Technical Instruction | Colour Palettes

The use of colour in film as the potential to create an emotional, psychological and even physical response in the audience, usually subconsciously.

Check out this video below about how David Fincher utilises colour in his films.

Using colour in film can also help build harmony or elements of tension within a shot/scene. When telling a story, colours:

• Elicit psychological reactions.

• Draw focus to significant details.

• Set the tone of the movie.

• Represent character traits.

• Show changes or arcs in the story.

Colour Psychology in Film

Red:

Love, passion, violence, danger, anger, power.

Pink:

Innocence, sweetness, femininity, playful, empathy, beauty.

Orange:

Warmth, sociability, friendly, happiness, exotic, youth.

Yellow:

Madness, sickness, insecurity, obsessive, idyllic, naive.

Green:

Nature, immaturity, corruption, ominous, darkness, danger.

Blue:

Cold, isolation, cerebral, melancholy, passivity, calm.

Purple:

Fantasy, ethereal, eroticism, illusory, mystical, ominous.

Colour Palettes in Film

There are multiple ways to achieve a well-balanced colour palette in film.

The most common palette combinations used in film are:

• The complementary colour scheme

• The monochromatic colour scheme

• The analogous colour scheme

• The triadic colour scheme

Using single colour colour schemes have the potential to hold a much deeper meaning however, making use of a more substantial colour palette is much more effective in creating a thematic context and communicating it to the audience.