One of the most underrated aspects of a lot of popular films is the creative use of colours. It’s received little to no attention, which as this video points out, the choices for colour are usually pretty deliberate. Even if it goes largely unnoticed, one of the most powerful storytellers in film is arguably colour.
What this video lays out is how colour can tell a story, if used correctly or intelligently. People can use it to convey deep meaning and emotion and provoke an emotional response in others. But what’s cool is there aren’t strict guidelines to using colour, just certain things that work well for a certain film.
This intuitive response which colour pulls from us is what fascinates me most. I feel “Channel Criswell”, the Youtuber and maker of the clip, covers this aspect of colour’s power.
I was inspired by the new Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 movie which just came out. Seeing the colourful worlds they showed made me want to look into colour in film and I’m glad I came across this video.
I don’t know if colour is the best storyteller ever, but it definitely has a bigger role than I thought. Hopefully there are some things you can pull from this in-depth look and use it as inspiration.
