Symbols in Films

A basic guide to symbols and the meaning behind them in films.

Symbolism in Films

Objects

Audio

Camera Shots

Tempo

Setting

Colour

Symbols

1. Red: anger, love, passion, heat, danger. For example: use of red in Carrie (Stephen King), symbolises the loss of control, innocence and power
2. White: purity, innocence, cleanliness, marriage, truth. In the Hunger Games series, white is used in it's opposite meaning - evil, the evil president uses white roses as his signature. This in itself is a symbol - the government is supposed to protect it's people, but in this case it is the antagonist.
3. Green: nature, healing, strength, nurturing, pride. Due to its correlation to nature, green is one of the most peaceful and living of colours. It symbolises life. In Harry Potter, green is the colour aligned with pride, ambition and power.
4. Blue: calm, energy, sadness, loss, ambivalence. In films it is used to convey nightime and sadness. In 'Inside Out' the Sadness emotion is blue in skin colour, emotion and dress sense.
5. Purple: royalty, loyalty, unity, magic, spirituality. Purple is the combination of red and blue, two colours with starkly different reasons, brought together to create a completely new meaning. Avatar makes use of violet for the species' unification glow. Marvel films, mainly the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy use purple in space, magic, etc

The meaning of colour

Colour is the most basic of symbols and it is universal.Different colours represent different things and this can be represented in different ways; lighting, clothing, paint, background. See right for a few colours and their meanings.

Colour

• The Hunger Games - The Mockingjay: the Revolution, hope, strength, resistance, war. What starts as a gift between sisters becomes a symbol to the whole country of breaking the system
• Coraline - Buttons: entrapment, danger, false hope, pain. Buttons for eyes start out as a quirk of the Other World, but end up being a symbol for the idea that something that seems appealing isn't always so and may hide hidden danger.
• Star Wars - the Rebel Alliance symbol: a specific symbol, like a logo. The mark of the resistance/rebels, shown in contrast with the Empire's symbol. Good versus bad.
• The Great Gatsby - the Green light at the end of the dock: symbolic of money, enduring and an unreachable goal for the less privileged.

Object significance can be based on a pre-existing symbolic meaning, OR, on a meaning created by the story within the film.The white roses in the Hunger Games symbolise the president like mentioned in Colours, this is a pre-established symbol in the story. But the symbol of a dove is a universal symbol of peace. See right for a few films and their symbols and meanings.

Objects

1. The Hunger Games, District 12 Scene.The characters arrive in District 12 to find its been destroyed, bombed. The buildings are gone, there are skeletons scattered everywhere. But amongst all this, white roses have been showered on top of the rubble to let us know - the president was behind the destruction.

2. Django Unchained, blood sprayed on white cotton growing in a field. In a film about slavery in America, following one freed slave who still faces the same treatment as when he was still enslaved, he seeks to revenge on the most malicious slave owners in the land. A particularly memorable scene is the spray of blood flecks (blood of slave owners) on white cotton buds growing in a field. Not only does the red on white tie into the concept of the destruction of innocence, but also the suffering endured by the slaves. Cotton symbolises cotton-picking, one of the main tasks assigned to the African American slaves.

The setting of a film/scene/moment all symbolise something whether its to the character, their thoughts or the event. And into this ties colour and objects too. What colour is the background? What objects are present? All of this is a call back to the main symbols of the film.

Setting

Pace. This sentence moves fast. Short words. Quick time. But this one will move more slowly, because its longer. This one will move even more slowly because it's the longest sentence and requires the most continuous attention. And it's the same in a film. When things happen quickly, add in fast paced music, maybe a few flashing colours, only a few lines of dialogue, the tempo is considered fast. When the scene takes a while to develop, the music is slow or there's not at all; lighting is consistent or changes slowly, that's when you're feeling a slow tempo. This impacts the overall effect the film has on you and your emotions. A chasing scene must be quick or you'll feel as though someone's getting caught, grief must be slow because it's a long felt emotion. That's the symbolism of tempo, it's almost subliminal in that you don't always consciously notice it, but your body; your heart, your emotions - they notice it.

Tempo

A close up shot is just what it's called, shows the subject filling up the screen, zommed in. It's symbolism is in it's focus. There is a reason we are being showed this object in such large detail, we are supposed to see everything about it. A close up of a person's face can show hidden or immediate emotions, which they may then try to hide or change. But the fact we have been shown this means it is important to the story to know they feel differently.

Close-Up Shot

A medium shot shows a tighter view of a scene. A person's general emotions, body language, etc are easily seen. A medium shot is the most common of shots for media as they are able to provide a necessary amount of information. It generally spans about waist up. There's no specific symbolism of this type of shot, rather, what it displays.

Medium Shot

A long or wide shot shows everything visible in a scene. The audience may see all the action in the shot, a character's full body is normally visible in a long shot. Scenery and the landscape are usual examples of long shots. Symbolises the bigger picture.

Long/Wide Shot

Camera Shots

There's a reason why films have songs written specifically for them. Music can make or break a moment. It can announce things, explain things, set the tempo, set the symbolism, set the emotion, tell us what something means, tell us to expect something. Composers' jobs are to watch scenes and compose music based on the events within so with an orchestral soundtrack, the music has literally been written for the scene. 'Safe and Sound' was written by Taylor Swift for The Hunger Games as a lyrical compliment to the film - it was played in the credits and explains the contents of the film. Shallow, written for a Star is Born won the 2019 Oscar for Best Original song while Let it Go for Frozen won the 2014 one.

Audio