Symbolism in movie color palettes How to use color in film symbolically There are many ways to create symbolism in a film, but using different types of color schemes might be one of the most effective. Even if the audience isn’t entirely conscious of the symbolism coming from the color palette (like maybe they are with discordant color schemes) they will be affected by it. We’ll cover a few different wants to creating powerful connections between ideas and themes through the use of your color palette here. DISCORDANT COLOR Discordant use of color in movies can help a character, detail, or moment truly stand out from the rest of the film. For example, the color blue in Amelie, or the color red in The Sixth Sense.

Examples of color discordance in movies

Discordance is a deliberate choice by the director to deviate from the balanced types of color schemes and color palettes we’ve mentioned to refocus attention. Why? Well, for one by creating discordance you create a pretty obvious symbol. A movie color palette could all be one way, learning towards one direction, but then suddenly one element sticks out like a sore thumb. For example, the girl’s jacket in one of the best WW2 movies, Schindler’s List. The girl’s red jacket, in the otherwise black and white film, is a clearly meant to be symbolic.

Schindler's List uses color discordance to create a powerful symbol

Not all examples of discordance in movie color palettes are so clear cut. But when a director and design team make a choice like this, they make it for a reason. It's one way to create symbols with color in film. In neo-noir classic (not to be confused with film noir) Sin City, the sudden discordance within the color palette is a reflection of graphic artist Frank Miller’s style. It also helps make certain elements “pop” in an attempt to capture the look and feel of Miller's original graphic novels.

Color discordance: Sin City has a playful color palette

A movie's color palette is yet another place where storyteller’s can create conflict and drama. All it takes is mismatching colors in the right places. In the next section, we'll talk about how to use color in film to represent characters, ideas, and themes.

ASSOCIATIVE COLOR SCHEMES Associate colors in film refers to when a recurring color or scheme represents a theme or character in a film, thereby connecting visual spectacle with emotional storytelling. In one of the top Christopher Nolan movies, The Dark Knight, both key characters in the drama have their own associative colors palettes.

Example of associative color palettes in The Dark Knight

Contrasting with Batman’s dark blacks and grays were The Joker’s slightly muted clown colors of purple and green. The clash between them came to represent a clash between the simple order of dark tones and the funhouse horror chaos of the Joker's mismatched colors. One of the most famous associative uses of color in movies was the role of orange in one of the best mafia movies, Francis Ford Coppola’s all-time classic The Godfather. Orange is associated with death in the film, often as a precursor to sudden and messy violence.

Example of associative colors in The Godfather

Unlike the gangster films that had come before, The Godfather approached violence in a more brutal and ugly fashion. So, it made sense that in a world of crushed blacks and desaturated tones, a bright incongruous orange tone would indicate the coming violence. Quentin Tarantino loves to play with different types of color schemes, and in one of his best movies (Kill Bill: Vol. 1) he gave his central character “The Bride” her own color: bright yellow.

Exemple of associative color palettes in Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Of course, a lot of the time blood red was also her color but that's neither here nor there. Due to The Bride's insatiable thirst for revenge, drenching her in bright yellow helps us make a connection between color and character. In one of the best sequels out there, The Empire Strikes Back, associative colors are use both with the characters, and their position in the story’s main conflict. Darth Vader is black, with a bright red lightsaber, contrasting to Luke’s lighter earth tones and whites, and blue lightsaber.

Example of associative colors in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) movie

These colors combined to convey an emotional state from the character. Black and red are violent and menacing where blue and white are cool and comforting. When a recurring film palette or color represents a character or larger theme in the film. In Vertigo, the bright green is used as a callback to when main character Scotty first became transfixed with the woman he was supposed to be investigating. Much later, after the woman’s death, he spots a look-alike and begs her to try and look more like the woman he first fell for.

Vertigo • Associative Color Schemes

Using color palettes to create powerful connections between your characters and meaning is a tool no filmmaker should ignore. The more examples you study, the better. TRANSITIONAL COLOR SCHEMES Transitional color usage is when a change in colors and color palette indicates a shift of some sort. This could be a shift in mood or tone, between different movie genres, or within the characters themselves. Over the course of the classic anti-hero series Breaking Bad, Walter White lives a double life as alter ego Heisenberg. Walter White lives a double life as a mild-mannered science teacher and his vicious, drug kingpin alter ego, Heisenberg.

How to Use Transitional Colors in Film

Walter White's color palette is lighter, softer and has a use of cooler primary color palette. Heisenberg has a much darker, yet still analogous color palette. The transition of iconic character Luke Skywalker was less obvious, but still well reflected in a major shift in his color palette. Originally he was clad in lighter earth tones. This both reflected his ‘farm boy’ upbringing, but his place on the ‘light side’ of the force. Once Luke has gone through his Jedi training, and learned of his true identity as the Darth Vader’s son, Luke shows up in all black.

Transitional Film Color Palette: Luke Skywalker

It both reflects the serious and adult quality the ‘kid’ is now imbued with, but also that he has a dark streak in him, and a potentially dangerous connection to evil. In the case of Up, following the Pixar storytelling formula, the shift in color palette represents a change in story tone. A happy gleeful time has given way to a dark depressing reality. The darker reality is shown in shadow, with a bleak drab color palette.

Example of transitional colors in Up