Colour Scripts

Colour scripts are extremely useful for conveying the mood of a scene and how the feel of the film or game changes as the story progresses. Below are small examples of colour scripts by Pixar and Dreamworks. The first is for the animated film 'WALL-E' and demonstrates a colour shift from red/browns to purples to blues and greens. Each little section has its own atmosphere. The warmer sections are more friendly and safe whereas the colder colours change the mood and feel more futuristic and clean. In the script for 'Megamind' the blues seem foreboding and the reds and oranges signify danger which is then neutralised by good.

Confusion

Understanding colour theory can help us create atmospheres with certain moods and in Faith No More's music video for the song 'Falling to Pieces', the mood is confusion and disorientation. The video flicks between shots taken in a variety of colourful spaces. The shots are for the most part very quick and choppy and the quick change in colour confuses the eye. The subject matter seems very random, disorientating the viewer further, for example a few times in the video we see bright orange giant  goldfish swimming in the foreground of a lime green shot. All the high contrast is shocking and manic, somewhat reflecting the lyrics of the song.

Rayman: Origins

Rayman: Origins has a charming style bursting with colour. Floriane Marchix was a concept artist for the game (she now works at Dreamworks) and below are two sets of images by her plus some small screenshots from the game. The first main image shows how she tweaked the lighting and colours to achieve quite different moods in her work while the second better shows the intensity of the colours she used in her concept art. The small thumbnail screenshots demonstrate the vibrant use of colour throughout the game and the environments that are brought to life.

Red and Blue

Below are 3 stills from Aladdin. In this scene everything is tinted with red to match the situation in the story. It seems evil is triumphing, however there is still hope. The blue of the genie and magic carpet represents good and hope. The princess, Jasmine, clings onto the blue cloth then drops it when she attempts to distract Jafar with a seductive act. This could be a symbol of Jasmine hiding her good side to trick him.

Electric!

The image below is the artwork for the album 'Live After Death' by Iron Maiden (artwork by Derek Riggs). While the yellow/greens and blues aren't that far off balanced in terms of area proportionally, the yellow hues are vibrant and contrasting. This colour scheme accentuates the powerful subject matter and gives it a bizarre and monstrous appearance, with the light blue highlights in particular bringing out the electric feel and the energy of the image. As a whole the artwork reflects the genre of music well, making for a good album cover.

Colour Proportion

Rummaging through my bookmarks earlier I rediscovered the deviantart page of Cyril Rolando, known as `AquaSixio (links to his deviant art and his website). His use of colour is absolutely beautiful. The two images in this post are good examples of the effect of colour proportion on atmosphere. The first image, Les promesses d'une romance, is dominated by warm orangey hues and radiates warmth, while the second, Coeurs fondants, feels icy and isolated. The oranges in the first piece are of an intense hue but because the small amount of blue is enhanced by the surrounding colours the two hues battle for attention. In the second piece the ratio of orange to blue is almost flipped, however the orange, being a warm colour, is brought forward though diminished slightly by the swathes of blue.

Les promesses d'une romance

Coeurs fondants

The desaturation of Halo

So it's been eleven years since Halo: Combat Evolved was released and in that time the Halo series has developed a lot. One thing that has changed a fair bit is the use of colour. As shown in the image below the armour colour of the protagonist, Master Chief, has become less and less saturated over time. The same can be said for numerous aspects of the game and it would seem that desaturated, gritty visuals have been becoming more and more popular over the years.

Desaturation

Desaturated colours say a lot about the emotion and the story in films and in this post I am using 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' as an example. Throughout the film there is little colour in the main character's life except that of his ex-girlfriend. Her hair, although different depending on the time of the events taking place, is always a bright colour and she often wears brightly coloured clothes also. An example of this is in one of the screenshots below. The other screenshot demonstrates one of the bleak, desaturated environments in which the character is apart from the girl; life for him is bland and somber.

Broken Colours

Beside from the fairly strong yellows and reds the two pieces of artwork for the game El Shaddai below consist of dark, broken colours. The blacks of the first image represent the evil threatening the world and the dirty whites of the second symbolise the good and holiness of the protagonist. It is as if he is surrounded by decay and corruption. The colours combined with the textures and marks give the images an aged and worn feeling.

Mood

Below are two screenshots from the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The first is much brighter than the other and has more saturated, natural colours. There is quite a balance of tints and shades, whereas the second image is mainly shades and very desaturated. The colours reflect the mood of the game well, one being a more peaceful time in the game and the other taking place in an area overrun by darkness and evil. In the gloomy image the green glowing orbs are the souls of the townspeople and are the only fragments of colour left, possibly representing life and hope.

Zdzislaw Beksinski

Here are some works of art by my favourite painter, Zdzislaw Beksinski. Each image demonstrates a use of shades and tints in a different way. The first image features a bold yellow tone in contrast to murky shades of green and blue, making it very strong visually. The second is more subtle with colour but has a strong and rich orangey brown hue at its centre surrounded by tints and shades and desaturated browns. This gives it an interesting earthy quality and the image has a warm feel to it ignoring the subject matter, which upon inspection depicts desperation and deprivation, as with many of this artist's paintings. The final painting focuses on contrast through an entire range of shades and tints and as a result is very striking.

Value

This artwork for the character 'Fi' from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a good demonstration of the use of shades and tints, with the addition of a harmonious set of values. While the light tints lift the image and give it an airy feeling, the shades counter that and create the contrast drawing your eye to the face and shoulder areas. The value of the colours emphasise the harsh and soft lines of the character and I think this makes for a very pleasing image.

Association

Earlier today I was having a think about healthy and unhealthy diets and the TV show 'You Are What You Eat'. In the programme they often show the people taking part a weeks worth of their food altogether on one table and it occurred to me that what really makes the images striking is the sea of browns, oranges and reds. But then it's not so much because of the colours but because of how we associate them with food. When the table is filled with leafy greens and colourful fruit it emanates energy and health, whereas the table of less healthy food envokes a feeling of sickness and repulsion. Perhaps the orange and brown colours hold an association of processed, unnatural food and the greens appeal to our instincts.

Subdued hues

In contrast to my previous post I have been looking at artwork with more subdued and harmonious colours. The piece below and to the left is 'Aoigaoka Waterfall in the Eastern Capital' by Katsushika Hokusai. The pale yellows, greens and blues sit well together and as a whole the image exudes tranquility. In the artwork next to it for the game 'Okami' there is also a harmonious colour scheme, however the image is broken up with high contrast and striking oranges pushing the protagonist forward from the brown hues of the background, possibly symbolising his strength.

Aoigaoka Waterfall in the Eastern Capital

Artwork for Okami

Hue!

To kickstart this blog I would like to mention the new Devil May Cry game out soon. The artwork for it below is simply stunning. The use of the complimentary colours blue and orange, although common in films and games, is done superbly. The image is striking and dramatic with the soothing blue hues representing good and the firey reds and oranges representing evil. What I find most amazing about this is that the contrasting hues remain a constant in at least one part of the game. I haven't seen many games use colour in quite the same way so I found playing it a very interesting and awe inspiring experience.