The Cinematography Of Whiplash: The Use of Color

I've noticed a lot of posts on here about Whiplash which has only come to make me appreciate the movie even more. But i noticed something about the lighting of the movie which we can add to the list of things we love about the movie.

The movie is about someone who in pursuit of happiness , sets out on a path where happiness is interwoven with pain. This theme really carried across using the lighting, mainly the colours orange and green(and shades of it),with orange being happiness and green being pain. I'm sure redditors smarter will find that it is not that one dimensional,but for the sake of putting forward this theory,i'm going to have to say it is.

There are very clear and distinct instances where this idea is set up.The clear dichotomy of the colours and the emotions is set up for instance when Neiman first reaches his apartment , he walks through the corridor where there is a party going on , he is visibly distressed and annoyed, and the the hall is painted with green. As he reaches his front door, his relief, the lighting transitions into orange.

The day after Fletcher accepts Neiman , When he realizes he is late for the practice session, He rushes to the school and falls down the stairs, in pain, while being surrounded by green. Fletcher talks to Neiman outside the room before he plays for the first time, he is being pleasant , Neiman is happy, lit by orange. Shortly after, When Fletcher begins his abuse with the throwing of the chair, he goes from being lit by orange to hints of green appearing on his face as he approaches Nieman. The first time we see Neiman practicing, the picture of Buddy Rich being mounted on a wall of orange, after his first brush of abuse from Fletcher, the subsequent practice session, we see the room have green seeping through, especially the Buddy Rich photograph now mounted a wall that looks green due to the change in lighting. Neiman's first performance, in a stage lit by orange, his performance drenched in pain after the accident in the second stage, lit by orange.

I could go on and on, But it'd be more fun to discover it on your own. You're going to have to forgive me for any grammatical errors, English is not my first language. Many of my friends didn't notice it on their first viewing and they thought it was a fantastic way of telling the story and i just thought you guys would share the same sentiment.

Here are some pictures of some of the instances i'm talking about