Manipulating the Audiences Emotions With Color

Logan Baker

BY LOGAN BAKER

AUGUST 02, 2016

CinematographyColor GradingFilmmakingVideo Production

Sometimes a filmmaker just likes the color red and sometimes a filmmaker is trying to tap into
an audiences raw emotions to stir a primal reaction to the images on screen.

Movies stir up emotions in ways you might not even realize. The composition of each individual
shot in a film is crucial, as are the ideas that come with these shots. Whether its a certain
aesthetic choice made when coloring, or the wardrobe and objects with which the frame is
filled, color can manipulate the emotions of an audience on many different conscience and
subconscious levels.

Obviously, colors can mean many different things and can be used in many different ways.
Theres no right or wrong way to use blue, green, orange, etc. Finding an appealing and unique
way to stir up feelings within your audience through the use of color is the real challenge. Lets
take a look at some of the different color motifs used in films and the emotions these colors
bring to the surface.

Red

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Ex MachinaImage via A24

The meanings and intent that accompany the color red can vary but theres no denying its
one of the most powerful colors to use on-screen. On one side of the spectrum, red is used as a
way to show aggression, violence, and anger. Take the image above. This abrupt moment in Alex
Garlands Ex Machina is when the film takes a 180 and crosses into the realm of sinister. The
encompassing red glow signifies a fresh intensity and serves as a cue for the audience to pay
attention because something crucial is about to happen.
How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: 2001Image via MGM

Stanley Kubrick was a master manipulator thanks to his obsession with color. His most notable
and aggressive use of the color red was with Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey. While inside Hals
processor core, Dave slowly begins to deactivate the computer. This otherwise boring room is
portrayed as a hellish end to a nightmare. This dreadful, inescapable feeling of impending death
would be missing if not for Kubricks use of the color red.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: HerImage via Annapurna

On the other side of the spectrum, red often invokes feelings of love and passion. Spike Jonzes
Her is a perfect example of how a films entire meaning can be told nonverbally through shot
composition and set decoration. The walls, clothes, computer screens all red. The movies
hero, Theodore, wears bright red, blue, yellow and white shirts throughout to communicate his
emotional state. The entire film is a perfect example of why color theory matters.

Orange

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Beasts of No NationImage via Netflix

Though often associated with warmth, energy, and humor, orange can also register a sense of
warning and caution. The ancient religion Confucianism associates orange with transformation.
The image above arrives at the tipping point of Beasts of No Nation our hero is now a
completely different person, almost unrecognizable as he trudges through the murky orange
trenches.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Mad MaxImage via Warner Bros

The entirety of Mad Max: Fury Road has an orange tint that serves to amplify the desolate
apocalyptic feeling of the landscape. Barren, hopeless, and endless, the Mars-like texture truly
sends the audience to another world as chaos ensues.
Yellow

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: YellowImage via Fox Searchlight

Demonstrating feelings of happiness and relaxation (as well as jealousy and betrayal), yellow is
as diverse as any other color. Wes Anderson is well-known for his use of yellow and red and has
proven to be a master of set design and shot composition. The shot above (from the short Hotel
Chevalier) was designed to communicate tranquility and peace even if the characters struggle
to recognize it.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: BirdmanImage via Fox Searchlight

As Emma Stones character belittles Michael Keaton in Birdman, almost every object in this shot
carries a yellow tint from her hair to the chair sitting by her side. This striking yellow overload
conveys a sense of danger, judgement and assertiveness. Michael Keaton is torn to existential
shreds by the end of this emotional beating, and the room only furthers his embarrassment and
shame.

Yellow is such an outlandish color on its own, so an entire shot composed of yellow items will
almost always be a direct statement from the director. Deciphering that statement is up to the
viewer.

Green

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: The MachinistImage via Filmax

In 2004s The Machinist, mundane and dull everyday repetitiveness is put on full display with
dreary colors and lifeless images. A green overtone will always work for the examination of
monotony. This can also be seen in The Matrix as well. Pre-red pill, that is.
Green also has the power to breathe new life into characters and audiences. Luscious greenery
and earthly tones give off a sense of new beginnings and survival. At the conclusion of Gravity,
Sandra Bullock emerges from the water to find a lush, brightly colored, oxygen-filled landscape
that immediately signifies new life.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: GravityImage via WarnerBros

Jacob T. Swinney recently released a video essay that explores the ways the Coen Brothers use
the color green. The video is highly entertaining and provides some excellent insight into how
much thought goes into each and every shot of their films.

Blue

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Midnight SpecialImage via WarnerBros.

Faithfulness, loyalty, and childlike wonder shine throughout the Jeff Nichols sci-fi chase movie,
Midnight Special. The main character is one-of-a kind in every sense of the word and is covered
in blue from head to toe. As used here, blue, most often associated with positive thoughts,
portrays innocence and purity.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: There Will Be BloodImage via Miramax
Vantage

Sticking out like a sore thumb from the rest of the dirty, beige, dry colors of Paul Thomas
Andersons There Will Be Blood, the heavy scene above finds the central character confronted
with a harsh reality. His solitude literally surrounds him in this shot as he realizes just how alone
he really is.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Only God ForgivesImage via Radius
In Only God Forgives, the central characters detachment from reality grows as the film trudges
forward. Separating from the all encompassing red that fills most of the films running time, Ryan
Gosling is consumed in this blue light, isolated away from reality, sanity, and every other
character in the film. A dark, unfamiliar scheme (blue in this case) that stands out from the rest
of the film is a perfect way to demonstrate a characters detachment.

Purple

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Lost RiverImage via Warner Bros

Speaking of Ryan Gosling, his directorial debut, Lost River, features one of the most seductive
and alluring character entrances in recent memory. This temptress is engulfed by a purple
backlight, exposing her sultry silhouette and immediately notifying the audience of her
mysterious nature. Purple is often associated with ambiguity and extravagance. Both of these
themes are featured in numerous ways throughout this film (slightly NSFW).

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Guardians of the GalaxyImage via Marvel

The rare appeal of purple was exploited extremely well in 2014s Guardians of the Galaxy and
other major blockbusters are following suit. Purple is mysterious and rare (much like the films
purple Infinity Stone McGuffin), but using it appropriately can yield striking imagery that sticks
with your audience for a long time.

Pink

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Grand Budapest HotelImage via Fox
Searchlight

The soft pink motif for the pastry shop in Wes Andersons The Grand Budapest Hotel is more
than it seems. The childlike romance between the two characters shown above, each wearing
archetypal colors, comes to fruition in this exact shot. Surrounded by pink boxes, their innocent
love blossoms. Wes Andersons compelling use of color is definitely worth exploring.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: It FollowsImage via Radius

In the breakout 2015 horror film, It Follows, were introduced to the main character who dons a
pink outfit in a room filled with pink. The decision to decorate the room and character as such
precedes what follows later in the film. Pink represents her innocence and purity. After a
frightening turn of events, her innocence is lost and the pink outfit and lighting disappear
simultaneously.

Violet/magenta/red/light pink all of these can be associated with romance, love, and passion.
Though they can carry other meanings and associations, the general understanding and
consensus recognizes these as love-related.

How Filmmakers Manipulate Your Emotions with Color: Scott PilgrimImage via Universal

The decisions you make as a filmmaker to include or not include certain colors in your film are
entirely up to you. Theres no right or wrong way to convey sadness, happiness, or fear. However,
there are subconscious levels of primal emotion in your audience that can be triggered if color is
used correctly. Like any decision you make in production, make sure it serves the story and
engages your audience.