Color is one way directors portray important themes and ideas. Through these colors the director can convey an underlying message or focus the audience’s attention on a key object. While watching a movie, the audience is subconsciously drawing conclusions due to the use of specific certain color palettes, without color a director’s targeted message would not be as clear. This tactic is very prevalent throughout Nicolas Spark’s movie, The Notebook. A young couple, Allie and Noah, fall madly in love despite the socioeconomic barriers the pair faces. Years later the couple gets married, as time goes by Allie slowly loses her memory and the audience is unsure about what will happen to their relationship. It is apparent that Allie loves Noah due to the color outfits she is wearing because most of her clothing is red. By looking at clothing color, the audience can draw conclusions about how the characters are feeling towards each other. This is important because without the use of specific colors it would not be as clear to the audience that Allie and Noah unconditionally love each other. 

Clothing color distinguishes a character’s socioeconomic status. In one particular scene Allie brings Noah home to her millionaire northern family, her parents question Noah about his job and income; he says minimum wage and the family snarls. Without listening to the scene the audience is capable of realizing Noah does not belong in that social setting due to the color of his apparel. All the wealthy guests are dressed in all white, whereas, Noah is wearing all black. This visual technique successfully demonstrates to the audience that Noah does not belong in this social scene because his black clothing contrast with the white clothing. This technique is important to the audience because without the contrast in clothing colors, the gap in wealth would not be as apparent to the viewers. The director chose to represent their contrasting lifestyles through color, it shows how unconditionally Allie and Noah love each other, no wealth gap can come between their relationship. The director successfully established the fact that Noah lives a different lifestyle than Allie and without dressing the actors in contrasting clothes the director would not have portrayed this difference in class so successfully. 

Many colors are seen throughout the film, red is used during the movie to symbolize the unconditional love Allie and Noah feel towards one another, they teach the audience what unconditional love should be. In one scene Allie and Noah are seen at the beach swimming in the ocean, Allie is wearing a red two-piece bathing suit. The director dressed Allie in a red bathing suit rather than another color because it draws the audience’s attention to Allie, the viewers are more prone to notice her actions because she stands out from the pale gray background colors. Another example of the way the color red is used is when Noah asks Allie if he could read her a romance story, she is wearing a red collared dress signifying she truly does remember Noah subconsciously and she still loves him. This lets the viewers know that Allie still has feelings for Noah no matter how severe her Alzheimer’s gets, proving unconditional love. Without the red dress it would not have been so clear to the audience that Allie does in fact subconsciously remember Noah and she does not completely forget their love story. Red is closely associated with the theme of love, therefore, dressing in Allie in this color supports the argument of the character’s feelings. Without the color red in this scene, the director would not have been as successful when trying to portray the character’s emotions towards one another. This technique is beneficial for the audience because the bright red clothing makes it obvious that Allie and Noah are still in love, if the actors were dressed in different colors, the director’s argument would not be as strong. 

In numerous scenes the color blue in water is seen, the director included blue throughout the movie to show the freedom Allie and Noah feel when they are together. For instance, after Allie’s parents were critiquing Noah’s income they decided to go canoeing in a blue canoe. This color indicates to the audience that when Noah and Allie are together they are free from outside judgement.  Putting Allie and Noah in blue shows the audience the couple is defying the odds and attempting to make their relationship work. Another example of the way blue was used is in the blue shutters on the house Noah builds for Allie. Dressing the house in these shutters signifies to the audience that Allie and Noah’s relationship is free to progress in their house, no outside critiques can change the unconditional love the couple feels. The director used blue in a successful way throughout the film because it makes Allie and Noah seem as if they have a forbidden love but they love each other enough to overcome the odds against them.

In conclusion, by looking at the color clothing the characters are wearing, the audience will notice certain emotions the characters are feeling. This is important because without the use of color it would not be as obvious to the audience that Allie and Noah unconditionally love one another. The director uses contrasting colors to demonstrate the difference in social class between the couple. This wealth gap creates a type of forbidden love due to the outside judgements the pair face. Furthermore, the use of red throughout the film directs the audience’s attention to certain social ques Allie is making towards Noah, it also represents the unconditional love she feels subconsciously. Blue was used by the director to show the freedom Allie and Noah feel when they are together, they no longer worry about outside judgements. Clothing is an effective way to show emotions in a film, without these clothing colors the director would not have been as successful when showing the audience that Noah and Allie unconditionally love each other. It is difficult in a movie to show emotions through words, especially when one character can no longer remember her husband. Therefore, the use of colors in an effective way to show the audience how the characters are feeling.  
