually thought of as being a happy place, a place for children to learn and play being portrayed in such a threatening manner. It helps add to the horror elements of the story.
The colour of the chef’s uniform is also blue but this time with a bit stronger colour and saturation. The blue reminds me of the uniform worn by police or the military, it gives off a very strong and intimidating aura, the chef seeming like some kind of authority figure. The chef clearly has a degree of power and strength over the potatoes so having her appear more like an oppressive force means the story is laid out a bit clearer. The film is silent so having the environment and designs tell the story is essential and this short does that very well.
The potato’s colours are very helpful, there is a lot of character movement in this short so being able to quickly find the main character in a shot is helpful. The yellows are bright enough that they stand out clearly against all the greys and blues, and the little bits of green help. It helps the scenes flow a lot easier.
The splash of red blood at the end not only fills out our missing spot in the primary colours, it also acts as a bit of a reminder of this short’s horror themes. The short is a horror comedy, but the sudden death of the chef and the splatter of blood really remind the viewer of the horror elements. It is also very memorable, there is little to no red in the entire short so having it appear so suddenly and violently is certainly going to stick in peoples minds.
The lighting is one of the things that brings the most horror elements to the short film. Lighting is incredibly important to get right in a horror movie, it can help make scenes more tense, add to atmosphere or even just hide the monster for building suspense. The darkness of the school makes it seem abandoned and barren. It is a strange juxtaposition to how we usually see schools, usually happy and colorful places. Combined with the washed out blues and greys it makes the whole atmosphere more claustrophobic.
The animators also have a bit of fun with some shots using lighting to help create more of a scary atmosphere, while also making some genuinely unsettling images. They use some nice flickering lights in one shot to make it seem like the Potato Clock is moving incredibly fast, and in another show we see the Potato Clock from the Chef’s point of view. It is partly hidden in shadows before lunging out at the camera. These little bits of lighting used alongside other elements of film language really help strengthen the horror parts of this short film. The film is a horror/comedy, a light parody of films like Attack of the Killers Tomatoes and Frankenstein, so while it still tries (and succeeds) to be funny it still pays homage to those older films through the lighting and shots.
I think that even though this short film is very effective at being a comedy, it does not fall behind when it comes to the horror elements. It uses colour and light to create an oppressive and unsettling atmosphere by draining the colour and life out of a familiar location and creates some genuinely creepy feeling shots using the shadows.