Basic color theory

Let’s talk about the aesthetics of color. No understanding of color in film can be complete without a real solid grounding in the basic tenets of color theory.

We’ll start with the RGB color wheel – this color wheel is a little different from the color wheels you can find in art stores but this is the one used in color suites. Our three primary colors are Red Green and Blue. The colors that bridge the arc between the primary colors are made combining the two primary colors together. The area inside the color wheel is made of colors that are created when adding the third primary color into the mix. When all three primary colors are combined equally and fully they create white – this is an additive system.

This is a picture of color relationship – opposite colors called complementary colors. Drawing a line from a primary color through the middle of the circle we find that the opposite of Red is Cyan. The opposite of Green is Magenta and the opposite of Blue is Yellow.

Complementary colors when placed next to each other create strongest of color contrasts. And the least color contrast most harmonious color combinations are called analogous colors which are colors that lie next to each other along the color wheel.

Reference:

Introduction to Color in Digital Filmmaking | FilmmakerIQ.com. 2013. Introduction to Color in Digital Filmmaking | FilmmakerIQ.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/introduction-to-color-in-digital-filmmaking/. [Accessed 08 September 2013].