“It’s easier to make color look good, but it’s harder to put it at the service of history. “Roger Deakins
At the beginning of cinema, in the early twentieth century, the use of color (dye, chrominance, dye) in a film was a deliberate choice of filmmakers, and this could be done through the use of filters or through a meticulous process. of the painting, every individual painting (think how long it should take!). Even in the early days of film history, the potential of color to communicate and manipulate the story was already well understood and today it is more important than ever to understand how color can be used not only to create a beautiful image, but also to help tell your story.
- This video from The Verge explains how filmmakers use color to influence viewers’ emotions.
- Although the video offers little more than a good introduction to color theory.
- But limited (and before saying yes.
- The song did more to change the tone of the scene than color correction).
- Indicates interesting information about how we feel and interpret color emotionally.
First, our emotional reactions to colors depend on several different factors. Cultural norms, traditions and personal experiences change the meaning of colors and their meaning for each individual. For example, an American may feel a sense of patriotism, pride, or bravery when looking at the colors red, white, and blue, while a citizen of Ghana and Portugal may feel this when looking green, red, and gold.
Contextually, colors change their effects depending on the situation in which they appear. Can red, for example, mean? Love?? Passion? AND
Although emotional responses to colors vary widely by culture and context, there are fairly universal interpretations for many colors, which are then displayed on Plutchik’s emotion wheel:
This universalization of emotional responses to colors can be seen in many other real-life situations. Basically, the entire advertising and advertising industry uses colors to generate feelings among your audience. There is also the use of colors as therapy, where color can help transmit more controlled mental states. Obviously, we won’t have time to talk about all this, but we have to recognize the power of color in our lives. Obviously, the power of color is also well regarded and well received in cinema.
However, before we learn how cinema uses color to help narratives, we must first have a deeper idea of how we perceive colors not only emotionally, but also physically and psychologically. This episode of PBS offers an interesting perspective on this specific topic.
Color has the potential to create a tone, a meaning for the frame, and can change the meaning of a scene, it can alert the audience to something important in the framing. Isn’t it just an aesthetic tool? Understand how the public will react. Emotionally, different colors can add a lot of dimension and depth to their story, all without the characters uttering a single word of dialogue. Harness the power of color to create a unique and challenging story.