Shea Simmons
Ever been curious how filmmakers decide on a color palette for a movie? Someone on Instagram has been exploring how colors set the mood for (and become synonymous with) specific films, and it’s fascinating.
Film lover, Kalki Janardhanan, runs Color Palette Cinema. In the account’s bio, he notes that colors can affect people psychologically, and that’s why they can be a powerful storytelling tool.
Color psychology is all about the effect certain hues can have on people. There’s still not enough empirical data to prove exactly how each color affects mood. However, color has always been used to influence the emotions of viewers in the arts. Graphic design and marketing also use color to evoke specific feelings.
On the Color Palette Cinema Instagram account, Janardhanan isolates 10 colors from specific shades in films. While most of the posts on the account are stills from films with the color palette posted below, there are some neat live-action palettes like this one for Blade Runner 2049. You can parse through each shade and a take moment to see how the colors affect your emotions.
If you want to learn more about movie color palettes, just browse more of Janardhanan’s work. And, while you’re at it, check out this interesting interview, explaining how the account got started and how he approaches the project.
