As from the young ages, we are thought this idea of different colours, and as we grow up we realise that there are uncountable shades of them. Everyone tends to have his/her favourite colour, that colour which pulls the person’s affection and sympathy. However, in film, the colour palette is a valuable tool in the hands of the filmmaker to set and play with the mood of the viewer. This “game with colours” ranges from the colours of the costumes, lights, colours added post-production amongst many other factors. Basically, anything which has colour (or has not) has a role in the viewers’ emotional understanding. Therefore, colour in the film is a psychological game, and I will be illustrating how it works and also apply it through an example of one of these works.
The Matrix (1999) would be one of the best examples when it comes to colour, from two particular aspects. First of all, the famous red and blue pill that leader Morpheus makes Neo choose. According to Morpheus, the red pill represented the world as it is and the blue was to live in blissful ignorance. Now, when taking those two colours, the first thing that should come to mind is this association between blue and the good and red and the bad. It also gives this implication that it is one or the other, this impression of opposite colours.
In the same film, it is noticeable as well that the scenes in the Matrix are distinct from the others with a greener hue. The obvious association of the green with the matrix is the green numbers that the Matrix is associated with (refer to Fig.1). Furthermore, according to the director siblings and also the Director of Photography Bill Pope, revealed that this choice of colour had been made to make the audience feel more uneasy when compared to the blueish real-world scenes.
To conclude about this subject, I would like to show some findings that I have got while I was researching. Recently, during this pandemic, Netflix has released The Matrix for its subscribers to watch. However, what happened was that they used a remastered Blu-Ray version, which during its remastering had its colours enhanced, including this green hue. This resulted in the audience realising this difference which made it look artificial. Under Pope’s direction, in 2018, efforts have been made to ensure that the colours go back to how they actually were, for the 4K release.
Clearly, the conclusion that I can draw from this is that colour is truly a fundamental piece in the mise en scène. Looking at the real-life example that I have just mentioned, a simple tweak in the same colour gave the film a whole new meaning and a different reaction from the viewers’ end.
References:
Digital Synopsis, 2016. Color Palettes From Famous Movies Show How Colors Set The Mood Of A Film. Digit. Synop. URL https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/cinema-palettes-famous-movie-colors/ (accessed 11.14.21).
Elvy, C., 2020. Why Matrix Is So Green On Netflix And How To Watch With Original Color [WWW Document]. ScreenRant. URL https://screenrant.com/matrix-green-color-change-netflix-original/ (accessed 11.14.21).
The Question of The Day, 2021. The Matrix [WWW Document]. Quest. Day. URL https://www.askqotd.com/the-matrix/ (accessed 11.14.21).
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