Colours are used to hold secret meanings and symbolise things. When constructing and editing work this can have a large impact on how viewers see the scenes and the characters and what impact. To help me makes decisions on this for the magazine , poster and the filming , props and costume choices I have done some looking into the psychology of colour.
Red
The colour red has the property of appearing nearer which catches peoples attention. Its a strong and basic colour which makes it eye catching this is why it is used in things such as traffic lights. And the colour red effects us physically. This could be why red has connotations of things such as violence , danger , love or lust. As It physically and is associated with energy.
Words associated with red are Love , passion , lust , violence , danger , anger and power. These works have very different meanings and emotions. Objects as such can also link to these meanings. Blood which is usually a result of anger violence or danger is red and on the opposing side hearts which are used to represent love are red.
Blue
Blue as a colour has a more mental effect clearing our minds. Blue objects don't seem as close as red. Blue is a well loved colour and is the most popular around the word . However similar to red it has two different meanings. People can associate blue with cold , isolation , cerebral , melancholy , calm , intellectual and communication.
Blue could gain these meanings as of different reasons, They saying I'm feeling blue could resemble the negative connotations of the word. There is also blues music which is slow and the themes are generally ones of sadness, loss , or love. Bad weather is also linked the colour because of rain , people also get cold in bad weather. On the other side it could be scene as clearing and calming as of the sky and the ocean.
pink
As pink is a tint of red it effects us physically, however it soothes rather and stimulates. Pink is softer and less harsh. Pink largely represents feminine principle , and a lot of what we associate with that matches what we associate with the colour. It symbolises many things such as innocence , sweetness, , empathy , beauty , glamor , warmth and sexuality.
As pink is greatly related to the female gender , society even sees it as a symbol of gender stereotypes and roles. For example people buy there daughters pink clothes , cribs and more along side this gender reveals are usually done with colour. Pink could also link to the symbolism of the colour of hearts and also flowers which would show care and love. Furthermore sweets such as candy floss are represented as pink.
orange
As orange is a mixture of red and yellow it effects people both physically and emotionally. it focuses us on things of comfort like warmth , food shelter. Orange is a bright and perceived as fun colour. Other words are warmth sociability , friendly , happiness , exotic , youth and security.
Events such as Halloween have had an impact on the meaning of the colour and also the time of year. Fall which is the season where the leaves die and turn yellow and brown. Could maybe give the colour negative connotations similar to the connotations from Halloween which is a holiday based on horror. However it does represent comfort through things such as fire. Fire could show warmth but also danger.
yellow
Yellow is the strongest psychologically. It stimulates emotional and is has the longest wave length. Like all colours it has a strong emotions of both positive and negative . Many people find yellow a very controversial colour. It can represent things such as confidence , creativity optimism or madness , sickness , naïve and obsessive.
As many people aren't huge fans of yellow they can associate it negatively, this also could link to it being used for hazard signs. However yellow can also bring warmth and calm like the sun and flowers.
green
Green strikes the eye and it requires no adjustment in turn it restful. Its in the middle of the colour spectrum and is the colour of balance. We are reassured by the colour as it is a sign of health for the planet and oceans, and little danger of famine. However on the other side it can resemble things such as poison , envy , jealousy. Other words include harmony refreshment, rest , peace however alternative interpretations could be corruption darkness and the others listed above.
Green can have similar meanings to yellow of sickness as of illness like colds which cause snot and nausea. Other reasons could be because of poison. On the other hand nature is green which makes people feel stable and peaceful.
purple/ violet
This colour has the shortest wave length. It takes awareness to a very high level. It has links to royalty and can resemble the finest possible quality. Purple has links to space and time. Because of these reasons it can be scene as spiritual, contentment and luxury. The link to space and time can also have an impact of being to do with fantasy. Other words could be ethereal, eroticism , illusory , mystical , ominous and mysterious
white
White is total reflection, it reflects a full force spectrum in out eyes. It can also look bright and hard to look at on occasions. White is scene as things such as pure this could be in relation to the thoughts about heaven being white and angels having white wings. It also can come across as hygiene , sterility, cleanness , simplicity, efficiency and sophistication. The negative side is things such as coldness , barriers , unfriendliness and elitism.
My products
editing : Editing the colour of footage from a scene can add to the weather and the atmosphere, adding blue hues to the more sadder moments may benefit the scene however it needs to be subtle colour change. Editing images for the magazine and the poster will not include much colour change as the colours of the costumes will be used however background choice and colour will be highly influenced by the research above.
Photography: as mentioned backgrounds pay a huge part as they take a huge part of the page. The poster will most likely be the two characters together on a coloured background , I need to decide on a colour which works well the body langue , facial expressions and themes.
Clothes: The colours of clothes have a huge impact on how the characters personality is presented. Each character has a different personality and style and that will be expressed by costume. For example for the magazine i'm thinking of having the actress in a dress as this related to the characters personality however the colour will either be white or blue. The white would be used to represent the idea of heaven and angels as there is a theme of death and also purity that before the tasks done she has some level of innocence. Also it could be used to show how naïve the character is about adult life and the world. The other option is blue which the dress looks girly but the colour represents the cold and isolation of the characters feelings
