Understanding Color Psychology and Its Role in Filmmaking

Understanding the psychology and rules of color in film helps storytellers create impactful visual narratives through deliberate color choices.

### Understanding Color Theory in Filmmaking: How to Use Color to Tell Your Story
* 🎨 Every color in a film is carefully chosen to evoke **specific emotions** and help **tell the story**.
* 🔴 While certain colors like red are often associated with **negative or hazardous themes**, colors can have different meanings based on context.
* 🎭 Filmmakers set the rules for color in their films, giving each color its own **character and purpose**.
* 🌈 Different color schemes, such as **complimentary, monochromatic, and analogous**, can create specific **visual effects and moods**.
* 🎥 The **60-30-10 rule** is commonly used in film, with **60% primary color**, **30% secondary color**, and **10% accent color** in a frame.
* 🎬 Saturation and brightness also play a crucial role in conveying emotions and setting the **tone of a film**.
* 🎨 "The most important thing that you could do as a filmmaker is really try to understand the **psychology behind the colors**, and even more importantly than that, how to give your colors **rules** and how to use them in your film."
* 🎥 It's essential to **experiment with color and find your own style**, as seen in the distinct color palettes of directors like **Wes Anderson and David Fincher**.

What if I told you guys there was a psychology behind every single color, from the lighting, the wardrobe, and even the color grading? Every single frame in a film is extremely deliberate with their choice of color, and that's because every color gives off a certain feeling or an emotion that helps you tell the story, to create the character in your film. Today, we're going to take a deep dive into color theory, what colors mean, and how they can affect the feeling of your film, but most importantly, how you guys can use color to become a better storyteller. So, every color that we see in a film gives us a feeling, and it helps tell a story, but that doesn't mean that any one particular color is locked in to have any one feeling. For an example, let's take the color red. Time and time again, throughout the history of filmmaking, red has been used to show something negative or hazardous, and maybe even sometimes downright evil. However, there's been a few cases where red has been used to characterize love.

or showcase intimacy or desire, and just as the color green can be used to represent life and prosperity. When used in things like nature, green can also be used to showcase this mundane, lifeless feeling in your scenes. A great example of this would be films like the Matrix or even the Joker. So, the first thing that's very important to remember before we dive deep into color theory and everything else in this video is that you set the rules for your color, not the other way around. There's no one particular feeling that represents one particular color. You have to give the rules and the feelings for those colors, and I strongly suggest that you do give this meaning and these rules to your colors in your film because in doing so, it's going to have a lot lot more purpose when you are thinking about your scenes or you're thinking about every shot and how it should be lit and the wardrobe and the different colors around the building or the architecture. It all plays a role into the feeling that you're trying to give in your film.

when you give these rules to those colors, they become a lot more important, and they have kind of its own character throughout your film. Here's the big question: how do we use color, and how do we give them rules in our film? Now, before we dive deep into color theory, I don't want you guys to get overwhelmed. We're not going to go so deep down this Rabbit Hole to the point where you're going to get lost. It's very simple. All color theory really is, is a set of guidelines for mixing colors and how it affects your audience. And when you guys have a good understanding of how to use colors, and more importantly, how to mix them, it's going to allow you to become a better Storyteller because you'll be able to use color to actually represent stories and themes in your films. One very common color combination that a lot of films use is something called complimentary colors. And if we take a look at this color wheel, complimentary colors are colors that typically lie on the opposite end of the color spectrum. And this is what helps

give our films a pleasing contrast. One very common set of complimentary colors is teal and orange because orange is very close to our skin tone. It's a very common primary color to use. Which if you go opposite end of the spectrum, a very common secondary color would be something like blue or teal. And of course, if we take a look at a color wheel, they lie opposite of each other on the Spectrum giving you a pleasing color contrast. Another commonly used color scheme is something called monochromatic. A monochromatic color scheme is where every color used in a film is different shades of that one color. Great example of this would be something like the Matrix. They use different shades of green. In this scene from Blade Runner 2049, they're using different shades of orange. And then if you take a look at Dune, there is multiple times where they use the monochromatic colored scheme as well. But if you use a colored scheme that uses all the neighboring colors on a color wheel, this is called analogous colors. And what's great about this color

scheme is that a lot like monochromatic nothing necessarily stands out, but there is some different Shades to break up the color pattern. So, while nothing is sticking out and super contrasty, there is a little bit of a difference. It's kind of somewhere between complimentary and monochromatic. But when you have a color that doesn't belong in your color scheme and that sticks out like a sore thumb, this is something that's called discordance. And this is a great way to draw your audience eyes to one particular object in a film. But of course, this isn't the only way to use color. There are a ton of other color schemes that you can experiment with to create a feeling for your film. Now, understanding what colors go well together in a scene is one aspect of it. But how do you know how much or how little of a color should go in your scene? A very common rule followed in film is something called a 60-30-10 rule. And what this means is that 60% of your color in your frame is

dominated by a primary color. While 30% of a color in your frame is going to be something called a secondary color, and then you have 10% of a color in your frame that's going to be the accent or the highlight color. Taking a look at the scene from Babylon, the primary color here is this yellow-orange color. If you look at the color of the lighting, the wood, and her skin tone, this is all a very similar color and this would be considered the primary color. Then, if we take a look at this blue color, I would say that this is the secondary color which takes up more or less about 30% of the frame. And then you have the highlight color, which is clearly this pop of red on her dress. Now, it's important to note that when you talk about a particular color in your film, it doesn't mean that every single color has to be that one primary color. Of course, there's going to be different shades of that color, some might be a little bit lighter, some might be a little bit darker, but

more or less different shades of this particular color is going to be the primary color. And of course, this doesn't mean that you guys have to strictly follow, you know, 60% has to be the primary, 30% has to be this. It doesn't have to be like that. You guys just use this as a good rule of thumb for how you think about your scenes. And there might be, you know, the numbers might be a little bit off here. We're not trying to make this exact. What we want to do is just give ourselves a good idea of how to mix colors in a scene and give you a good understanding of, hey, what's a little bit too much. Am I mixing enough of this color or maybe too much of this color? But most importantly, it's important for you to look at a scene and say, this is good, and this looks good because of this. And if a scene looks a little bit off, maybe you want to check the color balance and see, hey, am I using too much of this color?

and not enough of this color. And do I not have a highlight color? Am I going for a monochromatic look, or am I going for a complimentary look? All things to consider when you are composing a frame. Now, a great tool to use for inspiration for something like this is a website called Film Vibes, which is my company. It's a database with millions of reference shots from films, commercials, and TV shows. And one really awesome feature that is integrated into this website is the ability to search by color scheme. So, if you guys want to see examples of different shots using analogous, monochromatic, or even complimentary colors, you could do this using this free tool inside Film Vibes, and you'll find a ton of examples and inspiration to use for your next film project. And if you guys want to sign up for a plan for Film Vibes, I'll leave a discount code down below. Now, another extremely important aspect of color in your film is something called saturation, and this is really used to determine the amount of color or the value of color in

your film some films like John Wick are very saturated, using a lot of different color combinations. That is visually stimulating to the audience, which makes a lot of sense because most of the movie is jam-packed with action. So the whole idea of this movie is really to give you a visual experience and give you this eye candy that's on the screen, making you feel like you don't want to look away. And when something is highly saturated, it kind of draws you in. And it's action-packed and it's climactic. There's a reason why they chose to make this film like that. But on the flip side of that, there's a ton of films that go for a more desaturated look, like in the new Batman or Jason Bourne series. And this is very intentional because they want a more realistic, grounded approach to the film that feels a little bit more gritty and intense and dramatic. A desaturated look psychologically gives you a little bit more of a lifeless feeling. But if we take a look at a movie like Saving

Private Ryan, for example, it was extremely intentional because they wanted to give it that feeling of like old-time World War II archival footage. That was all in black and white at the time, so it kind of plays into that a little bit. And that's something you got to think about when you're, you know, making your film. When you're thinking about the color, is it something that's very saturated? Is it something that's really desaturated? Or is it somewhere in the middle? And figure out what kind of character that plays in your film. And again, it's very important to have these rules for color in your film. So if you're going for a more desaturated look, you know, ask that question, why is your film more of a kind of darker, realistic, maybe a little bit more dramatic kind of a feeling? Or is it super happy and vibrant and full of life like in something like a Wes Anderson movie, which brings me to my next point, and that is brightness. Another way to affect the feeling of your film is by

figuring out how bright or how dark you want colors to be in your film. A lot of the times, bright colors are used to create a sense of excitement or showcase a lot of life in a scene, while darker colors are used to showcase drama, darkness, suspense, or even death at some points. And like I said before, taking a look at someone like Wes Anderson, who uses a lot of bright, otherworldly colors to showcase this magical feeling in his films, has really taken on a character of his own and given him an iconic look. And then you have one of my favorite directors, which is David Fincher, who uses a lot of desaturated looking films that have this real-life kind of gritty grime to it. And if you watch his movies, it makes total sense because, you know, he does a lot of like detective movies or a lot of real-world villains, you know, villains in his films. And if you look at a movie like Fight Club or Seven, which I talk about all the time on this channel, it's very desaturated. It's

very dark um, but there's a purpose for that. It adds to the character of his film. It plays a character in his world. The most important thing that you could do as a filmmaker is really try to understand the psychology behind the colors, and even more importantly than that, how to give your colors rules and how to use them in your film. So, I think it's important to understand and have a good idea of what these rules kind of are, but they're meant to be broken. There is no one rule that fits all. It's very important that you guys have an understanding of how to use it, but experiment and go out there and try different things and kind of learn what your deal is. Again, taking a look at someone like Wes Anderson, he's become known for the color in his films. I think they're funky as hell. I look at them, I'm like, That looks crazy, but it's a Wes Anderson film, and there's something really iconic and beautiful about it. So, you just kind of have to find your own.

voice man and you have to figure out what works for you. Me personally, there are times where I like a lot of saturation, and there's other times where I like it to feel a little bit desaturated and a little bit lifeless and gritty. I'm a huge fan of that gritty look. So yeah man, you know, I hope this kind of helps you guys get an understanding of how to use color and the different rules, but most importantly how you can bend and break those rules to fit your own creative needs. And yeah man, that's pretty much it for today. I want to thank you guys so much for stopping in and hanging out. My name is Alex arati, and I will see you guys next week. Deuces.

This Will CHANGE How You View Color in Film

Alex Zarfati

Every color in a film is deliberately chosen to evoke specific feelings and emotions, playing a crucial role in storytelling.

Filmmakers have the power to define the rules and meanings of colors in their films, allowing for a more purposeful and impactful visual narrative.

Understanding color theory, including the use of complimentary colors, provides filmmakers with guidelines for mixing colors and affecting the audience, ultimately enhancing their ability to tell compelling stories.

Using Color Schemes to Create Visual Contrast in Films

Teal and orange provide a common complimentary color scheme, creating a pleasing contrast, especially for skin tones.

The monochromatic color scheme, as seen in "The Matrix" and "Blade Runner 2049," uses different shades of a single color, while an analogous color scheme uses neighboring colors on the wheel to add subtle variation.

The 60-30-10 rule is commonly followed in films, with 60% for the primary color, 30% for the secondary color, and 10% for the accent color, as demonstrated in a scene from Babylon.

Understanding the percentage of different colors in a scene is a good rule of thumb for color mixing.

Film Vibes offers a database of reference shots searchable by color scheme, providing inspiration for film projects.

The level of saturation in a film is crucial, with highly saturated films like "John Wick" offering a visually stimulating experience, while others opt for a more desaturated look for a realistic and intense feel.

The choice of color in a film, whether saturated or desaturated, plays a crucial role in determining the overall look and feel of the movie.

Saturated colors often create a sense of excitement and vibrancy, while desaturated colors can contribute to a darker and more realistic atmosphere.

Filmmakers like Wes Anderson are known for using bright and otherworldly colors to establish a magical ambiance, while directors like David Fincher opt for desaturated tones to enhance the gritty and real-life feel of their films, particularly those with darker themes.

Understanding the psychology behind colors and creating rules for their use is important in filmmaking.

Filmmakers like Wes Anderson are known for their iconic and unique use of color.

It's essential to experiment with different color techniques to find your own voice and creative style.