Less Color Can Be More

Less Color Can Be More

The infl uence of color decisions on the fi nal shot, and
by extension on the story being told in the shot, is an
immense topic, hashed over by cinematographers and colorists
the world over. Any attempt to distill this into a few
pithy paragraphs would be a disservice.
One thing you may notice as you study your favorite fi lms
and videos is that they are limited to a distinct palette, and
scenes that you would think of as “full color” may in fact be
dominated by one, two or at most three basic hues.
Thus, if you’re new to the idea of developing a color look
for a fi lm or sequence, look at references. Study other people’s
work for the effect of color on the mood and story in
a shot, sequence, or entire fi lm. There are also great color
brainstorming tools such as the one,
designed specifi cally to give a particular look or mood to
your shot.

Conclusion

And really, you’ve just scratched the surface of what’s possible.
The inventive compositor can and should always look
for new methods to replicate the way that the camera sees
the world, going beyond realism to present what we really
want to see—realism as it looks through the lens.