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 done on any film set comes from the mind of the cinematographer—head of the camera and lighting crews that is responsible for the overall visual aesthetic. One job 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 that are chosen at this moment are not only important to the 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 color that is used in a film conveys a particular emotion that serves the story; furthermore, to fully explore the usage of colors, one must look at a select number of films with distinct color palettes to understand what they add to the emotional and thematic atmosphere.

            To accurately determine the meaning behind colors in film, one must first have a basic understanding of color theory. 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” (Flow Graphics 01:11-01:38). This refers to the dominance of the hue and how rich the color is. After that is lightness—this can also be referred to as tints or shades. A color’s lightness has nothing to do with the other color theory 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 what determine what color is used when; however, this doesn’t mean that these choices don’t hold value.

            Color has always had significant meaning in human society. Since the dawn of civilization, people have believed that it held divine meaning (Birren 2). Not only was color believed to have magical properties, but it has also been found by psychologists that it can impact our emotions as well. Although color psychology research is severely neglected, it has been found that colors stimulate the human brain (https://www.colorpsychology.org/). 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 (https://www.premiumbeat.com/). To fully understand why colors evoke such emotional, and even sometimes physical, reactions one must understand that it is not an exact science. In fact, “color is not objective but a subjective creation” (https://medium.com/). How we perceive a certain color comes from our own experience and perception of reality. There are exceptions to this rule, however, such as numerous unnamed 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 quite a bit, and it could just be that Wong really likes the color red, but when examining the narrative, it becomes more evident that its repeated appearance adds to the story itself. 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 mutual loneliness. Despite their relationship being somewhat masochistic, seeing as they often portrayed their cheating spouse, the two fell deeply in love. The color red is often shown 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, which is often associated with warmth and energy, envelopes the March family’s much happier childhood. The blue that colors the present is much colder and meant to represent the harshness of adulthood and growing up. This distinct usage of color not only helps the audience follow the non-linear storytelling, but also to further understand the emotional landscape on display. In the past, when the March sisters are more carefree and joyful, they are bathed in a warm orange. 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 comes into account.

            A film with heavily desaturated colors may appear to be colder and more serious in its tone, while a brightly colored film is more child-like and whimsical. This can either help or harm the story being told. If one wants to tell a more serious story, the cinematographer would most likely agree on more serious colors that are grounded in reality. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel inverts this idea, however. The film is about a young refugee as he treks across the continent that is in the middle of the political uprisings of the 1930s. The color palette, in contrast, is very bright and resembles candy. The eye-catching color palette does not align with the story, but it does align with the tone; the film is a comedy, 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 (KyleKallgrenBHH 10:45-10:51). This is what the main character Zero, played by Tony Revolori, is chasing after as a refuge who escaped his war-torn nation.

            The thought process behind color cinematography is, on the other hand, sometimes not as deep and grueling on certain projects. The color palette chosen to represent a particular universe may just be picked 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 what colors are across from one another, therefore complementing the one it sits diagonally of. 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 makes the audience draw their attention to what the filmmaker is presenting as the focus of the scene. A red handle in an all-white room is quite 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; in contrast, they are chosen because of what they add to the story visually. They act as markers, to draw one’s eyes to the most important point in a scene.

            The use of color is so vital to the way a story is presented. Something as simple as that may help to simplify what would be a complex story, as seen with Gerwig’s Little Women. They also help to communicate the ideas of a film—its core ethos (https://ideas.ted.com/). Colors, especially in films where a specific color is repeated, communicate what can’t be expounded upon in 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” (Hughes 1). 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 different films, it becomes apparent that the color grading as decided by the cinematographer conveys more than what the narrative itself can. An understanding of color theory and psychology is heavily involved in the decision making process. Some filmmakers go with the basics, while others, like Wes Anderson, takes those rules and turn them on their head. Some filmmakers, like Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, don’t even consider 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 what the colors that are chosen mean, seeing as they add extra layers to the narrative.

Color is such a complex, misunderstood, and underrated form of storytelling. Even something as particular as the saturation or shade can change the entire atmosphere and create a tonal shift, or rift if done incorrectly. Cinematographers have to be deeply knowledgeable about the film and its themes to decide what color is used when in order to have it properly 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 trying to find new and innovative ways to use 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.

Works Cited

Amélie. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, performance by Audrey Tautou, UGC-Fox Distribution, 2001.

Baker, Logan. “Manipulating the Audience’s Emotions with Color.” Premium Beat, 2 August 2016, https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/manipulate-emotions-with-color-in-film/.

Batagoda, Muditha. “Understanding Color Psychology Though Culture, Symbolism, and Emotion.” Medium, 27 November 2018, https://uxplanet.org/understanding-color-psychology-though-culture-symbolism-and-emotion-215102347276.

Birren, Faber. Color Psychology and Color Therapy; A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016.

Flow Graphics. “Color Theory for Noobs | Beginner Guide.” YouTube, 24 November 2017, https://youtu.be/AvgCkHrcj90.

The Grand Budapest Hotel. Directed by Wes Anderson, performance by Ralph Fiennes, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2014.

Hughes, Woodson. “20 Great Movies That Make Masterful Use of Color.” Taste of Cinema, 11 November 2015, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/20-great-movies-that-make-masterful-use-of-color/.

In the Mood for Love. Directed by Wong Kar-wai, performance by Maggie Cheung, USA Films, 2000.

KyleKallgrenBHH. “Bisexual Lighting: The Rise of Pink, Purple, and Blue.” YouTube, 6 July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gU3IA4u-J8.

Little Women. Directed by Greta Gerwig, performance by Saoirse Ronan, Columbia Pictures / Regency Enterprises / Pascal Pictures, 2019.

May, Kate Targovnick. “How Color Helps a Movie Tell Its Story.” TED Ideas, 5 April 2017, https://ideas.ted.com/how-color-helps-a-movie-tell-its-story/.

Przybyla, Dena. “The Psychology and Meaning of Colors.” Color Psychology, https://www.colorpsychology.org/.

Vertigo. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, performance by Jimmy Stewart, Paramount Pictures, 1958.