If our emotions were a color, what would they be? Color is an essential part of how we experience the world, and has long been used by artists to convey powerful emotions. French director Thomas Blanchard uses the film medium to explore the meaning and psychological effects of colors in a surprising and unconventional way. His moving visual compositions have been created out of paint, oil, honey and cinnamon, which he mixes together and then films.
The Colors of Feelings from Thomas Blanchard on Vimeo.
Blanchard’s most recent film “Memories of Paintings” is an experimental dream-like video, where the compositions have been created out of paint, oil, milk and soap liquid. Though the result is a complex visual, the process Blanchard used to create it is relatively simple: First, he would pour milk onto a plate, and then draw shapes through the use of a syringe; planetoid-like balls are created with paint which is injected into a concoction of grapeseed oil and soap liquid. Blanchard then blows over the mixture to create movement and captures it with a macro lens.
Memories of Paintings from Thomas Blanchard on Vimeo.
Blanchard describes his kaleidoscopic films “The Colors of Feelings” and “Memories of Painting” as a translation of his current state of mind: “I consider it an analogy to feelings, such as joy, hatred, love, sadness, and so on. All these emotions come and stir together before they soothe and let go.” Whether you see rainbow-filled galaxies or flowing ocean waves of colorscapes, the filmmaker’s hypnotic abstractions have a different impact on each person who views them. To see more of his film work, visit Blanchard’s vimeo page here.
