Color sets the tone and mood of a film before any of the actors have even uttered a word. Directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski used a green tint in The Matrix (1999) to create a mood palette that was suggestive of the early monochrome computer monitors. Yellow was used in Kill Bill (2003) to depict Uma Thurman’s character’s madness and instability.
Romantic comedies use pastel shades like beige, pink and lilac. Sci-fi and cyborg films use shades of blue, grey, and green. Teal and orange seem to be the trend in Hollywood nowadays, especially in movie adaptations of graphic novels and comic books.
To highlight the significance of color in films, UK-based designer Gaby Smith has come up with an interesting project called Cinema Palettes, that features color palettes derived from memorable scenes of famous movies. So far, Gaby has compiled more than 250 palettes, some of which might even give you color ideas for your next design project. Check them out below.
Django Unchained (2012)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
American Beauty (1999)
Director: Sam Mendes
Corpse Bride (2005)
Directors: Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
Deadpool (2016)
Director: Tim Miller
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Director: James Bobin
Frozen (2013)
Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Director: David Yates
17. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Directors: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Life of Pi (2012)
Director: Ang Lee
Lost in Translation (2003)
Director: Sofia Coppola
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Director: George Miller
Spirited Away (2001)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Suicide Squad (2016)
Director: David Ayer
The Avengers (2012)
Director: Joss Whedon
The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
Director: Francis Lawrence
The Martian (2015)
Director: Ridley Scott
The Revenant (2015)
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
