Jan Ralske: Perception of Black-and-White Pictures

From American Cinematographer, A Teutonic Love Triangle by Andrew O. Thompson (June 1998)

Mindful of this dilemma, the filmmakers left their backers unaware of their black-and-white blueprint until the 11th hour. However, this almost put them in the position of having to re-conceptualize the picture's art direction for capture on color celluloid. Attests Ralske,

"One TV station was not going to let us do it, arguing that they don't even broadcast Citizen Kane before one in the morning because it's in black-and-white; they immediately lose their audience, which thinks it's just some cheap old film. But the experience we've had from festivals and 'normal' audiences is an appreciation for the aesthetics of black-and-white. Nowadays there are music video clips in black-and-white, so there's not as much of a problem with kids who are 16-- they don't associate black-and-white with old fashions. Maybe this is a hopeful trend, because even in Europe you don't see many 35mm black-and-white films that make it past the festival route."

- Jan Ralske, Director of Not a Love Song