Color Psychology in Film

12:48 PM

Color Psychology

In films and photography, color has a magical way of creating moods and showing emotions that characters are feeling. However, colors aren't used randomly, and there are intricate decisive steps made when determining what colors excite certain emotions when viewed with a character. Certain colors create a variety of moods and it is important to understand the effect of each individual one to help make your films more cinematic and impactful.

Red

The use of red is generally used in movies to show intensity as well as romance. Red is a very strong and overpowering color and it is likewise used in films to show a characters strength and their dominance in certain situations. Red can also represent anger, rage, and hatred which are the extremes of dislike. The use of red can show a characters hatred towards certain situations or people.

Examples:

Orange

Orange most commonly represents adventure and being friendly. Orange is a softer version of red and represents a more calm and mellow hue. Orange can also mean success and can be related to social interactions. Orange can be used to show courage as well as the need or want for social interaction or to be with other people.

Examples:

Yellow

Yellow is a very happy color and represents laughter and optimism as well as creativity. Yellow is most commonly used in happy situations to represent joy but it is also used to show jealousy, anxiety, emotional fragility, depression, and deception.

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Green

Green is commonly used to represent evil and manipulative people. Green represents balance and harmony. Green is also the most dominant color in nature and it can also symbolize growth and promote safety.

Examples:

Image result for harry potter order of the phoenix cinematography

Blue

Blue is the color associated with technology and anything modern. Therefore it can represent calmness or can be overpowering to show lack of emotions or detachment. Blue also reflects loyalty and can be used minimally to show peace and loneliness.

Examples:

Purple:

Pink:

Purple represents wealth and luxury and is seen as a calming color. It is a toned down version of red and pink and shows gentleness as well as creativity. It is used to represent harmony and peace for the future.

Purple

Examples:

Pink:

Pink is generally used to show feminine traits but it is used for both genders. Pink shows sweetness and innocence as well as romance. It is commonly associated with little girls and can also be used to show character weakness.

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