TheHive25 Colour

Features
create an image, in a
similar way to the old
tinting process, that
surprises, shocks, or
gives a sense of calm
to viewers. The first
use of this was in O
Brother, Where Art
Thou? (2000), where
Roger Deakins used
digital technology to
change the season of
the film from spring to
autumn, tinting
everything in a dusty
auburn. This method
has been used many
times over the last 20
years, largely in the
tinting of scenes
orange that take place
in third world
countries or, like Mad
Max: Fury Road, an
apocalyptic future.
One of the most
prevalent uses of
colour is in the use of
colour palettes, seen
from the likes of
Ingmar Bergman, to
the Marvel films of
today. Directors again
used our ingrained
psychological
responses to colours
by building colours
into their set designs
and story, often
building their entire
projects around only
two or three colours.
We see this in the
beautiful orange and
yellow tinges of Days
of Heaven’s sunsets, to
signify the disconnect
between the natural
and the human world
in Koyaanisqatsi, and to
11
show an exploration of
danger in Blade Runner
2049. A method used
but often complained
about in many
blockbusters
nowadays is a palette
of orange and blue, as
complementary
colours tend go well
together, more
successfully in Amelie
and Vertigo’s greens
and reds, and La La
Land’s purples and
yellows. Perhaps the
most gorgeous and
aesthetically pleasing
use of the colour
palette in modern
cinema is in Wes
Anderson’s
filmography;
Anderson and his
cinematographer have
mastered the use of
soft, pastel colours and
the incorporation of
colour to the set
design to create
visually stunning
images which often
juxtapose the darker
themes of the films, for
example in Moonrise
Kingdom and The
Grand Budapest Hotel.
Another, and perhaps
the most interesting
method, is the use of
monochromatic colour
schemes in films. In
this case, films are
entirely shot in one
particular hue or in
very dark tones, often
making more
saturated colours
stand out or show an
imbalance in the world
the filmmaker has
created. The colour
red, which is shown to
give us the greatest
emotional response, is
often this colour that
contrasts the theme of
the rest of the film. In
Kieslowski’s Three
Colors trilogy, each
film is based around
the colours blue, white
and red, each scene
holding some
inspiration from these
hues. Sin City skilfully
reserves colour only
for blood and
important objects
within the world,
everything else
shrouded in darkness.
We see this in how
colour represents the
two characters
connection in Mary
and Max, obsession in
American Beauty,
standing out in the
crowd in The Red
Balloon, and the
colour’s tremendous
emotional effect in
Schindler’s List, when
the only colour shown
is on the jacket of a
small girl. In In The
Mood For Love, when
together the main
characters are
surrounded by reds,
showing the passion
that exists, however
when apart we return
to the grey world of
solidarity.
Colours in film can be
used to emphasize
particular characters
or objects, to
differentiate locations
or to attack us at our
emotion cores. Films
can associate colours
with characters, places
or emotions, and can
show transitions in a
character’s feelings or
a shift in the films
tone. It is one of the
most important parts
of visual storytelling
and sets the
groundwork for the
emotional state of the
film.
▉ Louis Russell