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. This tactic is very prevalent throughout Nicolas Spark’s, The Notebook. A young couple, Allie and Noah, fall madly in love and are inseparable, years later the pair gets married. As time goes by Allie slowly loses her memory. It is apparent to the audience that Allie loves Noah due to the red outfits she is wearing in two specific scenes in the film. In addition, contrasting colors informs the audience of conflicting socioeconomic classes. By looking at clothing color, we can see how the clothing reflects the emotions the characters are feeling towards each other. This is important because it makes the love they are feeling and the character status apparent to the audience. 

In one scene Allie and Noah are seen at the beach swimming in the water, Allie is wearing a red two-piece bathing suit with a matching headband. She is confessing her love for Noah and saying how she is a bird which means Noah is also a bird. The director dressed Allie in a red bathing suit rather than another color because it draws the audience’s attention to Allie, she stands out from the pale background colors in this red bathing suit. Since she is wearing red the audience is closely monitoring what she is saying and how she is acting towards Noah, they are more likely to pick up on her body language and social ques. By dressing her in a red outfit, it contributes to the overall theme of love, because red is closely associated with love; it is easier for the viewers to recognize how much Allie loves Noah due to the color of her bathing suit. Without the color in this scene the director would not have been as successful when trying to portray the idea of their love for each other. This technique is beneficial for the audience because the red clothing makes it obvious that Allie and Noah are still in love. If the actors were not dressed in the colors, the theme of love would not have been so prevalent throughout this scene. 

Throughout the film an elderly couple is seen in a nursing home. In one particular scene the elderly man wants to read a romance story to the elderly lady, she has Alzheimer’s and cannot remember anything, however, the nurse urges her that she likes this man and should listen to the story. The elderly couple is Allie and Noah, however, Allie can no longer remember Noah or their love story. In this scene she is seen wearing a red collared dress which symbolizes her love for Noah. She does not remember who Noah is when he asks to read to Allie, however, the red dress she is wearing signifies she truly does remember Noah subconsciously and she still loves him. The director dressed Allie in the color red because it makes the theme of love apparent to the audience, it lets the viewers know that Allie still has feelings for Noah no matter how severe her Alzheimer’s gets. 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. This clothing color theme successfully contributes to the overall message of the couple’s eternal love for each other. 

In addition, color in clothing also 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 how much money he makes; he says minimum wage and the family snarls. However, without listening to the scene the audience is capable of realizing Noah does not belong in that social setting due to the clothing he is wearing. All the wealthy guests were wearing all white whereas Noah is wearing all black. This visual technique successfully demonstrates to the audience that Noah does not belong in this social setting 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 audience. The director chose to contrast the colors to represent their contrasting lifestyles. 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. 

In conclusion, the director uses red in Allie’s outfits to emphasize the love she feels towards Noah, the use of red clothing makes it obvious to the viewer how Allie is feeling; the director successfully portrayed the idea of love in the film through the use of colors. When Allie is wearing a red bathing suit she confesses her love for Noah, it is obvious to the viewer through her clothing how she truly feels. In addition, after Allie loses her memories of Noah she is still wearing red, this shows that even though Allie may forget Noah in the moment, she still loves him deep inside and remembers their time together. Furthermore, the director uses contrasting colors to distinguish the clashing socioeconomic classes at dinner. Clothing is an effective way to show emotions in a film Without these clothing colors the director would not have been as successful when conveying certain themes throughout the film. 
