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Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

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Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#11

Post by ixtli »

swalsh wrote: post #5

In The Matrix, you could tell which "world" you're in by the general grade of color. When in the Matrix, everything had a greenish overtone, and when in the "real world" it was more blue. I really liked that use of color to be a part of the story telling process.

That's definitely the part of the movie i remember most, 16 years later: that feeling of flatness in the matrix that they emphasized by the green and black. You'll also notice, if you go back and watch it, that everything in the matrix is angular and well defined where as in the Nebuchadnezzar everything is curved and messy with pipes and wires leading to nowhere in every shot.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#12

Post by ixtli »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #10
swalsh wrote: post #5

In The Matrix, you could tell which "world" you're in by the general grade of color. When in the Matrix, everything had a greenish overtone, and when in the "real world" it was more blue. I really liked that use of color to be a part of the story telling process.

This. Their use of color grading is one of the things that made The Matrix have a very unique feel. The sound design is also worth paying attention to.

I also find that the lack of money forced the grittiness that was lacking in the second and third movies, and in a lot of high budget movies that attempt "edginess" like that.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#16

Post by binarymax »

I remember this from a while ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193657

After I read that post it took something away from a lot of films for me, since it was hard to not notice. In this context, ignorance is bliss I say! I wish I could go back to not noticing.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#17

Post by dperfect »

> There's no specific colour decision-making process where we sit in a room and say, 'We're only going to use complementary colours to try and move the audience in a particular direction – and only use those combinations.'

A lot of production designers would strongly disagree with this statement. The color palette of a film is very much a part of the decision-making process (pre-production as well as post-production), and it's used primarily to "move the audience" in one way or another, as per the film's theme and story elements.

It may just be that the colors within a chosen palette are often classified as either "warm" or "cool" - orange and blue being the most obvious manifestations of those classifications - so we tend to see a lot of them. Without contrast (literal and figurative), a film simply doesn't say anything. Warm and cool colors go a long way in helping the audience feel positively or negatively about certain story elements.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#18

Post by klochner »

joosters wrote: post #14

At least they had the good grace to link to http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-ho... before effectively rewriting his original blogpost (and copying some of the images directly from it!)

He wasn't the first - slashfilm in 2009:

http://www.slashfilm.com/orangeblue-contrast-in-movie-poster...

based off a reddit thread:

http://www.reddit.com/comments/a8mqz

Reddit seems to be the go-to source for 'original' blog content these days.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#20

Post by pkroll »

circlefavshape wrote: post #2

Funny to see Amelie there as a counter-example - it's pretty much my favourite movie, and one of the things I love about it is the autumnal quality of the light. Normally I wouldn't notice that kind of thing at all, perhaps it's the contrast with all the orange-and-blues (or maybe just the exceptional loveliness of the film itself)

On the director's commentary, at 21:50, he talks about pushing the digital grading and that "sometimes it's a little bit too much." (But obviously he didn't tone it back!)
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