Fish Tank Film Analysis

Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold, is a film that relies heavily on style. One such element of style that is particularly important to this film is its color. In the majority of the film warm and bright colors compose many scenes. Orange and yellow dominate in scenes set on the first floor of Mia’s home and at night. Light blues fill in the sky, doorways, and many other components of the set. Mia and Conor’s clothing, though not exuberant, always feature components made up of light colors such as whites, greys, and light blues. This color scheme shifts dramatically on the night that Conor and Mia have sex. From this scene on skies are overcast and grey, color schemes dull, and character’s costumes darken. The only time the bright color scheme …show more content…
One instance that exemplifies this occurs on the night of the encounter. When Conor enters the house with Mia’s inebriated mother, he is wearing a white shirt with light green checkers on it. Soon after this, Mia meets Conor in the living room and he is wearing a notably darker blue shirt. Mia shows him the dance that she has prepared for her audition and they proceed to have sex. After this, the only other costume that we see Conor wearing is a dark green button up shirt. Prior to his sexual encounter with Mia, Conor is almost exclusively depicted wearing white or off-white shirts. Of the eight costumes he wears in this portion of the film, six contain these colors. Mia’s costumes also shift color in the latter portion of the film. Her initial costumes contain some black elements but are predominately composed of white and grey. However, near the end of the film she wears a black sweatshirt over a black top and the last costume she is seen wearing in the film is completely black. In addition to this completely black costume, Mia bears heavy mascara, resulting in a face masked by black streaks when she cries near the end. Furthermore, costume color shifts in background characters. This is revealed in many scenes where Mia is walking outside. In the sequence in the last quarter of the film where Mia is trying to find Conor, Mia’s self-proclaimed boyfriend is …show more content…
Once bright green grass seems to turn patchy as the mood of the film shifts. Dead brown grass is first visible when Mia jumps the fence into Conor’s backyard. Dull colored grass is made visible again in a larger quantity when Mia kidnaps Conor’s daughter Kira and leads her into a field. The field is vast and brown, bordering a body of water that appears to be almost grey in color. Another aspect of nature that changes color with the mood of the film is the sky. In the majority of Fish Tank the sky is clear and a shade of blue. However, after the night Mia and Conor have sex, the color of the sky during the day is always shown as a shade of grey. This is made especially apparent in scenes that feature copious amounts of sky such as the sequence where Mia kidnaps Kira and the sequence where Mia locates Conor’s house. This sequence where Mia is looking for Conor also includes an extensive amount of grey imagery. As she walks and tries to contact Conor she passes grey buildings, signs, cars, and pavement. The three shots in which Mia is waiting for a train during this sequence are particularly grim in their color scheme. The first shot cuts to an entirely grey fogged up window before panning right to reveal an equally grey pavilion. The second two shots show more of the grey station, including the arrival of a bluish grey lined train. In the former quarters of the film outdoor colors were