At this point, black and white cinematography is nothing more than an aesthetic and creative choice. It’s much the same as grading the footage a certain way, or using a particular LUT<\/a>. It’s not a requirement caused by limitations or necessity\u2014it’s a creative direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, one could argue that it’s the most extreme example of this particular type of color grading aesthetic direction\u2014to altogether remove all saturation from your image to evoke a certain mood or emotion from the audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually that mood is nostalgia, and black and white is used to illicit a feeling of the past. It’s inherently more cinematic<\/strong>, hearkening back to the origins of filmmaking and the silver screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, does this type of imagery only exist to trick the audience into thinking the film itself is more substantial or artistic than it is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps. Let’s discuss!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is that some of the most beautiful examples of cinematography in the past decade are black and white films. Take for example Roma<\/em><\/a>, The Lighthouse<\/em><\/a>, Cold War<\/em><\/a>, Mank<\/em><\/a>, or Ida<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, when a movie is greenlit for black and white, everybody pulls out all of the stops to ensure the visuals match the ambition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Take Mank<\/a><\/em>, for instance. The theme and story of the film lend themselves to a vintage, black-and-white look. There’s a specific reason for the film to be shot in this way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Director David Fincher<\/a> and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt<\/a> worked with RED<\/a> to provide a “monochrome” camera (the RED Helium Monochrome<\/a>) that can only shoot black and white. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, even though it’s shot digitally, a color version of the film doesn’t exist anywhere. That’s commitment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Argument for Black and White Films<\/h2>\n\n\n\n