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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

#21

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

ixtli wrote: post #12
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In my opinion the pill scene [1] has everything that made The Matrix unique. The color, lightning, costumes, ambience (rain and thunder outside), surgical use of soundtrack and the dialogue itself. All the elements successfully contribute to give it that comicbook/cyberpunk feel.

In contrast, the sequels don't have such simple but striking scenes like that.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#23

Post by coob »

ixtli wrote: post #11
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.

You can also see this changing after Neo acquires his bullet stopping powers in the hallway. The walls go all bendy (they're cloth).

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#24

Post by arethuza »

ixtli wrote: post #12
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The 1984 version of 1984 had an intentional "washed out" appearance to reflect the grimness of the world it was showing - apparently done by a bleach bypass done to each print:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four_%28film%29...

I suspect Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves did something similar as well - it had quite a distinct look:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_the_Waves

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#25

Post by masklinn »

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)

The teal-and-orange plague followed from DI[0]. Amélie predates the widespread use of DI, and DI's later compromission by the TaO plague. So it probably isn't the contrast, most of the movies from the time (and before it) would have similar non-TaO palettes (unless they were specifically going for it, as in Blade Runner)

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_intermediate

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#27

Post by athenry »

pkroll wrote: post #8
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.

Just as a note, the green grading was made stronger in releases after the original DVD.

Very True. I remember when I got the bluRay, and increased green in the first movie was very clear.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#28

Post by cake »

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!)

Those priceonomics guys really care for their SEO. They are one of the few websites that writes totally unrelated articles to sell a product.

I kind of feel used when I see them pop up.

Re: Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue

#30

Post by HCIdivision17 »

chton wrote: post #6

One of the most interesting exceptions I've seen on this convention was the 2011 movie Limitless( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219289/ ). They still used the orange-blue complement, but switched saturation between them, sometimes every scene. It was used as an indicator of how the protagonist views the world: bright and with an orange saturation for when he is on NZT, dull and blue when he isn't. I thought it was a g…

To join in, I too loved the use of color in Limitless. I personally associate vibrant autumnal colors with clarity, not sharp blues, so when the characters go on NZT, it feels fuller, not just sharper. It looks like something a person would actually want, as opposed to losing one's humanity in a soul-crushing washed-out green or blue usually seen in sci-fi.
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