Looking at Colour - research
I want my project to be quite stylistic, and I think that one of the most important elements of creating a specific style lies in the use of colour. I have been doing some research into different colour palettes, both in ITV crime dramas, as well as in films in general, because I need my production to offer something new and different to what's already on ITV.
Looking at some blog posts from Shutterstock and Cinema5d, I found repeated use of colour spectra, which is maybe something that I would like to consider when planning my shots. In anything that I have made before, I have relied mostly on post-production alterations to create a colour scheme, but for this project, I think the colour holds more weight, so I want to consider it before filming as well. According to the cinema5d website, "a colorist can only work with what he (or she) is given, and so it can be argued that the overall look and feel of the image is the responsibility of the production designer." This is something that I agree with, so I want to look at colour in both the pre- and post-production stages for this project.
The reason I think that colour is an important element of this project is because of how I am positioning my two chosen scenes, both in relation to each other and in relation to their position in the programme as a whole. My first scene is a dream sequence, so colour can be used quite vibrantly and in a hyperbolic nature to create a sense of unreality. My second scene is set in the real world, and the fact that the two are placed next to each other means that I can use juxtapositions of colour to highlight the differences between the two scenes, between the real world and the world inside the protagonist's head.
For example, if I chose to use a red-leaning colour scheme, like the one shown to right from the Korean film In the Mood for Love (2000) for the dream sequence, then I might use a green-leaning colour scheme for reality. I think that the colour scheme I use for the dream sequence should definitely be the more extreme of the two, and that it should perhaps have more extreme lighting and disorienting cinematography as well. The real-life sequence might be better with a slightly blander colour scheme to contrast, however I would like all elements of my show to be stylistic to a degree, so perhaps bland is not the right thing to aim towards; I should aim for different instead.
The shot to the left of Fight Club (1999) is a good example of a colour scheme that heavily contrasts with the colours of In the Mood for Love (2000) but is still interesting itself. This is what I want to achieve.
Of course, looking at film & TV in general is too broad for me, as I have been tasked with creating a television programme for ITV. ITV crime dramas do offer quite the variety of colour palettes; Broadchurch, the channel's staple crime drama, seems perpetually bathed in warm sunlight, else some other source of soft orange is present in the frame, whereas Marcella seems altogether more blue-tinted, with darker colours ad stronger shadows. As Kate Reid, director of photography for Marcella, puts it, “The colours in Marcella are very strong and this palette is intrinsic to the show’s look. This was part of the remit in order to ensure its identity and move it away from looking like other scandi-noir dramas and to give it a unique London identity. London at night was a strong visual feature of Series 1, with lots of night exteriors, strong sodium colours and street lighting.”
The section of that quote where Reid talks about using colour in the show to "ensure its identity" is what I am going for with my own project. I want to stick to a colour scheme if possible (because, in all honestly, it might be difficult to worry about this sort of detail in the midst of shooting) in order to help make my production look different. But mainly, I have decided that I want to use colour as an identifier between reality and fiction. Extrapolating from the 2-3 minutes of my show that I will be shooting and thinking about it as the start of a TV series, I think that the contrasts in colour are a good, not too on-the-nose way to tell the audience when they are watching a dream sequence, which means that it will serve a narrative purpose, as well as an aesthetic one.
Below are some examples of colour that I find striking and perhaps wish to take influence from.
A film like Only God Forgives (2013) that uses incredibly striking colours throughout is of definite interest to me for this project. I really like the neon elements of this shot, but I don't think it would be possible to re-produce them if I wanted to, so I'll need to look elsewhere for ideas. However, I do like the red and purple bleeding onto the character, engulfing him. That could be useful.
A classic example of colour in film being used to serve both style and narrative comes from The Matrix (1999). Neo's world in the Matrix is set up as pale, sickly green in the earlier scenes of the film, showing discontent and boredom.
.
Later, the scenes in the Matrix are shown in a darker, more refined shade of green, which could be reflective of Neo gaining control over his actions and control over the Matrix itself.
And of course, the scenes set in the real world are heavily tinted blue. This is exactly what I want to go for with my own project: using colour as a way of discerning real from not.
Looking at some blog posts from Shutterstock and Cinema5d, I found repeated use of colour spectra, which is maybe something that I would like to consider when planning my shots. In anything that I have made before, I have relied mostly on post-production alterations to create a colour scheme, but for this project, I think the colour holds more weight, so I want to consider it before filming as well. According to the cinema5d website, "a colorist can only work with what he (or she) is given, and so it can be argued that the overall look and feel of the image is the responsibility of the production designer." This is something that I agree with, so I want to look at colour in both the pre- and post-production stages for this project.
The reason I think that colour is an important element of this project is because of how I am positioning my two chosen scenes, both in relation to each other and in relation to their position in the programme as a whole. My first scene is a dream sequence, so colour can be used quite vibrantly and in a hyperbolic nature to create a sense of unreality. My second scene is set in the real world, and the fact that the two are placed next to each other means that I can use juxtapositions of colour to highlight the differences between the two scenes, between the real world and the world inside the protagonist's head.
For example, if I chose to use a red-leaning colour scheme, like the one shown to right from the Korean film In the Mood for Love (2000) for the dream sequence, then I might use a green-leaning colour scheme for reality. I think that the colour scheme I use for the dream sequence should definitely be the more extreme of the two, and that it should perhaps have more extreme lighting and disorienting cinematography as well. The real-life sequence might be better with a slightly blander colour scheme to contrast, however I would like all elements of my show to be stylistic to a degree, so perhaps bland is not the right thing to aim towards; I should aim for different instead.
The shot to the left of Fight Club (1999) is a good example of a colour scheme that heavily contrasts with the colours of In the Mood for Love (2000) but is still interesting itself. This is what I want to achieve.
Of course, looking at film & TV in general is too broad for me, as I have been tasked with creating a television programme for ITV. ITV crime dramas do offer quite the variety of colour palettes; Broadchurch, the channel's staple crime drama, seems perpetually bathed in warm sunlight, else some other source of soft orange is present in the frame, whereas Marcella seems altogether more blue-tinted, with darker colours ad stronger shadows. As Kate Reid, director of photography for Marcella, puts it, “The colours in Marcella are very strong and this palette is intrinsic to the show’s look. This was part of the remit in order to ensure its identity and move it away from looking like other scandi-noir dramas and to give it a unique London identity. London at night was a strong visual feature of Series 1, with lots of night exteriors, strong sodium colours and street lighting.”
The section of that quote where Reid talks about using colour in the show to "ensure its identity" is what I am going for with my own project. I want to stick to a colour scheme if possible (because, in all honestly, it might be difficult to worry about this sort of detail in the midst of shooting) in order to help make my production look different. But mainly, I have decided that I want to use colour as an identifier between reality and fiction. Extrapolating from the 2-3 minutes of my show that I will be shooting and thinking about it as the start of a TV series, I think that the contrasts in colour are a good, not too on-the-nose way to tell the audience when they are watching a dream sequence, which means that it will serve a narrative purpose, as well as an aesthetic one.
Below are some examples of colour that I find striking and perhaps wish to take influence from.
I really like the use of colour in Amélie (2001), particularly the greens which are often placed in direct contrast with red to show Amélie as an outsider. I also like how the skin tones come out in this film.
A film like Only God Forgives (2013) that uses incredibly striking colours throughout is of definite interest to me for this project. I really like the neon elements of this shot, but I don't think it would be possible to re-produce them if I wanted to, so I'll need to look elsewhere for ideas. However, I do like the red and purple bleeding onto the character, engulfing him. That could be useful.
A classic example of colour in film being used to serve both style and narrative comes from The Matrix (1999). Neo's world in the Matrix is set up as pale, sickly green in the earlier scenes of the film, showing discontent and boredom.
.
Later, the scenes in the Matrix are shown in a darker, more refined shade of green, which could be reflective of Neo gaining control over his actions and control over the Matrix itself.
And of course, the scenes set in the real world are heavily tinted blue. This is exactly what I want to go for with my own project: using colour as a way of discerning real from not.
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