Color Theory in Film — Color Psychology for Directors: Ep5

Have you ever wondered about Color theory in Film?

You film color palette matters to the audience. It’s not only aesthetic, it also affects storytelling. This video takes you through director’s choices when it comes to colorization in their film works and how those colors get different emotional responses from the audience.

We break down color in TV, movie, and use film theory to extract meaning from specific choices. There are three components of color.

They are:

Hue - which is the color.

Saturation - the intensity of the color

Brightness - the brightness of the color

With just hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB for short) you can create a complex color scheme rather simply, and go from being just another director to a being a true visual artist.

By utilizing hue, saturation, and brightness you can precisely identify the right color create certain feelings in your audience.

Bright images often seem lively and exciting. Darker images often seem dramatic. And on it goes…

But rules were made to be broken.

What are some of your favorite moments of color in media and entertainment?

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[favarettofilms]

You translated many pages from a book about the basics of colour grading in less than 5 minutes... Many thanks!!

[HackMyControlSystem]

I absolutely love the resources you guys and gals provide us newbie filmmakers. Thanks for posting.

[archo]

i like specific colors used in movies to enhance their mood. but i kinda feel that they are overdoing it nowadays. i think, it is much better when it is subtle than bold. i am forced into a specific mood and only see that color. sometimes movies are too dark, too bright, too mono or uniform, that the trick kills it rather than enhances the movie.

[rayancedrichaddad]

Use of Colors in Movies bring them more Deeper and Profound into the Symbols and Thematics they Explores. Colors are Magic.

[patrickseitisoseitiso]

I always wonder why resourceful channels like these dont have millions of subscribers. This one is a crazy world we live in.

[suwaaa.]

I used to be an artist, seeing many color theory videos, studying it. but i don't think none ever worked for me. that's why i gradually stopped drawing. i loved painting a picture inside someone's head, telling a story, but i got bored. so, i went on a movie binge. i fell in love with the nature, because you just don't paint with the colors (visually), there are many other aspects. camera movements, resolutions. more importantly, studying art made it easier for me to study film, and studying film made me a much better artist.


something i'd like to add:
you can also add much more contrast to the film. not just throughout the film. in one frame, you can clash colors to create an uneasy feel. color can be used to show attention to one thing, maybe someone's blue eyes' contrast to a desaturated work place. maybe he felt dull. he went on to a place full of bright colors, so he felt more comfortable.
symbolizing colors- don't always stick to a dark green is money sort of thing. make your own symbols. maybe blue is usually good, red is bad, but what if you make the main protagonist mostly red? he's not bad, he may be bold, viewed as bad so he may be used to it. maybe the antagonist wears blue, creating chaos though he is passive.




anyways, i loved the video, the visual editing, and the fact i felt i got something out of it. thank you.

[theonewhohatesonlineclasse]

If it's one thing that I like about this video, it's not just the details BUT the sound effects as well. It is as if I'm in a game or something. Another thing I like about this vid is when the background song is cut off and it mainly draws the focus on what he's saying. It really made this video unique. I enjoy watching this kind of videos. Jolly good show I say!

[colicx_]

3:17, this music, colors flying, this video part, your words on the second green i was taken aback, that was something deep

[robinness]

I'm a simple man, I see colors, I press like

[jayaychyremo]

You're a great help to people who don't have money to go to film school. Thanks is not enough.

[markparkinson]

That is amazingly educational. Thanks to you, now I can understand more than simply the surface of a film. Thank you, StudioBinder.

[matanghy]

Best content I could ever find, it's grateful to know that we can find this kind of content for free, so rich, so well explained

[avisharma]

You made me understand all this in a single go . You are awesomely unbelievable, as how easily you taught about color of the film.

[misschipskylark]

im so glad you put twin peaks in at the end, its the reason i looked color theory up :) glad im on the right track

[christianmcnally]

This channel is actually nuts btw. I mean... You guys are bringing the concept of "provide value to the viewer" to an absolutely unseen level in the film industry. I mean, honestly shocking!

[mzilg]

This is a much more appropriate voiceover voice/attitude. Thank you.

[Minitomate]

Very well done explaining precisely each use of this 3 fundamental things in filmmaking!

[avenidanostalgia]

I wish that this series of videos will never end

[katojuakhil]

Yes, you require 1m subs how people are missing your content 💓😡love you guys

[michaelsmovies]

i just want to say your videos are really helpful and easy to understand :)