How to Use Colour Like Better Call Saul | Video Essay

An analysis of the colour theory behind AMC's Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, and how the show visually depicts its core philosophical conflict.

0:00 - Introduction
1:50 - Breaking Away from Breaking Bad
3:26 - Moral Argument in Colour
4:17 - Red
5:28 - Blue
7:43 - Contextual Accuracy
8:37 - Yellow
9:58 - Mixing Colours
12:54 - The World According to Jimmy
14:38 - 'Bagman' Analysis
19:41 - Conclusion

References:
- Better Call Saul Insider Podcast
- Patti Bellantoni, If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die (2005)

Music:
- Dave Porter, ‘Better Call Saul End Credits’, ‘Border Crossing’
- Lucho Neves y su Orquesta, ‘Mambo de Machaguay’
- Chuy Flores, ‘Methadone’
- Rich Ruttenberg, Joel Hamilton & Jerry Kalaf, ‘No More Dues’
- Planet E, ‘Klub Kola (Uptight on the Rocks)’
- Stanton Moore, ‘Blackbird Special’
- Les McCann, ‘McCanna’
- Tony Hymas, ‘Lady De Luxe’
- Lola Marsh, ‘Something Stupid (Instrumental)’

Additional:

[Max]

I like the idea that Lalo is such a rebel even towards the show itself by wearing whatever he wants, like his bright turquoise boots.

[kakaapotto]

9:47 "focusing on these three hues, the better call saul colour spectrum might look something like this" : ROMANIA

[Heisenburger]

Nacho was mostly red in this series, but when he died his true colors were revealed in the form of a blue flower on the place where he died

[emmamills]

I refuse to believe this is mere coincidence but the song "Somethin' Stupid" that plays while showing Kim and Jimmy's scenes side by side has a line "the time is right your perfume fills my head, the stars get RED and oh the night's so BLUE"

[hlzion]

Wow, it's amazing that most of these characters wear the same colors and it's still hardddd to notice unless told. God these writers are masters of their craft.

[calypso]

4:31 Francesca is outfitted entirely in red, the colour of criminality, to foreshadow her becoming a landlord

[kevinnigins]

I like how Jimmy as a kid has all 3 colors on him on a repeating pattern, probably to symbolize at that moment he’s still a kid who’s yet to be truly molded by any side of the spectrum

[subjectd]

Mike's red car interior got me thinking about how Mike approaches Nacho at Nacho's dad's business. Mike says he wants to change the red to something exotic. Mike does this to try to stop Nacho committing a murder.

[t_r_a_y_e]

I love that little where Jimmy gives his brown suit to Kim so she can let a younger kid she's representing wear it, and he says "I hope it does him better then it did me"
I took it as a little nod to how him trying to stay neutral on the law didn't work out.
Plus the kid was in a pretty neutral situation, he was a getaway driver for a friend who robbed a place, but he didn't know that mentioned friend robbed the place.
Putting him in that neutral state on the law

[da_pikmin_coder]

Vince Gilligan's mastery of color grading went from
"Hehe Mexico is yellow tint because it's a flashback" to "God I wish I could watch Better Call Saul in a theatre, this is beautiful."

[austin]

This is some incredible work! Deserves way more views

[cpegalaxy]

phenomenal editing on this video, and a great analysis. One color that I think could've been mentioned is that green represents money/greed, and it can be seen in a lot of scenes throughout both shows too. I guess it doesn't really fit in to the legality gradient though as both lawyers and criminals make money, and the corrupt philly police officers were pocketing drug money too.

[jenmetelski]

I’ve always thought of blue as the color of loyalty rather than law, and red as betrayal rather than crime. Mike’s speech about good people/bad people, good criminals/bad criminals helps explain. Kim, being lawful in the beginning, wears a lot of blue. As she begins to change, her blue often signals loyalty to Jimmy. I think this is really reinforced by her Kansas Royals shirt worn as pyjamas during the infamous finger guns. She believes, or at least wants him to believe, that she is being loyal to him - despite the fact that her actions are far from lawful.

[creeperinvasion]

One of my favorite scenes throughout the show is when jimmy is shopping for a suit that looks just like Howard’s in an attempt to rip him off. He looks almost lovingly at a bright Orange suit on the shelf, clearling desiring a suit that represents his more bombastic and chaotic personality. But he ultimately decides against it, choosing the blander, safer blue suit, because all his life he’s been told mainly by chuck that he needs to change if he wants to fund success as a lawyer.

[Jacox]

A video essay is good when it makes me audibly say "oh fuck off" not out of anger but out of being caught so off guard by the intelligent writing that somehow makes me appreciate the essay's subject more than I could even think possible. That happened to me during this video multiple times, notably when you talked about Jimmy drinking from the piss bottle. I love this video so much and I've already watched it two days in a row. Can't wait to see more videos from you in the future dude!

[BroBrocean]

The algorithm needs to get to work here. You posted at such a perfect time. I’m amazed you posted this just a few days before I searched for this topic.

[SourSourSour]

I really appreciate that you added the inputs from the costume designers themselves. Making a show of this calibre has so many people behind the scenes that we never hear from working their hardest to add to the story best they can.

[Eckull]

I think the Lalo thing is due to him being an actual sociopath, he seems to favour blues which fits with how he can easily hide his evil side from others and I think that's part of what makes him so unsettling.

[gnolan]

Our essayist went to a lot of trouble to get minute details right. When he describes Saul as a criminal lawyer he finds and includes the exact moment when Jesse is telling Saul to be a "criminal" lawyer. But the sound is muted. Still, we can easily read his lips. Great job.

[seankessel]

Bro holy hell I can't believe I've had to wait SIX SEASONS for someone to make this. The use of color in BCS is better than breaking bad and NOBODY talks about it. Thank you.