Color Reaserch

     In order to create the best character development, I decided to research more on color schemes and how different colors, have different approaches. 

    Many know that using color in films makes it dynamic and playful, but color can also develop a story. Color is part of how a director developed mise-en-scene, and how it can affect us psychologically, emotionally, and even sometimes physically. Usually, directors will use bright and saturated tones for happy movies, and more dark and dull colors for a more sad and emotional one; however, Wes Anderson uses color in a very unique way. Most of his films have a storyline that consists of one of their characters having a psychological trauma or a problem, however, he uses very saturated and extremely bright colors to contrast that. 

    An example I will be elaborating on is The Grand Budapest Hotel by West Anderson:

    Throughout the film, the audience is exposed to vivid colors that correlate with each other. But even though the characters in this film are living in a world very similar to us where one's life ends with death or war, the story is not reality at all. And that is why he uses bright colors such as in this movie, to create that contrast since that is not a common combination to see. 

But when it comes to how color developed a film, it can sometimes build harmony or tension to the scene being watch. It also, allows for the director to emphasis on a certain item or object  with great importance in the film. 

When it comes to the psychology of color, every single color means something different. 

For starters, red means love and passion. In this shot from Pretty Women, Vivian (Julia Roberst) is out on a date with Edward (Richard Gere) and since they were in a very passionate relationship, caused by her being a prostitute, the color red in her dress is pointing out the love and connection that they have for each other.

However, in The Devil Wears Prada, the red of the heals means danger and power. For the ones that have seen the movie, it makes obvious sense, but one of the main characters in the movie, Miranda Priestly, is the editor-in-chief of Vogue, which makes her assistance and everyone that works for her, their life impossible. Throughout the movie, it was made obvious the power that she holds and how she is dangerous if not done as she pleases.

    There's also the color pink, which means innocence, sweetness, feminity, playful, empathy, or even beauty. This color is also seen in most women in many great films. An example of how this color is being used is in Mean Girls when all of the girls use mostly pink. This color, for example, shows the beauty of these girls and how they are seen by the whole school; they are being described as playful and sweet, but also very feminine but the way they dress and act. 

    The color orange is more of a warm color that shows it through its use. It is most likely used to show happiness, sociability, friendliness, and youth, all adjectives that describe that feeling of warmth and it can be mostly associated with the fall season. Next, we have the color yellow, which is the opposite of orange. Yellow means mostly madness, sickness, obsessive, naive, or even insecurity; it is one of the more difficult colors, if not the hardest color of the eye to catch. Since it is so difficult, not too many directors use it, but when they do, it is everywhere and very noticeable.  

    The color green is also like the color red, which has two meaning two it:

Firstly, it could mean nature. As seen in the recent release of The Jungle Book, the color green is used all mostly throughout the film to make that emphasis on nature. As used in the film, it highlights the environment that this boy lives in and all of the beautiful attributes of the jungle. 

However, on the other hand, green can also mean danger and darkness. One great example of how green is used to describe a danger approaching is the movie Maleficient. As seen in this picture, her power is being depicted as green to show how much corruption she can cause. She is dark and the color of her eyes and of her power depict that. Also if we look closely, we see that the color red of her lipstick is also being used to describe her danger. 

    There's also the color blue, which depicts a more cold, isolated meaning, or also a calm, passivity, melancholy one. Like the green and the red, depending on the hue of it, the color blue could have different meanings. A good example of the color blue being used in a film is when showing the earth from an outer space view. The color that prevails the most is a darker blue which depicts a more calm and passive tone to the film. 

Lastly, the color purple. This one is not too often used, but it mostly is used to represent fantasy, mystical, or something ethereal. An example of this is Avatar:

By using the color purple, it is very evident that the directors are emphasizing, or pointing out that this is a fantasy story.  At this point of the movie, it could also mean that due to the fact that Jake was only an Avatar due to a technological machine that allowed him to be that way, it could be making emphasize how ethereal their relationship was. 

    After all this research, it has helped me and my teammates decide which colors we will be using in our films to furthermore develop our characters.