Sausage Party Black and Chrome

Sausage Party: The Black and Chrome Edition

 

Directed by: Conrad Vernon
Story by: Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Evan Goldberg
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Selma Hayek, and Kristen Wiig

Source Material: 4KUHD
65" Samsung SUHD 9500 series
Samsung 7.1 Soundbar

The Reasons for the Selection

Sausage Party to me was screaming to be watched in black and white the moment I first saw the film. The characters look like they were straight out of the 1950's Let's All go to the Lobby commercial. A time when most of the television shows and films were shot in black and white. So the film had a very nostalgic feel that could lend itself well to being watched in black and white. I simply wanted to watch a 4KUHD film in black and white.

Initial Thoughts

Sausage Party was actually a breath of fresh air when released in August of this year. Finally a film was released that was not some animated films for kids, high budget remake, high budget sequel, or high budget comic film. For once, I was going to be able to go into the theater and watch a film with no expectations.
To be honest having no expectations was a relief. I am not comparing the film to a past film or special effects. I was there to just sit back and relax. When I walked out of the theater I was amazed by what I had just seen. I had just seen the most original film from Hollywood in years. The big fear leaving for me was Sausage Party going to be a popcorn film just good for one viewing or does the film have repeat viewing value and what could I do to possibly improve the film for a second viewing.

There were two possibilities to make Sausage Party a better film for the second viewing. One possibility was selecting Sausage Party for the roasting party in which a group of my friends get together and we throw random comments out at the screen to get ourselves to laugh similar to a Rocky Horror experience. The second possibility was turning the color or saturation to 0 and watching the film for a brand new experience. I chose the second option and had no clue about what I was getting myself into.

The New Experience for Better or Worse

The opening sequence let us just say was majestic, from the moment the lights turned on in the store. I thought I was in the middle of the warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark that just seems to keep going on and on. To be honest I never wanted this scene to end, but then something unexpected happened that I never thought about.

When I go to the grocery store, I identify most products by color that is how I can tell the difference between fruits and vegetables, types of liquor, and other common products we take for granted. Just look at Tequila bottle in the picture below for an example.

I never thought of how something so simple could change the film so much. I actually had to pay better attention in certain scenes to know which characters I was looking at. To be honest at times this was a bit annoying. That did not last too long after a few moments my eyes adjusted and felt like I was watching a regular movie. Then we got to the main characters of the film Frank the Sausage and Brenda the Bun.

The sequence was absolutely beautiful to watch instead of focusing on a billion different colors that my TV can produce. I was focused on many different shades of grey. The packaging of the buns and hot dogs were much more life like now. I felt as if the plastic became real that I could simply reach through the screen and eat the characters if I wanted to. What was clear the light, reflection, and overall shadows made this scene rock.

Then we fast forward a few minutes to where the buns and sausages are going to the promise land, but Honey Mustard has other ideas in store for our main characters. The explosion of flour in the store that will change everything for everyone. Look at this side by side comparison of Oreo finding a part of his body severed in the explosion.

 VS.

The top while you can tell what was going on did not achieve the same level of effect as the bottom image for me. In black and white, this sequence is just absolutely horrifying. Oreo looks like he is the middle of trench warfare during World War I. To be honest the most frightening part of that sequence was watching banana die in black and white.

The film would then progress on with Frank's main story inside the store and Barry's side story. For Frank's main story, Frank and Brenda are trying to get back to their packages, but Frank is freaked out about something Honey Mustard said and wants to know the truth. The only way for Frank to find out the truth is to talk with the unperishables.

The meeting with the unperishables was really when I was sold that this film should have been filmed in black and white. The scene looked like something out of Howdy Doody and again had a more frightening effect than if I was to watch the film in color. It was as if the unperishables story turned from a regular story into a ghost story sitting around the campfire. I was in absolute awe of what I was watching from then on. Until I reached a certain point in Barry's side story.

There is a point in the film to where Barry decides he needs to get back to Shopwell's to warn the others of the great beyond. Barry hitches a ride with Druggie. Druggie wants to get high on bath salts, so Druggie shoots himself up with liquid bath salts. Now in the film this is a sequence druggie starts to space out seeing a whole bunch of different colors appear in front of his and the food begins talking to him.

Now in color that is a fantastic scene to watch, but in black and white that scene loses all of it's magic and is just not the same. Now a few possible ideas came to my mind while watching the film in black and white on how to make this sequence a better experience.

However the main thought was, if I was the filmmaker how cool would this sequence be if slowly the characters and the items from around the room started to gain color color and limbs until Druggie is off of his high then everything loses color. To where both sides are freaking out in a one off color sequence across the film. Maybe this scene could have been something more, if the filmmakers went down that route.


However, that was really the only scene ruined by being in black and white. The rest of the sequences were fantastic in black and white. With only exception of the Stargate ending reference, to where our main characters decide to go to a different universe to confront their voices. In that sequence it would have been cool if the Stargate was colored one turning on. What was clear though that sequence looked as if it could had been in the original 1930's Frankenstein

Final Thoughts:

The overall viewing experience was actually better watching the film in black and white, but with a few small drawbacks the bath salts scene and having to focus harder on the product to tell what some things are. The characters did feel like they were from yesteryear and benefited being in black and white. I know for some people watching anything modern in black and white is a no no, but think of these characters like they are Woody from Toy Story. These characters really are out of Merrie Melodies or Silly Symphonies and deserved to be experienced in that light for at least on viewing. So do not be a Douche and give this film a shot in black and white.

Original Color Version 8.5/10
Black and White Version 9/10 for most sequences except the bath salt scene  4/10 needs to be scene in color or loses all magic.

Next Film:  Halloween

Any requests as well leave them in the comments field.

Welcome to Wonderland

Welcome to Wonderland

For over 30 years, I have been watching film in all different mediums. Growing up my dad introduced me to a lot of films sure most of them were in color, but every once in awhile a black and white film may pop in or we would watch an old black and white TV show together. The odd thing was when a film that was just made was filmed in black and white. I could not understand why, but my dad explained to me that the makers of the film are trying to achieve a desired effect for the mood of the film.

That left me wondering are some films better to watch in black and white than color? If that is the case why? I started exploring other films that were shot in black and white, but could have been easily shot in color. I also started messing around with the color setting on the television to watch certain films in black and white.

Some films shot in color that I watched in black and white vs. the color the film was shot in did improve the film. For whatever reason, whether it hid the imperfections of inferior film used to shot the film in or added a layer to the film. One thing was for sure with some films you could see alot more shading and make out more of what was going on when watching the film in black and white vs color.

That is why I am starting this blog. I am going to watch color films from all different eras, but in black and white to see how the film has changed and if the film is better to watch in black and white.