Effects of colour on the viewer

1.    Colour attracts attention.

By using bright or saturated colours on the object of greatest interest and placing that object against a contrasting background, the director can easily capture the viewer’s eye.

2.    Colours contribute to three-dimensionality.

Some colours seem to advance toward the foreground, and others seem to recede into the background. Colours such as red, orange, yellow are advancing colours when given high intensity and dark value, they seem to advance, making objects appear larger and closer to the camera than they are.

3.    Colours create an impression or feeling of temperature.

The warm colours are the colours that advance: red, orange, yellow. The cool colours are the colours that recede：blue, green, etc.

4.    Colours function together in different ways.

Certain combinations of colour, or colour schemes, produce predictable and consistent visual effects. Monochromatic harmony results from a scheme based on variations in the value and intensity of one colour. Complementary harmony results from the use of colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green. Complementary colours react with each other more vividly than do other colours. Analogous harmony results from the use of colours adjacent to one another on the colour wheel, such as red, red-orange, and orange. Such colours create a soft image with little harsh contrast. Triad harmony results from the use of three colours equidistant from one another on the colour wheel, such as the primary colours: red, yellow, and blue.

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

Colour saturation in films

Saturation can also be called a color's intensity. It is a measurement of how different from pure grey the color is. Saturation is not really a matter of light and dark, but rather how pale or strong the colour is. The saturation of a color is not constant, but it varies depending on the surroundings and what light the color is seen in.

The definition of “Saturation” in Film & Video Dictionary

The strength or amount of a certain color present in a television picture; saturation is expressed as the purity of the color. Scene Illumination.

The intensity of the color is called saturation. It is the distance away from the "black body curve" on the CIE diagram. Color saturation on a display device is controlled by the Color control. Apparent saturation of colors in a picture can be effected by the luminance value of the signal. Color saturation is measured on a vectorscope by the distance away from the center of the scope display.

We can use colour saturation to create different feeling for films. Desaturated color is often used to convey poverty or age. In this effect, the brilliance of colors is dulled and darker colors (gray, black, brown) are used. Sam Mendes uses this effect heavily in his 2001 film "Road to Perdition." Saturated colors can be used to accent a particular scene or object. When a color is saturated, it is made more brilliant or brighter. This effect can be achieved from digital effects or colored light cast on an image from off screen. An example of this technique is the Ethan Coen film "Blood Simple."

Reference:

Saturation definition | Film & Video Dicitonary Dictionary. 2013. Saturation definition | Film & Video Dicitonary Dictionary. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.movies-dictionary.org/Film-and-Video-Dicitonary/Saturation. [Accessed 25 August 2013].

Road to Perdition, 2002. [DVD] Sam Mendes, USA: DreamWorks|Fox.

Blood Simple, 1984. [DVD] Joel Coen, USA: River Road Productions, Foxton Entertainment.

Interview audience

From their comments, most viewers chose the blue tone as their favorite one in this short film, the people who like purple tone is much more male than female, however, women are more prefer the yellow tone than men. Compare with the desaturated and saturated images, almost everyone towards high saturation images, they thought they feel pleasure when watching it, and it's more fit for the character mood when she was reading in the short film.

Therefore, when we make a film, we can use the male and female preference of color to shape characters. Based on the story, we can use tint color express the feminine side, and use dark color to create powerful for man. When the script need to describe calm atmosphere, we can use analogous of blue to create harmonious color combinations, to make viewers feel relax.

Test about colour preference through gender

Through the literature review, I adjust my film into four different colour tones - green, purple, yellow and blue, and I also reduced and increased 20% colour saturation with my film respectively. And then let the general audience to see the film, get some feedback.

The differences between gender in response to color

 Many investigations have indicated that there are differences between gender in preferences for colors.

Guilford and Smith (1959) found men were generally more tolerant toward achromatic colors than women. Thus, Guilford and Smith proposed that women might be more color-concious and their color tastes more flexible and diverse. Likewise, McInnis and Shearer (1964) found that blue green was more favored among women than men, and women preferred tints more than shades. They also found 56% of men and 76% of women preferred cool colors, and 51% men and 45% women chose bright colors. In a similar study, Plater (1967) found men had a tendency to prefer stronger chromas than women.

A similar study by Greene (1995) examined the color identification and vocabulary skills of college students. They were asked to identify the colors of 21 color chips. The results showed that women recognized significantly more elaborate colors than did the men. Findings also indicated that gender different responses in color identification may be attributed to a difference in the socialization of men and women.

REFERENCES

Green, K. S. (1995). Blue versus periwinkle: Color identification and gender. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 80 (1), 21-32.

Guilford, J. P. & Smith, P. C. (1959). A system of color-preferences. The American Journal of Psychology, 73 (4), 487-502.

McInnis, J. H. & Shearer, J. K. (1964). Relationship between color choices and selected preferences for the individual. Journal of Home Economics, 56,181-187.

Plater, G. (1967). Adolescent preferences for fabric, color, and design on usual task. Unpublished master's thesis, Indiana State College, Terre Haute, Indiana.

Learn how to change a single color in premiere

Today I want to learn how to change a single color on an object in the video, because I want to do a experimental test through different color on a small objects, and test if it is that can affect audience or not. I find some tutorials on the internet and tried on one clip which I shot before. I need do more practice to achieve a better result.

Draft statement about my video test

During this year, I did some research about use of colour in films. Because of I studied painting in high school, and I’m very interested in the functions of colours, especially use of colour in films. So I started to do the research about how to use of colour in pre-production and post-production phase during film making workflow.

During the research, I have done a short film. In the short film, I made a comparison between green screen effect and kaleidoscope effect, both effects I used plenty of high saturated colour.

After I made this short film, I did a questionnaire to test audience, I found that the viewers can't focused on massive no meaning colours for long time, they don't know what objects is this colour on, like that kaleidoscope part, most viewers confused about what is it. And after a short period, they feel boring. Compare with the specific colour (like the green screen part, colors on an objects, although it is not very natural), but the audience can continue to stay in the story and they will not feel bored very easily.

After that, I also did some experimental video clips to find how to manipulate colour saturation in different ways.

I used three different lenses with one camera to shoot the same scene at the same period of time. From these clips, we can see that when we use different lens with a same camera, the footages of the colour are different.

And then, I have done an experimental testing through different colour of lighting in films. I used different colour gels to do this test, based on the same character and the same location. Use lighting can create high saturated colour tones on the images.

First, I just used single colours (green, red, blue, yellow and purple) for testing, each images showing different colour saturation and it also bring different feeling to viewers.

Then, I have done the different combinations of colours, Monochromatic harmony results from a scheme based on variations in the value and intensity of one colour. Complementary colours, such as red and green, react with each other more vividly than do other colours. Analogous harmony results from the use of colours adjacent to one another on the colour wheel, such as red, red-orange, and orange. Such colours create a soft image with little harsh contrast.

And then I used a projector projecting some colourful images on a white wall to create atmosphere. And I also add film burn effect in the post-production phase. I found that the colour is more brighter, the saturation of this colour is more lower.

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

Draft statement about my research

Xu Li trained in china as a television editor and director and on coming to the UK, to begin her Masters, began to the research use of colour management through film making workflow, and try to find some useful ways help film makers to use of colour get the high quality of visual images apply to films, interactive media, new media and exhibition to react audience.

Because of she studied painting in high school, she became get interested in the functions of colours, especially use of colour in films.

So she starts to do the research about use of colour in pre-production and post-production phase during film making workflow.

She found some effect of colour on the viewer: colour can attracts audience attention, contribute to three-dimensionality and create an impression or feeling of temperature. She made a short film to test audience. In the short film, she made a comparison between green screen effect and kaleidoscope effect, both effects she used plenty of high saturated colour. After the test, she found that the viewers can't focused on massive no meaning colours for long time, they don't know what objects is this colour on, after a short period, they will feel boring. Compare with the specific colour (colours on an objects, although it is not very natural), the audience can continue to stay in the story and they will not feel bored very easily.

She also used different lends, lighting skills and projecting to make some experimental video clips to find how to manipulate colour saturation in different ways.

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