ColourColour can be used in a variety of ways and is integral to the mise-en-scene of a film.

Colour filters

An orange filter in The Green Room suggests that all the light in this scene comes from candles.

To be able to understand how colour can create meaning.

Colour as a link

To be able to understand how colour can create meaning.

Red indicates a connection with the world of the dead and that something ominous is going to happen.

The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999) Co

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mTo be able to understand how colour can create meaning.

Colour to set tone The oppressive darkness of David Fincher’s Se7en reflects the moral decay of citizens in an unnamed city. Shooting in L.A, a place known for sunshine, Fincher had production designer Arthur Max create a dismal, dirty and violent world that mirrors the actions of its inhabitants. The brooding, distinctive look of the film was achieved by a chemical process called bleach bypass, where the silver in the celluloid is not removed in order to deepen the dark, shadowy images on the film. Even when we eventually leave Fincher’s unidentified city of near-constant rain for the climactic dessert rendezvous, the picture is still dominated by blacks, from the countless electricity pylons and shadowy rolling hills to the Sedan in the foreground.

To be able to understand how colour can create meaning.

Colour to show character

In order to achieve the cold, monochrome blue of Robert Wakefield’s (Michael Douglas) transformation from government bureaucrat to vigilante father, Soderbergh used tungsten film without a filter.

Traffic Steven Soderbergh, 2000

To be able to understand how colour can create meaning.