Had to watch the 1933, Victor Fleming's Wizard of Oz on monday as part of my prescribe elective lesson plan and I attended the follow up lecture this morning. Here are 3 interesting titbits i learned.

1. Color was used extensively in subtley guiding the viewers along the flow of the story. Sephia/monochrome was used when Dorothy was in Kansas; candy shades of bright color were apparent during the light and happy scenes, while dull and earth tones were used whenever the witch came out.

2. Sound motifs were EVERYWHERE in the film. Whenever, the grumpy old lady came out, whenever the wicked witch appeared, whenever the good witch of the north appear. Almost all of the major characters had a tune/jingle associated with them such that it pre-empts their arrival on screen.

3. The film itself was very very popular then, because it reflected a fantasy world that audiences could "escape" to. the Land of Oz, where everything was so bright, colorful and cheerful in contrast to America, which was undergoing the great depression at that time.

So next time, whenever any of you watch any movies, try and see if you can identify the artsy touches that the director subtley puts in.

In the words of my lecturer: "Don't just sit there and watch; engage it! Think!"