Colour Psychology in Filmmaking: The Hidden Language of Colour

Colour Psychology in filmmaking

Films have an uncanny ability to make us laugh, cry, feel fear, and experience the full spectrum of human emotions. What you might not realise is that colour plays a significant role in how a film makes you feel. Master filmmakers meticulously choose colour palettes, lighting schemes, and saturation levels to evoke specific moods and shape our perception of characters, settings, and even plot lines. 

In this blog post, we'll explore the psychology of colour in filmmaking and how it serves as a powerful storytelling tool.

The Basics of Colour Psychology Core Colours

Red: Red is the colour of blood, fire, and intense emotions. It symbolises passion, love, anger, danger, and excitement. It's a stimulating colour that can raise blood pressure and evoke a visceral response. Red is often used to signal power, intensity, or warning, and it demands attention wherever it appears on screen.

Blue: Blue calls to mind the vastness of the sky and ocean, representing tranquility, peace, and trust. It can also signify sadness, melancholy, or introspection. Depending on its shade and saturation, blue can feel calming and serene or cold and distant. It's often associated with wisdom, loyalty, and stability.

Green: Green symbolises nature, growth, vitality, and harmony. It's associated with feelings of freshness, renewal, safety, and balance. However, green can also be linked to envy, greed, and inexperience. Its duality makes it a flexible colour that can convey both positive and negative emotions.

Yellow: Yellow is the colour of sunshine, happiness, and optimism. It's a cheerful, attention-grabbing colour that often evokes feelings of warmth and energy. Yet, in excess, yellow can become overwhelming, even jarring, potentially signifying caution, madness, or illness.

Orange: Orange combines the energy of red with the joy of yellow, creating a vibrant and enthusiastic colour. It signifies excitement, warmth, creativity, and change. It's a dynamic colour that can represent a zest for life but might carry a sense of immaturity or flamboyance if used without nuance.

Purple: Purple is traditionally associated with royalty, luxury, spirituality, and ambition. It is often linked to magic, mystery, and the supernatural. Purple can evoke a sense of richness or even extravagance, and is sometimes used to signify wisdom and power.

Additional Colours

Pink: Pink carries associations of romance, femininity, tenderness, and sweetness. It's often considered a toned-down version of red, bringing a softer and more playful energy. Pink frequently appears in romantic films or scenes with a youthful quality.

Brown: Brown brings to mind the earth, wood, and natural elements. It evokes reliability, comfort, and simplicity. Brown is often seen in films depicting the outdoors or where groundedness is important, but it can also feel dull or uninspired if overused.

Black: Black is a powerful colour representing sophistication, elegance, mystery, and formality. It can also symbolise death, evil, and the unknown. Black is a visually striking choice that can add drama, intensity, and gravitas to a scene.

White: White embodies purity, cleanliness, innocence, and simplicity. It often feels peaceful and fresh, signifying new beginnings or a blank canvas. However, excessive white might become sterile or cold, emphasising isolation or emotional detachment.

Grey: Grey stands as the embodiment of neutrality and balance, offering a subdued quality between the extremes of black and white. It can represent sophistication, formality, or even sadness. Grey is often used as a background colour, providing a sense of timelessness and allowing other colours to shine brighter.

Colour representing moods

Colour Palettes

Directors and cinematographers often establish a limited colour palette for a film to set the overall mood. For instance, a horror film might rely on dark blues, greys, and blood reds, while a romantic comedy would likely emphasise bright pinks, yellows, and warm tones.

Costume and Set Design

Characters' clothing, their home décor, and even the objects they interact with are infused with colour to communicate their personalities or emotional states.

Lighting

Lighting gels, contrasting colours of light, and shifts in the intensity of light can dramatically alter how a scene is perceived.

Colour Grading

In post-production, colour grading allows filmmakers to enhance or alter the colours present in the film for artistic or emotional, usually working closely with the Dp and the director, the colourist brings the film to life.

Examples of Colour Psychology in Famous Films

The Matrix (1999): The green tint of the Matrix contrasts with the warmer, more natural tones of the real world, highlighting the artificial nature of the simulation.

Amélie (2001): Bright reds, yellows, and greens contribute to the film's whimsical and optimistic atmosphere, reflecting Amélie's personality.

Schindler's List (1993): The predominantly black-and-white palette evokes a historical, somber feel, while the little girl in the red coat becomes a heartbreakingly powerful symbol.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): Wes Anderson's signature pastel pinks and purples create a sense of playful nostalgia and quirky elegance.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): The harsh desert landscapes are dominated by fiery oranges, yellows, and dusty browns, emphasising the heat, danger, and relentless action of the world.

Moonlight (2016): Shifts in vibrant blues, cool purples, and warm yellows reflect the different phases of the protagonist's emotional journey.

Black Panther (2018): The use of rich purples, blues, and golds conveys Wakanda's regal power, its blend of tradition and advanced technology.

The Wizard of Os (1939): The stark contrast between sepia-toned Kansas and the technicolour explosion of Os reinforces the journey into a fantastical, dreamlike world.

Inception (2010): Each dream layer in the film has a distinct colour palette, subtly orienting the viewer to the different levels of reality.

The Shining (1980): The Overlook Hotel's bold geometric patterns, oranges, reds, and deep greens contribute to the unsettling and psychologically jarring atmosphere of the film.

Colour Symbolism in Your Own Filmmaking

Understanding colour psychology can help you make informed choices even in low-budget or amateur filmmaking:

Consider your story's tone: What mood do you want to convey? Choose colours that complement those emotions.

Character development through colour: Use colour to hint at characters' personalities or inner struggles.

Location matters: Adjust colour palettes to reflect the setting and how it might affect the characters emotionally.

Conclusion: 

Colour is a visual language, and skilled colourists speak it fluently. This blog post has just scratched the surface of how colour shapes our cinematic experiences. 

If you're intrigued, there's much more to discover about the symbolism of individual colours, changing colour trends throughout history, and the groundbreaking use of colour in specific films. By becoming more attuned to the colours on screen, you'll embark on a fascinating and rewarding journey into the very heart of filmmaking.