On the walls of the cave in Altamira in Spain are found paintings, boldly sketched in three colors by Paleolithic man some fifty thousand years ago. These prehistoric paintings are quite artfully executed, and show that the artist possessed a fine sense of color and a desire to indicate motion as well as form. Various animals are depicted with the use of a red clay, an ochre earth, and a black pigment. One picture shows a wild boar in a standing position. In another picture, nearby, to show the same animal in a gallop, two sets of legs have been used. This ingenious method of showing action indicates the inherent desire of the artist to show motion in color. This ambition has come down through the intervening years to the present day. Now we see the culmination of that idea-motion pictures in color. From a technical standpoint, motion pictures have been steadily tending toward more complete realism. In the early days, pictures were a mere mechanical process of imprinting light upon film and projecting that result upon a screen. Then came the perfection of detail- more accurate sets and costumes- more perfect photography.The advent of sound brought increased realism through the auditorysense. The last step- color, with the addition of the chromaticsensations, completed the process. Now motion pictures are ableto duplicate faithfully all the auditory and visual sensations.This enhanced realism enables us to portray life and nature as itreally is, and in this respect we have made definite strides forward.A motion picture, however, will be merely an accurate record ofcertain events unless we guide this realism into the realms of art.To accomplish this it becomes necessary to augment the mechanicalprocesses with the inspirational work of the artist. It is not enoughthat we put a perfect record upon the screen. That record must bemolded according to the basic principles of art.The principles of color, tone, and composition make painting afine art. The same principles will make a colored motion picture awork of art. The precision and detail of Holbein and Bougereau,the light effects of Rembrandt, the atmosphere and arrangements ofGoya, the color of Velasquez, the brilliant sunlight of Sorolla, themysterious shadows of Innes- all these artistic qualities can eventually be incorporated into motion pictures through the medium ofcolor. The design and colors of sets, costumes, drapes, and furnishings must be planned and selected just as an artist would choose thecolors from his pallette and apply them to the proper portions ofhis painting.In order to apply the laws of art properly in relation to color, wemust first develop a color sense-in other words, we must become"color conscious." We must study color harmony, the appropriateness of color to certain situations, the appeal of color to theemotions. Above all, we must take more interest in the colorfulbeauties that lie about us- the iridescent brilliance of the butterfly'swing, the subtle tones of a field of grain, the violet shadows of thedesert, the sunset's reflection in the ocean. By such observationand study we develop a sense of color appreciation and train our eyeto notice an infinite variety of hues.Serious cases of color blindness are comparatively rare; yet,because the average person is not trained in color appreciation, adecided lack of color consciousness is not at all uncommon. In orderto appreciate operatic or classical music, people study music appreciation. Color appreciation, as a study, is almost entirely neglected,although color plays a most important and continuous part in our lives. The average person listens to music for only a short portionof the time, but every moment of the day he looks upon some formof color.In the study of color appreciation we have two classes of objects.On the one hand, we have Nature, with its flowers, skies, trees, etc.;on the other hand, we have man-made objects of all kinds, includingart pictures. In the first class the color is already created, and itremains for us only to enjoy and appreciate. In the second classwe can exercise a certain amount of selectivity. Because of thegeneral lack of color knowledge, that selectivity is not always tempered with wisdom. If the color schemes of natural objects wereused as guides, less flagrant mistakes in color would occur. Theuse of black and white, however, to the complete exclusion of all color,is decidedly not in keeping with Nature's rules.Natural colors and lights do not tax the eye· nearly as much asman-made colors and artificial lights. Even when Nature indulgesin a riot of beautiful colors, there. are subtle harmonies which justifythose colors. These harmonies are often overlooked by the casualobserver. The most brilliant flower has leaves and stem of just theright hue to accompany or complement its gay color.As we grow in the understanding of color and its uses, we find thatour color appreciation develops simultaneously. All the betterthings in life require a color consciousness for their fullest appreciationand enjoyment.The eye is the organ of perception. The impulses of light received by the retina are transferred over the optic nerve path tothe brain, and we become conscious of light and dark, motion, form,and color. Vision is a sense of ancient lineage and of early development in the individual life. Its characteristic is the clearness andprecision of the data it furnishes the mind. Compared to sight,the other senses are dull and groping. It is the sense by which wereceive the greatest number of stimuli from the world about us. Itis the sense which most frequently affects the nervous system,dominates the attention, and stimulates the mind.It is a psychological fact that the nervous system experiences ashock when it is forced to adapt itself to any degree of unnaturalnessin the reception of external stimuli. The auditory sense would beunpleasantly affected by hearing an actor upon the screen speak hislines in a monotone. The mind would strive to supply the missinginflections. The same is true, but to a greater degree, of the visual sense. A super-abundance of color is unnatural, and has a mostunpleasant effect not only upon the eye itself, but upon the mind aswell. On the other hand, the complete absence of color is unnatural. The mind strives to supply the missing chromatic sensations, just asit seeks to add the missing inflections to the actor's voice. Themonotony of black, gray, and white in comparison with color is anacknowledged fact. It is almost a psychological axiom that monotony is the enemy of interest. In other words, that which is monotonous will not hold our attention as well as that which shows morevariety. Obviously, it is important that the eye be not assailedwith glaring color combinations, nor by the indiscriminate use ofblack and white. Again taking our cue from Nature, we find thatcolors and neutrals augment each other. The judicious use ofneutrals proves an excellent foil for color, and lends power andinterest to the touches of color in a scene. The presence of neutralsin our composition adds interest, variety, and charm to our colors.On the other hand, the presence of color in our picture gives addedforce to the neutrals, emphasizing the severity of black, the gloominess of" gray, the purity of white.From a broader point of view, the psychology of color is of immensevalue to a director. His prime motive is to direct and control thethoughts and emotions of his audience. The director strives toindicate a fuller significance than is specifically shown by the actionand dialog. If he can direct the theatergoer's imagination andinterest, he has fulfilled his mission. The psychology of color isall-important in this respect, and we shall now show the manner inwhich certain colors upon the screen will give rise to certain emotionsin the audience.We have found that by the understanding use of color we cansubtly convey dramatic moods and impressions to the audience,making them more receptive to whatever emotional effect the scenes,action, and dialog may convey. Just as every scene has some definitedramatic mood-some definite emotional response which it seeks toarouse within the minds of the audience-so, too, has each scene, eachtype of action, its definitely indicated color which harmonizes withthat emotion.The usual reaction of a color upon a normal person has been definitely determined. Colors fall into two general groups. Thefirst group is the "warm," and the second the "cool" colors. Red,orange, and yellow are called the warm or advancing colors.