One of the most important lessons for filmmakers, especially young filmmakers who now have the easiest and most affordable opportunities to achieve cinematic looks than ever in history. With that ease it becomes harder to slow down and really think about the "color story" and just how every little thing works together on that level psychologically. Another part of your video that I think is of great value is discussing set design, not just cinematography. Reminds you that not everything can or should be fixed in post. As much as possible, you need to execute your vision as early as possible and through as many elements and materials as you can.
you know what makes a film cinematic? the writing and time. Not the camera, not the lighting, not the action, but the drama, a character, who has an insurmountable problem to solve, and lacks all the skills and tools to solve over 20 problems, over a span of 100 minutes. The expansion and contraction of time is essentially what makes a story cinematic. That's cinema. The problems facing a character who's wrong for that situation, while his time both contracts and expands in his/her world, as we are privy to watching them solve their 20 problems. That's cinema.
@@defiverr4697 You can have the most beautiful story ever made, but you can't follow it seriously with attention and care about it when it isn't supported by the camera and lighting. Film is truly great, to the point when it can be called a masterpiece only when all of the aspects of a film are wonderfully executed. From writing, cinematography, acting to music. Everything has its purpose. That's why film is the ''ultimate form of art'' for me.
The most important thing hands down is STORY, and unfortunately authentic, good storytelling is basically dying, as it is gradually being forcefully substituted by woke propaganda.
I've seen dozens of Blade Runner 2049 videos, but this is the first to point out and explain what's happening relevant to the color like that. Well done!
I'm not really trying to make movies. But your videos are my favorite. So thoughtful and objective and detail-oriented without pointless rambling. These feel like small passion projects - like little altruistic gifts to the world - instead of an aggressive attempt to monetize UA-cam. And it makes me very happy.
I second this! I’d argue these kinds of videos are what defines some youtube creators as true artists. Their passion for artistry is very apparent throughout, and is also very persuasive. I’m glad I found this channel.
It's so crazy how things one would never notice add so much to the overall feel really makes you think , the people behind all this are underappreciated
One of my favorite movies is the 1964 version of "Fail Safe". While it's in black and white (so no color palate) they did something interesting with the set design-most of the interior sets, the room is either very narrow but deep, or wide and shallow. It makes the scenes feel slightly claustrophobic, which is perfect for the tone of the movie.
@LetMeSeeThemANKLES It's not supposed to feel natural. The atmosphere and color palette are supposed to feel artificial and synthetic, like the world around it. And the story isn't bad. It skillfully expands on the themes of the original film with reverence and a good balance between originality and similarity to the original to have its own message while still feeling like an evolution of the original story. This time, instead of proving that replicants are more human than human, this film asks if being human even matters to do what is right. Being human is not about being real; it's defined by the choices we make. Familiar, yes, but solidly conveyed and effective for some.
I've been a professional artist for some years now and I've never quite been able to understand just how important the right color is to a piece, until today. Your video made something click and I'm starting to see color differently now. Thank you!
Two colours are awesome but abstractly removing colours to focus on just two is increasingly creating an artificially in movies/tv shows that simply doesn't convey reality. This is why a lot of modern movies are being rightfully criticised for having a 'super contrast dark' look with overly brightened bold colours. Risk overdoing it and you end up with ugly nothingness.
It's kind of like the loudness war in music problem. Although film audio tends to have the opposite problem and there is way too much dynamics, to the point where you can't hear what the actors are saying without shaking the house down when a bomb explodes.
@@VodkaSelekta "you can't hear what the actors are saying without shaking the house down when a bomb explodes." --> Exactly! If your TV has one, use the normaliser/equivalent - though they are frequently so poorly implemented that they produce a worse experience, killing all dynamics. For movies, I think they're doing to colour pallets what they've done with that obligatory/mandatory disease of 'feels music everywhere'. I really hope society is not that dumb to accept this en masse. Then again, we've had 20 years youth indoctrination of L1/Melodyne/Autotune/snap to pitch and time + miming, and that's a hell of a mess to get ourselves into.
1:09 Fun fact: The psychological effects of colors (hue) on mood is more of a recurring marketing and self-help gag than actual scientific consensus. You do find this claim all over the internet on various blogs, but reports (let alone "evidence") on any such effects are very scarce in the psychological literature. If there is anything published on this topic, it rather indicates that color-mood-effects are pretty much non-existent. Of course, that is not to say that color doesn't have any effects whatsoever. After all, we are able to experience it and there are good reasons for it. However, it's effects seem to be primarily aesthetic in nature. Color effects on anything but aesthetic experience (such as its effects on mood), given that there are any, seem to be much more complex and certainly not directly measurable.
Yesss. Also this notion assumes universal colour, which anyone into linguistics or anthropology will tell you isn't a thing, just as a universal language or culture. Marketing is a powerful tool though, would make sense for a field based entirely on manipulation.
A good tip for anyone wondering how to use color after reading that: use your story to give meaning to the color. Sure red could mean violence but it could also mean passion, could mean both. Let the story say what it needs to say. I once made a very short comic in a noir style and there were some pops of cyan. Given the context, it would make the reader worried, uneasy. But there’s nothing concerning about cyan by itself
You can also just build the context for color in story instead of relying on broad advice. Red can be the color of blood, violence, or passion, but if you represent them with the color blue ("mellow" and "weak") you can still make it work and would likely be more memorable in the end. Repetition justifies.
It’s been proven that red causes high emotional arousal and blue causes low emotional arousal through physiological changes. I personally think that pastels are high in emotional valence and dark colors are low in emotional valence. Dark red is angry, while pinker reds are exciting. Dark blue is depressing, while light blue is relaxing. I definitely don’t believe that it’s an association thing. Some people say red makes them alert because of stop signs when really stop signs are red because they cause emotional arousal. If you look up emotional valence and arousal and look at the chart what I’m saying should make sense. I could obviously be wrong
the most important thing is that the eyes are clearly visible. if they are not, the audience will not connect with the character, independently of skin tone
I rarely write comments but for you I just have to let you know how helpful your videos are. I am following most of the major cinematography / filmmaking channels on UA-cam but the quality / credibility of the information that you provide is just outstanding! I‘ve been learning from you for the past 12 months and it has stept up my game so much that I myself can‘t beliefe how good my cinematography looks compared to before I started watching your videos! Please keep it up and know that there a lot of people that you help that don‘t write a comment every day ✌️
I'll have to watch this video a few times. I've making a living doing graphic design fo 18 years and am now color grading films for people. So, both require a constant review of the psychological effects of color. Thanks for making this!
Sergio Leone was rumored to have said he wanted The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to have a yellow filter on it. The 2007 release of the movie did just that and it’s so beautiful. Brings out the desert, sun, skin, and outfits so much more.
what r u talking about? 2007 version was more yellow. 2014 has blank colours, more blue. And 2021 version is 2021 looks more like 2014 blue version but with more contrast
Colour grading can make or break a film. I feel like so many people don't even notice or care about it, it's the first thing I notice in a scene. Ever since I started taking up photography as a hobby, I've learned to appreciate colour grading so much more than I used to. It's even elevated my edits with a more cinematic look. It's a very interesting topic.
Originally colour grading was created to unify scenes shot under very different lighting conditions, nothing more than that. It's narrative use evolved from the technical use and its explosive increase in use tracks with the explosive increase in digital cinematography, which allowed both for easier implementation and increased need for colour-grading as it became a ubiquitous part of post-production.
To me this was the opposite effect, a lot of 'modern' movies look better in black and white, since your brain fills in the colours automatically. So many movies have the colour grading cranked so high, that it washes out any detail and world building. It's just plain jarring
Make or break a film? That *is* a bold claim. I struggle to find support for such a claim. For narrative films, I can think of many things that must be present to bring a film a mainstream appeal. I'd be curious to hear an argument for color grading. What I will say is absolutely clear, whether you are on set or in a seat at a movie theater, is that attention to color and color grading signals professionalism and, done poorly, can really diminish the experience -- much the same as poor sound design and sound capture become obvious when missing but go unnoticed when done well. But again, who's your audience? Other film makers? Photographers? or casual, rushed modern audiences? If you don't grab them with some emotional hook it's unlikely any technical marvel will sweep them off their feet for long.
@@x--. I wasn't speaking generally, just for myself. Bad colour grading and poorly framed shots really ruin the experience for me. It might sound superficial or nitpicky but that's just the art student/photographer in me. I think I'm just projecting my own vision onto the film.
people that didnt go to art school.....but those that did are like.."oh yawn, yeah color theory..spent a year studying properties of light color and psychology of color.."
Great insight on how colour affects the tone and mood and why production design is so important. Another classic example of this is in the film Hero where they took the idea of shooting with a specific colour palette to the extreme.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.“ - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” - Orson Welles Using all the colors in the world at once is quite distracting, so you limit yourself and take away colors, until you can't take away any more without losing something important. I like that idea.
Man your channel has so much to learn.. i actually had watched your one video in the pas. And then i just watched the exposure video today. I dont know why i didn't found you!! Great job man... Will be watching more of your videos to learn more !
Great video on a complex topic. I didn't realize why Ad Astra was so aesthetically appealing when I watched it but now I feel like I understand it a little better. Thank you for sharing your insight, it was really helpful.
I thought it looked good here so I like it up and all the reviews said it was super slow and it had more 1stars than anything else. Should I disregard and give it a watch?
@@dylankeenan1590 If your into slow burning films that flush out deeper meanings than you'll like it. Avoid it if your into faced paced action and constant excitement. I personally really enjoyed it for its deep meanings on the ramification of humans colonizing space and the toll it takes on humanity. Hopes this helps.
Thank you for your video narrative... Your videos are one of the most professional on the subject I saw recently. I saw 3 or 4 already and will keep moving forward today to see few more of your work. Thank you.
@@mrmovieguy1000 I saw it yesterday for the first time, after seeing this video. A lot of that orchestration happens in the visuals, the music, and in Pitt's performance. I don't want to spoil it. But you really get this sense of an epic odyssey as each new stage in his journey has a unique look and feel. Yes, in the color, but also the set pieces, the tone, camera angles... i.e. one moment he is walking on the surface of an alien planet and in the next he is swimming desperately through a tight, underground water canal in near pitch darkness, and moments later into the vast emptiness of space. It's full of these strange moments that give the sense of a journey into the unknown.
Mitry Yea na... It’s a boring film with a ridiculous premise. Brad Pits performance was cringing. It’s been universally panned.. Delusions of grandeur I’m afraid.
Oh, I've noticed. I've been noticing the predominant orange-blue tint trend in big movies since the early 2000s, and I hate it. Yes, it can work stylistically in some rare cases. No, making every other movie feel bleak and lifeless colorwise, even (paradoxically) when the blues and yellows are cranked up to eleven at the cost of everything else, does not make them cool.
I think they are more highlighting it's effective use and applications in the hands of competent film-makers rather than it's oversuse and saturation. Can you list a few films where overuse of orange-blue is a problem?
@Veronka Vartanova: I know, right? If ONE or maybe TWO movies use it as a style element it would have been ok. But nooo... suddenly it had to be used on EVERY movie for the last 15-18 years or so. And where it REALLY starts to piss me off is when these lunatics even ALTER OLD MOVIES, who get fresh 4K masters, forcing this contemporary colour grading bullshit on CLASSICS and ruining them with it.. We live in a really dark age of movies right now and this vandalizing of art just really attacks me on a personal level as well.
Very informative. I've never realized skin tone was so important. Not to mention the significance of 2 tones in conveying a narrative. You've earned yourself another subscriber.
Unfortunately your title is misleading. Films are "not shot" in two colors, their colors are "graded". Other than that I enjoyed your video vey much. Very well edited and presented. Thank you.
The principles of limited color palettes apply to pretty much every visual art including film, interior design, fashion, illustration, photography, web design and graphic design among others. Less sophisticated artists tend toward highly saturated colors across the entire hue spectrum while mature artists carefully select a limited, often muted palette, usually 2 to 4 colors, to evoke a mood or focus on elements through contrast or other methods.
Came here to point this out... Great example of the beauty and power that can be achieved with black and white film. Amazing movie, even beyond the cinematography.
I see another visual trick in your clip of Charles Laughton's 'Night of the Hunter'. It is the distorted perspective of the scenery forcing us to see the shots from a child's point of view, increasing fear and tension. Probably one of the most underrated movies ever and one of my favourites.
Great thought provoking video! I'm curious how colour tones in film change when you have casts who are predominantly non-caucasian. Orange being the skin tone colour seems like a colour choice centered around caucasian cast members, whereas people of different skin tone would probably require something else. I'm now really curious how Black Panther and other Black, or Asian, high cinema productions handled this decision 🙂
This is an explanation of why so many films look so horrible. I've always wondered why filmmakers would make such bad choices, with films like Amélie and The Matrix and Blade Runner taking said bad choices to their extreme. It's essentially filmmakers toying with what /they/ find entertaining, leaving the viewer with a film that is so badly coloured some scenes are essentially unwatchable and they will never be really immersed in the story. Thank you, I guess, for the insight.
I knew they set colour pallets and grades for films (it's kind of obvious when you watch them of course) but this was an interesting deeper dive into the subject. Great work
I find this aspect of films upsetting as a viewer. It takes away from my enjoyment when the full vibrancy of life is reduced to a spare color palette for ill-conceived purposes of visual storytelling. I appreciate it when filmmakers diverge from this behavior.
Orange I'd say. Brown isn't technically a color. It's dark orange. And since dark is a relative property brown IS orange. Brown is orange surrounded by lighter hues making your brain interpret it as brown.
@@moladiver6817 those lighter hues being yellow and red, the components of orange. After editing video for years the one thing you get used to is manipulating the yellows and reds in people's faces.
Use XDM to rip it and reupload. It's not right but that's what you have to resort to when people attempt to put restrictions on relinking for the YT algorithms.
@@matrixate what the fuck? You're advocating for stealing content. That's not okay man. The uploader decides where and how he wants to publish it, you have no right to rip, freeboot and redistribute apart from sharing the original video link.
No, it was because it's similar to black and white in the sense that filmakers can use it to make you focus your eyes on what's important. It has contrast
Not really. It's all about contrast. In art, usually less is more, depending on what you're trying to achieve. If you want to make a certain mood or color pop, you'd have to contrast it with another color that gives a different mood. This also gives a feeling of balance, but can also be used for symbolic purposes.
Fun fact: Bergman was a shill (disguised as an art-house filmmaker) devoted to the subversion of morality through the promotion of sexual revolution as a mean of social engineering.
Personally I'm sick of this overly stylized use of color, grading and lighting. At some point using every single element to "tell a story" squeezes the life out of the thing. It makes me think about the manipulative use of music to tell viewers how to feel. Nowadays I'm more impressed with movies that can reach the same emotional depths(and beyond) using simple natural lighting and colors. I think I will vomit if I ever see a "blue" London or a "yellow" Mexico on tv or in a movie again. I watched Tokyo Story again last night and the emotional impact of that movie wipes the floor with most stuff despite its non remarkable lighting, it ellipsing over the dramatic climax and having a soundtrack sounding like elevator music. There's a lot to learn from that.
1:11 There are no definitive studies done on color that prove colors exact effect on mood. It definitely does affect us, but most ideas are subjective in this field. Red Light and Blue Light affecting wakefulness, yes, but not mood. Someone please prove me wrong.
This video is fantastic. I've been in a small creative rut for the last month or so and this made me wonder about possibilities and sparked some ideas quietly sitting in the back of my head for some time , too.
One of your sources for "Joker" appears to be pulled from an HDR (UHD Blu-Ray) source, so the color space being Rec.2020, and the gamma being ST.2084 -- displayed in Rec.709 -- displays a much "flatter" image and therefore isn't accurate -- when displayed this way -- as opposed to a Rec.709 source, when referencing the film's color.
Excellent video. Most people don’t realise a film’s colour palette is chosen before a single frame is shot in anger. Colour is meaning in the most subtle of ways.
It shits me too tears. Older movies have a wider color palet. Most movies these days look green and blue, destroys the movie and sfx look more fake. I call it the jurrassic world effect cause that's when I noticed the trend take off, it was so blue and green and fake looking. Ive noticed because of digital that movie lighting looks more flat in most movies now, lacks contrast, I call it dead lighting. older movies the lighting had depth and looked like real light.
"older movies the lighting had depth and looked like real light." I don't know what older movies you were watching but none of the lighting is natural. As a matter of fact, none of cinema lighting is natural, its all meant to accentutate/attenuate something. If you really want a real movie with "natural" light, get your camera, walk into your living room and start recording. Then go outside and hopefully you have your ISO set to auto so that the sun doesn't blow out your entire image. That is natural, real life lighting, not these perfect images from Hollywood produced with more lighting gear to fill a stadium. Nothing in cinema is "natural." We would have an over abundance of amazing cinematographers if it were. Cinema lighting is as fake as it gets.
@@amjan you're right, but I said "more details". More color is overwhelming & distracting (by more I mean the number of colors - you probably didn't understand the sentence). Also, street signs are usually just one color. Which is equal to "less color" - just like I said. I didn't mean chroma by less color, I meant a limited palette aka less amount of colors. which is the whole point of this video, it's not about chroma & saturation, or "striking" color, the way you said it - it's about having a limited palette.
@@amjan trying rereading properly the comment and ensuring you understand it before tantrumming next time. You literally agreed with the OP in your comment, so you just look ignorant abusing the OP.
@@AidenCassaroArt It's impossible to make a street sign with just one colour. "More color is overwhelming & distracting" - EXACTLY! And what is overwhelming and why is it distracting? It's because you see more. You're overwhelmed by seeing too much. You're distracted by seeing more things jump into your attention. That's the definition of more.
what're you talking about? this isn't a trend or a hack. it tells a story through the color choices. it's a cinematic choice and influences the reader's emotions and such.
Nothing in cinema is "natural." We would have an over abundance of amazing cinematographers if it were. Cinema lighting is as fake as it gets. I'm tired of people describing cinema lighting as "natural." Yeah when I get in front of people to talk I have my on demand gaffer make sure that I have a hairline light to accent me and break me away from my background!!!! It's ridiculous for anyone to believe that cinema light is "NATURAL." Cinema lighting is completely unnatural. If you want a film with "natural" lighting, film your living room while everyone watches tv. You won't see anyone's hairline lit so that it is separted from the sofa for depth. Hell the light from the tv in most cinema scenes isn't even coming from a real tv because the tv light is not controllable. Cinema lighting is an art that shapes the scene to look perfectly unnatural, there is nothing natural about it. I mean think about it, there would be no need for gaffers or productin designers, if lighting was "natural." SMH
@@ErrenTV Only a fool like you wouldn't know that cinema is an illusion and there is nothing natural about it all the way up to the actors aesthetics!!!
A great movie that only has 1 dominant color is Inside Llewyn Davis. 90 percent of the film has this musty green tint that perfectly sets the folk driven mood of the story along with the music. And the Academy thought so as well, as it won Best Cinematography in 2013. Great video btw! You’ve earned a subscriber :)
Interesting to see this - thanks - but film makers need to consider how the message in using two tones is received. I can't be the only one thinking the film look absolutely awful.
Absolutely disgusting, when for the entire film there is not one shot that has clear blue skies and normal colours. I absolutely hate this trend, and it will get really old at some point. Starting with the original Blade runner, which I always hated because of it. Makes everything depressing and a movie strenuous to watch. Can't wait for this fad to go away
These kind of things are what really inspire me to pursue film making, I mean so much thought and work is put into each and every single scene just to convey a feeling regarding the story.
Download My Free Ebook! How to Make Stunning Films on a Budget. My Proven Secrets: wolfcrow.com/free-ebook/
One of the most important lessons for filmmakers, especially young filmmakers who now have the easiest and most affordable opportunities to achieve cinematic looks than ever in history. With that ease it becomes harder to slow down and really think about the "color story" and just how every little thing works together on that level psychologically. Another part of your video that I think is of great value is discussing set design, not just cinematography. Reminds you that not everything can or should be fixed in post. As much as possible, you need to execute your vision as early as possible and through as many elements and materials as you can.
you know what makes a film cinematic? the writing and time. Not the camera, not the lighting, not the action, but the drama, a character, who has an insurmountable problem to solve, and lacks all the skills and tools to solve over 20 problems, over a span of 100 minutes. The expansion and contraction of time is essentially what makes a story cinematic. That's cinema. The problems facing a character who's wrong for that situation, while his time both contracts and expands in his/her world, as we are privy to watching them solve their 20 problems. That's cinema.
@@defiverr4697 You can have the most beautiful story ever made, but you can't follow it seriously with attention and care about it when it isn't supported by the camera and lighting. Film is truly great, to the point when it can be called a masterpiece only when all of the aspects of a film are wonderfully executed. From writing, cinematography, acting to music. Everything has its purpose. That's why film is the ''ultimate form of art'' for me.
Great advice.
@@defiverr4697 No. That's a story. Cinema has certain characteristics and particularities that are used to tell a story.
The most important thing hands down is STORY, and unfortunately authentic, good storytelling is basically dying, as it is gradually being forcefully substituted by woke propaganda.
I've seen dozens of Blade Runner 2049 videos, but this is the first to point out and explain what's happening relevant to the color like that. Well done!
I'm not really trying to make movies. But your videos are my favorite. So thoughtful and objective and detail-oriented without pointless rambling. These feel like small passion projects - like little altruistic gifts to the world - instead of an aggressive attempt to monetize UA-cam. And it makes me very happy.
I second this! I’d argue these kinds of videos are what defines some youtube creators as true artists. Their passion for artistry is very apparent throughout, and is also very persuasive. I’m glad I found this channel.
It's so crazy how things one would never notice add so much to the overall feel
really makes you think ,
the people behind all this are underappreciated
One of my favorite movies is the 1964 version of "Fail Safe". While it's in black and white (so no color palate) they did something interesting with the set design-most of the interior sets, the room is either very narrow but deep, or wide and shallow. It makes the scenes feel slightly claustrophobic, which is perfect for the tone of the movie.
No you are wrong. we already paid money for them they are over estimated
Never thought about this. Thanks for the video
Dafuque
Yo neok sup
Makes me want to see 2049 all over again what a beautiful film
Same
Just saw it again last night and still beautiful
Mad Max fury road , 2049, Pacific rim 1, john wick chapter 1.... Great display testers
2049 should get a proper 4K release. The one we got is a major disappointment image quality wise.
@LetMeSeeThemANKLES It's not supposed to feel natural. The atmosphere and color palette are supposed to feel artificial and synthetic, like the world around it. And the story isn't bad. It skillfully expands on the themes of the original film with reverence and a good balance between originality and similarity to the original to have its own message while still feeling like an evolution of the original story. This time, instead of proving that replicants are more human than human, this film asks if being human even matters to do what is right. Being human is not about being real; it's defined by the choices we make. Familiar, yes, but solidly conveyed and effective for some.
I've been a professional artist for some years now and I've never quite been able to understand just how important the right color is to a piece, until today. Your video made something click and I'm starting to see color differently now. Thank you!
Short answer. They aren't shot in two colors. They're graded in two colors...
You tell the truth 😂
What all thjngs are taken care while shooting so that the color grading becomes easy
I was literally going to post the same comment but you had one , gave it a like 😂
Two colours are awesome but abstractly removing colours to focus on just two is increasingly creating an artificially in movies/tv shows that simply doesn't convey reality. This is why a lot of modern movies are being rightfully criticised for having a 'super contrast dark' look with overly brightened bold colours. Risk overdoing it and you end up with ugly nothingness.
It's kind of like the loudness war in music problem. Although film audio tends to have the opposite problem and there is way too much dynamics, to the point where you can't hear what the actors are saying without shaking the house down when a bomb explodes.
@@VodkaSelekta "you can't hear what the actors are saying without shaking the house down when a bomb explodes."
--> Exactly!
If your TV has one, use the normaliser/equivalent - though they are frequently so poorly implemented that they produce a worse experience, killing all dynamics.
For movies, I think they're doing to colour pallets what they've done with that obligatory/mandatory disease of 'feels music everywhere'. I really hope society is not that dumb to accept this en masse. Then again, we've had 20 years youth indoctrination of L1/Melodyne/Autotune/snap to pitch and time + miming, and that's a hell of a mess to get ourselves into.
1:09 Fun fact: The psychological effects of colors (hue) on mood is more of a recurring marketing and self-help gag than actual scientific consensus. You do find this claim all over the internet on various blogs, but reports (let alone "evidence") on any such effects are very scarce in the psychological literature. If there is anything published on this topic, it rather indicates that color-mood-effects are pretty much non-existent. Of course, that is not to say that color doesn't have any effects whatsoever. After all, we are able to experience it and there are good reasons for it. However, it's effects seem to be primarily aesthetic in nature. Color effects on anything but aesthetic experience (such as its effects on mood), given that there are any, seem to be much more complex and certainly not directly measurable.
Yesss. Also this notion assumes universal colour, which anyone into linguistics or anthropology will tell you isn't a thing, just as a universal language or culture.
Marketing is a powerful tool though, would make sense for a field based entirely on manipulation.
A good tip for anyone wondering how to use color after reading that: use your story to give meaning to the color. Sure red could mean violence but it could also mean passion, could mean both. Let the story say what it needs to say. I once made a very short comic in a noir style and there were some pops of cyan. Given the context, it would make the reader worried, uneasy. But there’s nothing concerning about cyan by itself
You can also just build the context for color in story instead of relying on broad advice. Red can be the color of blood, violence, or passion, but if you represent them with the color blue ("mellow" and "weak") you can still make it work and would likely be more memorable in the end. Repetition justifies.
the fact alone that blue can manipulate your sleep, and that red indeed draws attention, means the answer must be anywhere in the middle.
It’s been proven that red causes high emotional arousal and blue causes low emotional arousal through physiological changes. I personally think that pastels are high in emotional valence and dark colors are low in emotional valence. Dark red is angry, while pinker reds are exciting. Dark blue is depressing, while light blue is relaxing. I definitely don’t believe that it’s an association thing. Some people say red makes them alert because of stop signs when really stop signs are red because they cause emotional arousal. If you look up emotional valence and arousal and look at the chart what I’m saying should make sense. I could obviously be wrong
Wonderfully explained! Skin tone is soo important; it’s the first thing I fix in colour correction after exposure
the most important thing is that the eyes are clearly visible. if they are not, the audience will not connect with the character, independently of skin tone
@@veilofreality You have talked a million-dollar answer here, thank you for this sentence.
There is no rule in art.
@@EinfachNurTyp There is no rule in chaos .
I rarely write comments but for you I just have to let you know how helpful your videos are. I am following most of the major cinematography / filmmaking channels on UA-cam but the quality / credibility of the information that you provide is just outstanding! I‘ve been learning from you for the past 12 months and it has stept up my game so much that I myself can‘t beliefe how good my cinematography looks compared to before I started watching your videos! Please keep it up and know that there a lot of people that you help that don‘t write a comment every day ✌️
I'm color blind and I feel personally attacked.
😅😅😅😁
You should make sure you stop feeling that way. There is an entire universe out there and we all miss most of it.
same
@@tomasarce6435 it was a joke
So am I but I feel that I can still appreciate this video, even though I don't see the same as non-color blind people.
I'll have to watch this video a few times.
I've making a living doing graphic design fo 18 years and am now color grading films for people. So, both require a constant review of the psychological effects of color.
Thanks for making this!
Best film to look out for two color code: "Hugo", full film is mostly orange and teal and has come out beautifully! Do watch it!
is it the boy with the robot thingy?
@@perryspop yes
There are channels like yours but also nothing like yours. Very well done sir. This was very helpful.
Beautiful mixed clip with many astounding shots. Thanks 🙏
Bro, i dunno how to thank u. Its one of those videos I set as "nice ones", a list of videos to see when im starting to make an art, thanks for THAT .
Well explained... Now I understand why they use color combinations. Thanks for the video.
You’re welcome!
Sergio Leone was rumored to have said he wanted The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to have a yellow filter on it. The 2007 release of the movie did just that and it’s so beautiful. Brings out the desert, sun, skin, and outfits so much more.
what r u talking about? 2007 version was more yellow. 2014 has blank colours, more blue. And 2021 version is 2021 looks more like 2014 blue version but with more contrast
@@SketchTurnerZero My bad I may have gotten the years mixed up, you’re right though I have the 2014 version and it’s bland Looking imo
Colour grading can make or break a film. I feel like so many people don't even notice or care about it, it's the first thing I notice in a scene. Ever since I started taking up photography as a hobby, I've learned to appreciate colour grading so much more than I used to. It's even elevated my edits with a more cinematic look. It's a very interesting topic.
Originally colour grading was created to unify scenes shot under very different lighting conditions, nothing more than that. It's narrative use evolved from the technical use and its explosive increase in use tracks with the explosive increase in digital cinematography, which allowed both for easier implementation and increased need for colour-grading as it became a ubiquitous part of post-production.
@@insertclevernamehere2506 It's my favourite part of post production. Tuning the colours of an image can tell a story.
To me this was the opposite effect, a lot of 'modern' movies look better in black and white, since your brain fills in the colours automatically. So many movies have the colour grading cranked so high, that it washes out any detail and world building. It's just plain jarring
Make or break a film? That *is* a bold claim. I struggle to find support for such a claim. For narrative films, I can think of many things that must be present to bring a film a mainstream appeal. I'd be curious to hear an argument for color grading.
What I will say is absolutely clear, whether you are on set or in a seat at a movie theater, is that attention to color and color grading signals professionalism and, done poorly, can really diminish the experience -- much the same as poor sound design and sound capture become obvious when missing but go unnoticed when done well.
But again, who's your audience? Other film makers? Photographers? or casual, rushed modern audiences? If you don't grab them with some emotional hook it's unlikely any technical marvel will sweep them off their feet for long.
@@x--. I wasn't speaking generally, just for myself. Bad colour grading and poorly framed shots really ruin the experience for me. It might sound superficial or nitpicky but that's just the art student/photographer in me. I think I'm just projecting my own vision onto the film.
The bgm starting from 5:24 is beautiful! Took my attention off the explanation immediately, insightful and intriguing as it is
Jesus! I’ve had this question for a while now.
im so happy the algorithm popped you into my feed! your content is amazing!
Really well done! People nowadays forget about how much thought went into each frame and how much color effects the viewer.
people that didnt go to art school.....but those that did are like.."oh yawn, yeah color theory..spent a year studying properties of light color and psychology of color.."
I cannot thank you enough for making these videos. You are educating people like me who want to learn but can not afford to go to Film School.
Great insight on how colour affects the tone and mood and why production design is so important. Another classic example of this is in the film Hero where they took the idea of shooting with a specific colour palette to the extreme.
The concept of the 2 colors technique that continues the black and white approach is really brilliant, thanks.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.“ - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” - Orson Welles
Using all the colors in the world at once is quite distracting, so you limit yourself and take away colors, until you can't take away any more without losing something important.
I like that idea.
Man your channel has so much to learn.. i actually had watched your one video in the pas. And then i just watched the exposure video today. I dont know why i didn't found you!! Great job man... Will be watching more of your videos to learn more !
Thank you, extremely informative and clear exposition.
This is why filmmaking is so dope because of the plentifull layers to shape and tell a story.
**Me trying to see the red in the American flag on his suit**
--.--
Wait, I don't get it
@@vladimirhorowitz how
Great video on a complex topic. I didn't realize why Ad Astra was so aesthetically appealing when I watched it but now I feel like I understand it a little better. Thank you for sharing your insight, it was really helpful.
Ad Astra was underappreciated
Branden Geistert seriously. That’s why we can’t have nice things:(
I thought it looked good here so I like it up and all the reviews said it was super slow and it had more 1stars than anything else. Should I disregard and give it a watch?
@@dylankeenan1590 If your into slow burning films that flush out deeper meanings than you'll like it. Avoid it if your into faced paced action and constant excitement. I personally really enjoyed it for its deep meanings on the ramification of humans colonizing space and the toll it takes on humanity. Hopes this helps.
imho, it's not slow at all if you've watched other than Marvel Movies.
Ad Astra is awesome. It has a simple message but delivers with grandeur.
it was a 6/10 movie.
The best content about Colors that I’ve ever seen!! It’s sounds like music, or a poem, with colors!! Thank you
Well one of the softwares used for colour grading by AVID is called "Symphony"
Resume of Ad Astra:
1. Are you mentally stable?
2. You sure?
3. (Repeat from 1)
Thank you for your video narrative... Your videos are one of the most professional on the subject I saw recently. I saw 3 or 4 already and will keep moving forward today to see few more of your work. Thank you.
Films started off as two colour. Black and white!
Films started out as those two colors because there wasn't a choice. Now there is.
@@daveindezmenez We know
Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Thank you.
Irony - we just watched AD Astra - an amazingly beautifully orchestrated film. Reminded us of Solaris.
Thinking of watching, can you tell me what makes it so amazingly beautifully orchestrated?
OTHER than it's use of colour
@@mrmovieguy1000 I saw it yesterday for the first time, after seeing this video. A lot of that orchestration happens in the visuals, the music, and in Pitt's performance. I don't want to spoil it. But you really get this sense of an epic odyssey as each new stage in his journey has a unique look and feel. Yes, in the color, but also the set pieces, the tone, camera angles... i.e. one moment he is walking on the surface of an alien planet and in the next he is swimming desperately through a tight, underground water canal in near pitch darkness, and moments later into the vast emptiness of space. It's full of these strange moments that give the sense of a journey into the unknown.
@@rizzo-films you've made a really good description. it's a really amazing film. I would say it's the best movie of 2019 for me
Mitry Yea na... It’s a boring film with a ridiculous premise. Brad Pits performance was cringing. It’s been universally panned.. Delusions of grandeur I’m afraid.
How is that Irony exactly? Was it the space pirate car chase that was beautiful or the space monkey attack scene you liked?
This was a really cool watch. Very interesting topic and I loved the scenes that you chose.
Oh, I've noticed. I've been noticing the predominant orange-blue tint trend in big movies since the early 2000s, and I hate it.
Yes, it can work stylistically in some rare cases. No, making every other movie feel bleak and lifeless colorwise, even (paradoxically) when the blues and yellows are cranked up to eleven at the cost of everything else, does not make them cool.
I can't stand it either, and it's probably the main reason I gave up on modern cinema (and modern television shows in more recent years).
I think they are more highlighting it's effective use and applications in the hands of competent film-makers rather than it's oversuse and saturation.
Can you list a few films where overuse of orange-blue is a problem?
@Veronka Vartanova: I know, right? If ONE or maybe TWO movies use it as a style element it would have been ok. But nooo... suddenly it had to be used on EVERY movie for the last 15-18 years or so. And where it REALLY starts to piss me off is when these lunatics even ALTER OLD MOVIES, who get fresh 4K masters, forcing this contemporary colour grading bullshit on CLASSICS and ruining them with it.. We live in a really dark age of movies right now and this vandalizing of art just really attacks me on a personal level as well.
Very informative. I've never realized skin tone was so important. Not to mention the significance of 2 tones in conveying a narrative. You've earned yourself another subscriber.
Great commentary on the importance of color when telling a cinematic story.
Unfortunately your title is misleading. Films are "not shot" in two colors, their colors are "graded". Other than that I enjoyed your video vey much. Very well edited and presented. Thank you.
The principles of limited color palettes apply to pretty much every visual art including film, interior design, fashion, illustration, photography, web design and graphic design among others. Less sophisticated artists tend toward highly saturated colors across the entire hue spectrum while mature artists carefully select a limited, often muted palette, usually 2 to 4 colors, to evoke a mood or focus on elements through contrast or other methods.
Ok, saw one video of you and immediatley subscribed. Awesome production quailty and nice voiceover which covers a lot of information!
Makes me say "Oh damn it, these 2 colors again?" Awful to me.
its become an overused trope.
the song is Namaste - Audionautix
*_When you start talking about colors... i think of Breaking Bad_*
Fascinating. Color choices speak to us in such subtle ways.
3:39 The Night of the Hunter (1955) dir. Charles Laughton
Came here to point this out... Great example of the beauty and power that can be achieved with black and white film. Amazing movie, even beyond the cinematography.
I see another visual trick in your clip of Charles Laughton's 'Night of the Hunter'. It is the distorted perspective of the scenery forcing us to see the shots from a child's point of view, increasing fear and tension. Probably one of the most underrated movies ever and one of my favourites.
Great thought provoking video! I'm curious how colour tones in film change when you have casts who are predominantly non-caucasian.
Orange being the skin tone colour seems like a colour choice centered around caucasian cast members, whereas people of different skin tone would probably require something else.
I'm now really curious how Black Panther and other Black, or Asian, high cinema productions handled this decision 🙂
I love watching your videos!!!!! Your analyzing makes me feel sane
This is an explanation of why so many films look so horrible.
I've always wondered why filmmakers would make such bad choices, with films like Amélie and The Matrix and Blade Runner taking said bad choices to their extreme. It's essentially filmmakers toying with what /they/ find entertaining, leaving the viewer with a film that is so badly coloured some scenes are essentially unwatchable and they will never be really immersed in the story.
Thank you, I guess, for the insight.
I knew they set colour pallets and grades for films (it's kind of obvious when you watch them of course) but this was an interesting deeper dive into the subject. Great work
I find this aspect of films upsetting as a viewer. It takes away from my enjoyment when the full vibrancy of life is reduced to a spare color palette for ill-conceived purposes of visual storytelling. I appreciate it when filmmakers diverge from this behavior.
Love seeing videos analyzing film theory! Very underrated content IMO.
What about brown skin tones what's d corresponding colour
Orange I'd say. Brown isn't technically a color. It's dark orange. And since dark is a relative property brown IS orange. Brown is orange surrounded by lighter hues making your brain interpret it as brown.
@@moladiver6817 those lighter hues being yellow and red, the components of orange. After editing video for years the one thing you get used to is manipulating the yellows and reds in people's faces.
I really enjoy and love the way you explain the two colour "system" It is by itself, poetic, well thought and very inspiring. Thank you
Tried to share this on Facebook, but it failed due to being published in “restrictive mode.”
Yea, Facebook has some strange algorithms running in the background.
Use XDM to rip it and reupload. It's not right but that's what you have to resort to when people attempt to put restrictions on relinking for the YT algorithms.
@@matrixate what the fuck? You're advocating for stealing content. That's not okay man. The uploader decides where and how he wants to publish it, you have no right to rip, freeboot and redistribute apart from sharing the original video link.
TheChosenOne 😂
@@lotfii 😂😂
Brilliant analysis, what a well done video, thanks chap!
So the answer to "why not 3 or 4 colors" was "because it's easier"?
because it makes you focus and not been distracted.
No, it was because it's similar to black and white in the sense that filmakers can use it to make you focus your eyes on what's important. It has contrast
2 opposite colours in the colour wheel, there can't be more than 2.
@@m.adnanhisyam5080 The colors don't have to be complementary.
Not really. It's all about contrast. In art, usually less is more, depending on what you're trying to achieve. If you want to make a certain mood or color pop, you'd have to contrast it with another color that gives a different mood. This also gives a feeling of balance, but can also be used for symbolic purposes.
Wow! Please, don’t stop doing videos like this, amazing!!!
I'd prefer more examples outside of hollywood field, Bergman, Tarkovsky, for examplse, etc., especially R. Bresson
👏
The US films made a lot use of this bisexual lighting more than any other country. (and especially Roger Deakins' works) US just love it.
@@YourAverageNiche Roger Deakins isn't American. Nor are a *lot* of the people working on Hollywood movies making the creative decisions.
Fun fact: Bergman was a shill (disguised as an art-house filmmaker) devoted to the subversion of morality through the promotion of sexual revolution as a mean of social engineering.
@@veilofreality is he admitted that? that's really interesting I would like to know more info on that
One of the most exciting video on the tube i’ve ever seen!! Thanks for shearing!!
Personally I'm sick of this overly stylized use of color, grading and lighting. At some point using every single element to "tell a story" squeezes the life out of the thing. It makes me think about the manipulative use of music to tell viewers how to feel. Nowadays I'm more impressed with movies that can reach the same emotional depths(and beyond) using simple natural lighting and colors. I think I will vomit if I ever see a "blue" London or a "yellow" Mexico on tv or in a movie again.
I watched Tokyo Story again last night and the emotional impact of that movie wipes the floor with most stuff despite its non remarkable lighting, it ellipsing over the dramatic climax and having a soundtrack sounding like elevator music. There's a lot to learn from that.
so much color knowledge and answers here . this is free workshop
6:56 "...or my next video will be in black and white"
very next upload starts with a black and white screen
the content quality of this channel is too damn good!
1:11 There are no definitive studies done on color that prove colors exact effect on mood. It definitely does affect us, but most ideas are subjective in this field. Red Light and Blue Light affecting wakefulness, yes, but not mood. Someone please prove me wrong.
This video is fantastic. I've been in a small creative rut for the last month or so and this made me wonder about possibilities and sparked some ideas quietly sitting in the back of my head for some time , too.
Everything now a days looks the same, I really prefer the old technic, having more colors in my opinion doesn't affect the attention.
Yeah I prefer it when films are shot straight, and without much color grading. There's more to the world than just blue and orange.
yea. most people do care is the good storytelling and the emotions. thats it.
Depends greatly in how you use (combine) them! Very few (I'm finger counting) directors were knowledgeable of this.
perfect details dude, espiceally when u talked about neutral colors and added scenes from The Revenant that was shot in normal colors too.. good job
One of your sources for "Joker" appears to be pulled from an HDR (UHD Blu-Ray) source, so the color space being Rec.2020, and the gamma being ST.2084 -- displayed in Rec.709 -- displays a much "flatter" image and therefore isn't accurate -- when displayed this way -- as opposed to a Rec.709 source, when referencing the film's color.
Excellent video. Most people don’t realise a film’s colour palette is chosen before a single frame is shot in anger. Colour is meaning in the most subtle of ways.
What's the name of the movie at 1:25 anyone?
Frank serpico
Thank you your a legend!
Thanks bro 🤜🤛
Great video! Luv the way you display the two colors for the scenes. Color grading Rocks!
What’s the black and white film you’re showing a clip of?
This is 🔥🔥🔥🔥
one of the best videos that have explained how the color palates work in the movie.
It shits me too tears. Older movies have a wider color palet. Most movies these days look green and blue, destroys the movie and sfx look more fake. I call it the jurrassic world effect cause that's when I noticed the trend take off, it was so blue and green and fake looking.
Ive noticed because of digital that movie lighting looks more flat in most movies now, lacks contrast, I call it dead lighting. older movies the lighting had depth and looked like real light.
"older movies the lighting had depth and looked like real light." I don't know what older movies you were watching but none of the lighting is natural. As a matter of fact, none of cinema lighting is natural, its all meant to accentutate/attenuate something. If you really want a real movie with "natural" light, get your camera, walk into your living room and start recording. Then go outside and hopefully you have your ISO set to auto so that the sun doesn't blow out your entire image. That is natural, real life lighting, not these perfect images from Hollywood produced with more lighting gear to fill a stadium.
Nothing in cinema is "natural." We would have an over abundance of amazing cinematographers if it were. Cinema lighting is as fake as it gets.
Which is why we shot a recent project in raw
Our brains see more details when there's less color.
Bullsshit. With less colour you see less. This is why street signs use striking colours - because otherwise you wouldnt notice shit!
@@amjan you're right, but I said "more details". More color is overwhelming & distracting (by more I mean the number of colors - you probably didn't understand the sentence).
Also, street signs are usually just one color. Which is equal to "less color" - just like I said. I didn't mean chroma by less color, I meant a limited palette aka less amount of colors. which is the whole point of this video, it's not about chroma & saturation, or "striking" color, the way you said it - it's about having a limited palette.
@@amjan trying rereading properly the comment and ensuring you understand it before tantrumming next time. You literally agreed with the OP in your comment, so you just look ignorant abusing the OP.
@@AidenCassaroArt It's impossible to make a street sign with just one colour.
"More color is overwhelming & distracting" - EXACTLY! And what is overwhelming and why is it distracting?
It's because you see more. You're overwhelmed by seeing too much. You're distracted by seeing more things jump into your attention. That's the definition of more.
@@insertclevernamehere2506 Read my further comment, cause you didn't think it through mate.
Great summary of color! Thanks for taking the time to really simplify this concept. Much love from the midwest!
Sorry I only got half way through. The background music drove me demented.
that closing sentence worth a colourful applause!
Just stop making all goddamn movies look the same.
you dont understand, its "cinematic and artistic". its not at all an overused trope that talentless hacks use to make themselves look better.
what're you talking about? this isn't a trend or a hack. it tells a story through the color choices. it's a cinematic choice and influences the reader's emotions and such.
Don’t use the Lords name in vain.
@@jjayguy23 I don’t have good reasons to believe in your “Lord”, so I will continue to express myself how I goddamn wish.
This video is amazing! Gives another dimension to every film I'll be watching from now...
Nothing in cinema is "natural." We would have an over abundance of amazing cinematographers if it were. Cinema lighting is as fake as it gets. I'm tired of people describing cinema lighting as "natural." Yeah when I get in front of people to talk I have my on demand gaffer make sure that I have a hairline light to accent me and break me away from my background!!!!
It's ridiculous for anyone to believe that cinema light is "NATURAL." Cinema lighting is completely unnatural. If you want a film with "natural" lighting, film your living room while everyone watches tv. You won't see anyone's hairline lit so that it is separted from the sofa for depth. Hell the light from the tv in most cinema scenes isn't even coming from a real tv because the tv light is not controllable. Cinema lighting is an art that shapes the scene to look perfectly unnatural, there is nothing natural about it. I mean think about it, there would be no need for gaffers or productin designers, if lighting was "natural." SMH
@@ErrenTV I did you fool.... And I'm telling you the whole "damn" thing is unnatural you idiot.
@@ErrenTV Only a fool like you wouldn't know that cinema is an illusion and there is nothing natural about it all the way up to the actors aesthetics!!!
@@ErrenTV If you knew what you were talking about then you would know that lighting is key to color grading you idiot.
Perfectly said! Art is a form of manipulation.
You can look at dogma95 movies for what totally natural would look like
A great movie that only has 1 dominant color is Inside Llewyn Davis. 90 percent of the film has this musty green tint that perfectly sets the folk driven mood of the story along with the music. And the Academy thought so as well, as it won Best Cinematography in 2013. Great video btw! You’ve earned a subscriber :)
All the skin tones are white skin tones in this video.
I'm not a photographer but it still help me as an artist trying to understanding colours, thank you , it's a very well Made video mate!
Interesting to see this - thanks - but film makers need to consider how the message in using two tones is received. I can't be the only one thinking the film look absolutely awful.
Absolutely disgusting, when for the entire film there is not one shot that has clear blue skies and normal colours. I absolutely hate this trend, and it will get really old at some point.
Starting with the original Blade runner, which I always hated because of it.
Makes everything depressing and a movie strenuous to watch.
Can't wait for this fad to go away
I've noticed the 2 color thing but never knew why they did it. It always kinda bugged me but your explanation makes me really appreciate it!
"Harrison Ford is a giant source of information, thereby YELLOW"... okaaaay, sure
These kind of things are what really inspire me to pursue film making, I mean so much thought and work is put into each and every single scene just to convey a feeling regarding the story.
Terrible teal and orange look.. Finally someone said it out loud..
It's the trend rn lol