If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die: The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling

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Healthy, Ambivalent, and Vital Greens

Healthy Greens

Witness

1985. Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lucas Haas,

Alexander Godunov. Directed by Peter Weir.

Cinematography: John Seale; Production Design: Stan Jolly.

A Sense of Place and Belief

First Peter runs the movie in his head and asks, ;C;Why are these people here? What do they do? How can I represent them? “This is where I began to learn how to always make the visual count.

—John Seale

We see director Peter Weir’s and cinematographer John Seale’s collaborative process come to life as the film opens. He places us on the ground, so from our vantage point the billowing green wheat fields fill ...