Why So Blue; Or, How Color Helps Film Tell Its Emotional Story
In order to make a film, many different creative minds must come together. One of the most underrated and important jobs on any film set, comes from the mind of the cinematographer - head of the camera and lighting crews, and responsible for the overall visual aesthetic. One of the most important tasks of the cinematographer is to decide a film or television show’s color grading, or color palette, which is enhanced in post-production. The colors chosen at this moment are not only important to the film’s overall visual aesthetic, but also to the emotions they might add, to enrich the narrative. Based on color theory, color psychology, and film theory, the specific colors used in a film convey particular emotions which serve each story. To fully explore the role of color in film, we can examine a selection of films with distinct color palettes, in order to understand what they add to the emotional and thematic atmosphere.
To determine the meaning behind colors in film, a basic grasp of color theory is useful. The easiest place to begin is hue, or what the color is. This means that red is red, and purple is purple. The next concept is saturation, or, “the intensity of the color that doesn’t change how light or dark the color is”. This refers to the dominance of the hue and how rich the color is. After that comes lightness - this can also be referred to as tints or shades. A color’s lightness has nothing to do with the other two concepts; instead, this affects how light or dark the specific hue is. This explains the difference between light blue and dark blue. These three simple concepts are adopted to determine which color is used when. However, that doesn’t mean that these choices don’t hold value.
Color has always had significant meaning in human society. According to Faber Birren, since the dawn of civilization, people have believed that color holds divine meaning. Not only was color believed to have magical properties, but it has also been found by psychologists to be capable of impacting our emotions. Although color psychology research is largely neglected, it has been discovered that colors stimulate the human brain. When we see a certain color, we react to it emotionally, both because of what the color itself evokes, and what personal and emotional backstory we have that relates to said color. For example, the color red is commonly associated with passion, love, and desire, but also anger, aggression, and violence. To fully understand why colors excite such emotional, and sometimes even physical reactions, one must understand that it is not an exact science. In fact; “color is not objective but a subjective creation”. How we perceive certain colors comes from our own experiences and perception of reality. There are exceptions to this rule, however, such as numerous films that use certain colors to mean one definite thing.
In Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, the color red is used extensively. Whilst it could just be that Wong really likes the color red, when examining the narrative, it becomes evident that its repeated appearance adds something to the story. In the film, Su Li-zhen,( played by Maggie Cheung), and Chow Mo-wan, (played by Tony Leung), strike up a love affair built on their mutual loneliness. Despite their relationship being somewhat masochistic, with the two characters often roleplaying as their cheating spouse, they fall deeply in love. The color red is frequently used to represent their slow-burn romance, whether it be Su Li-zhen’s sensual cheongsam to accentuate her body, or Chow Mo-wan’s brothel-like silk curtains. The repetition of the color red adds to the tragic romance that takes place on the screen by acting as a non-verbal vessel for their doomed love story.
In Greta Gerwig’s 2019 remake of Little Women, the past and present are split into two intertwined timelines with distinctly colored filters; the past being orange and the present being blue. Orange, often associated with warmth and energy, envelopes the March family’s much happier childhood. The blue that colors the present is significantly colder, and serves to represent the harshness of adulthood and growing up. This distinct use of color not only helps the audience to follow the non-linear storytelling, but also to further understand the emotional landscape on display. In the past, when the March sisters were depicted as more carefree and joyful, they were bathed in a warm orange. By contrast, in the present, when they are more serious and weighed down by life, they are instead clouded by an icy blue. This is where an understanding of color theory and color psychology explicitly comes into play.
A film with heavily desaturated colors may appear to be colder and more solemn in its tone, while a brightly colored film is likely to be more child-like and whimsical. This can either help or harm the story being told. If one wants to tell a serious story, the cinematographer would seemingly agree on more ordinary colors that are grounded in reality. However, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel subverts this idea. The film is about a young refugee who treks across a continent in the midst of the political uprisings of the 1930s. The color palette, in stark contrast, is vivid, almost resembling candy. The eye-catching color palette does not align with the story, but it does align with the tone; the film is a comedy, and therefore, the color grading complements the emotional atmosphere. The film also incorporates pink, blue, and purple quite a bit - that particular combination of colors has become synonymous with freedom and liberation, which the main character Zero, (played by Tony Revolori), is chasing after, as a refugee who escaped his war-torn nation.
On the other hand, in many films the thought process behind color cinematography is not quite so deep and grueling. The color palette chosen to represent a particular universe may be picked simply due to it being visually pleasing. Often, yellow and purple are paired with one another, just like orange and blue. This comes from the color wheel, and the concept of complementary colours, that is, colors which are opposite from one another diagonally in the wheel. This helps to create a balanced frame that is pleasing to the eye. Another way colors are chosen is by discordance, or how much the color sticks out. If there is one color that sits in stark contrast with the others in the area, it draws the audiences’ attention to what the filmmaker is presenting as the focus of the scene. A red handle in an all-white room is intriguing. A bright blue lamp in a room comprised mostly of muted reds is unique but also harsh on the eyes. These choices are still intentional, but not because of what they add to the story emotionally; rather, they are chosen because of what they contribute visually. In that sense, colours can act as markers, to draw our eyes to the most important point in a scene.
The use of color is vital to the way a story is presented. Such a simple concept may help to decode what would otherwise be a complex story, as seen with Gerwig’s Little Women. They also help to communicate the ideas of a film - its core ethos. Colors, especially in films where a specific color is repeatedly used, communicate what can’t be expounded through words. When a color is repeated, it becomes closely linked to a specific emotion or theme. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, two different colors are used - red and green - to represent coming danger. This color combination also represents, “vibrancy among the living that can turn into a ghostly remnant of life.” As the film progresses and Madeleine Elster, (played by Kim Novak), descends further into madness, these intense shades of red and green quickly melt into colorlessness to represent this shift in her mental state. In that particular film, those colors have become inextricably linked with those emotions.
After breaking down the usage of color in multiple films, it becomes apparent that the color grading, as decided by the cinematographer, is capable of portraying more than what the narrative itself can. An understanding of color theory and psychology is heavily involved in this decision making process. Some filmmakers go with the basics, while others, like Wes Anderson, take those rules and turn them on their head. Some filmmakers, like Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, completely abandon the rules; his film simply picked its color palette based on how visually striking it was to the eyes. However, it is still important to understand the intended meaning of chosen colors, as they invariably add extra layers to the narrative.
Color is a complex, misunderstood, and underrated form of storytelling. Even something as particular as the saturation or shade can change the entire atmosphere of a film and create a tonal shift, or rift, if done incorrectly. Cinematographers have to be deeply knowledgeable about the film and its themes to decide which color is used when, in order for it to contribute to the film’s emotional and thematic journey. The different uses of color can be explored endlessly. Ever since the transition from black and white to color film, filmmakers have been searching for new and innovative ways to utilise color as another form of storytelling. In conclusion, it can be definitively said that color does, in fact, contribute to creating the perfect environment for a film. Now, one could even begin to look at movies through a deeper, analytical lens to understand what those choices mean and add to a story...
Sources
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The Grand Budapest Hotel. Directed by Wes Anderson, performance by Ralph Fiennes, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2014.
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In the Mood for Love. Directed by Wong Kar-wai, performance by Maggie Cheung, USA Films, 2000.
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Vertigo. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, performance by Jimmy Stewart, Paramount Pictures, 1958.