Design in The Movies: Bridge of Spies

This begins NCD’s series study­ing design in movies, tele­vi­sion and com­mer­cials. Besides being fun, if you are pro­mot­ing a prod­uct, brand­ing or re-brand­ing your­self, it’s impor­tant to study how visu­als have been used to influ­ence and affect the con­sumer – one seg­ment of which is also your customer!

Design in the movies: Bridge of spies

It’s true that you only have one chance to make the most of that first impres­sion. Whether it’s a face to face meet­ing, or some­one click­ing on your web­page, scrolling past your social media posts, dri­ving by your bill­board, or see­ing your ad. Uti­liz­ing the design ele­ments to their fullest is crit­i­cal to attract­ing and keep­ing the favor­able atten­tion of your clients.

An excel­lent exam­ple of how is the award win­ning Dream­Works Pictures/Fox 2000 Pic­tures’ “Bridge of Spies, ” star­ring Tom Han­ks, direct­ed by Spiel­berg.  Inspired by a true sto­ry, it tells of a Brook­lyn lawyer whose stel­lar nego­ti­at­ing skills land him smack dab into help­ing the CIA obtain the release of a U‑2 pilot dur­ing the Cold War.

Take a look at the Trailer:

Click to play

Did you notice that the cos­tumes all blue, grey, off white?

How about the steely blue wash over the entire film that cre­ates a psy­cho­log­i­cal sense of the cold war era, and also pro­motes the somber­ness. That tar­nished look accents the aus­ter­i­ty in the pris­ons, lent itself to a sense of ten­sion and harsh­ness in scenes shot in Rus­sia, and gave extra chill to the choice to shoot in rain, fog, cloudy days, snow and cold. Even the cars lack col­or. In one scene, a woman wears a print dress but notice the flow­ers are small, (not bold, which would be more cheer­ful), and a dull yel­low against the ever present blue.

All lend them­selves to a sense of con­stric­tion and econ­o­my — and you feel it, whether you know it or not — and helps tell the sto­ry, cre­ate the mood, and elic­it the desired response.

Did you also notice the steel type movie cred­its? As these appeared, they grad­u­al­ly fad­ed on the sides. By this design choice, it’s as if they cre­at­ed a con­nec­tion to the lives dis­ap­pear­ing because of the war.

Now, take a look at it again now that you are more aware of these ele­ments at work! Do you see things in the realm of design you didn’t before read­ing this?

Do you want to bet­ter reach your customer’s heart, pique their curios­i­ty, or tap into — or actu­al­ly cre­ate — their want or need for your prod­uct or ser­vice? Con­tact Nicte Cre­ative Design. It’s our specialty!

About the Author

As Marketing Consultant, Rochelle brings the element of written media to NCD’s branding process, creating the link between the design that connects emotionally with your clients and the message that embodies the intention. Her extensive background in entertainment and media, working with all the major television, cable and radio stations across the country for over 20 years, fuels her ability to craft messages that appeal to each unique market.

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