Research: Colour in Film

Colour Correction in Film

The best primary colours of the human eye are; red, green and blue. These colours are used, and work well, to change the colour of digital imagery. They're used to able to create all other colours.

Image from a blog, nofilmschool

In editing, we often use multiple colour wheels that have affects on different parts of the image. Using the image above to explain, the first colour wheel is lift. The lift controls the darker tones and shadows that we see, controlling the black levels. In the second colour wheel, Gamma is the next we look to control. The gamma works with the controls between the highlights and shadows called the midtones. These colours are made brighter and darker while leaving the highlights and shadows alone. Finally, the gain is used to change the brighter colours and highlights. This all helps to have complete control of the colours that we see.

Colour Schemes & Palettes 

Films do not just use any random colours, they are looked at in depth and discussed throughout the whole of the production with the director of photography. Everything is taken into consideration when working on the colour schemes. An example I will use to help explain is from a still from Pulp Fiction.

Image Credit to Roxy Radulescu

This colour palette shows some very strong dominant colours. It uses a lot of contrasting colours that stand out off of each other. What I think works here, is how they use the contrasting colour. We only see small amounts of the red and blue. The upper half of the shot contains a lot of darker tones whereas the lower half contains more lights.

Using the colour red can associate with fire, blood, war, energy, determination, action, love and confidence among many associations. In this image, I do think it is used to suggest a lot of confidence within the characters. There is a lot of movement in the scene and relates really well.

Using the colour blue can be associated with intelligence, loyalty, wisdom, depth, trustworthy, calming and, again, confidence. It is the opposite to red and gives the scene a nice atmosphere. 

Even in this wide shot, the characters stand out against the background. I think that the black and white costumes help to create a balance within the image and we do not see the actors getting lost withing the mise-en-scene.