Reflective journal: Use of colour in production design

Production designers function as architects, interior designers, … historians, … diplomats, and ultimately, observers of human behaviors-and all of the fragilities of the human heart…

-----Wynn Thomas, production designer

Nowadays, 95% of films are colour film. Most modern filmmakers feel that colour cinematography allows them to create more powerful, realistic images and to communicate better with audiences. So that colour as a symbol in films can create many useful meanings. The production design is not only use different colour to decorate films, to make it more fantasy, but also use a serious of specific colours to make the film have time and symbolic.

As members of the design team plan the look of a film, they are likely to consider establishing a colour palette – a limited number of specific colours used or emphasized throughout the film to subtly communicate various aspects of character and story to the viewer. Colour used in this way becomes more than mere decoration for the film; it enhances the movie’s dramatic elements.

With the development of audience’s requirement through colour films, the film makers need to stay current with developments in colour photography and keep its impact on viewers in mind as they plan a movie’s visual design.

Reference: Dennis Petrie, 2011. The Art of Watching Films. 8 Edition. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.