Thursday, 11 October 2018

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Colour Theory and Visual Design

Following my research into the different sit-coms and DOPs, I decided to do some research into colour theory to extend my knowledge in this area. Through this research, in particular the research into Polly Morgan, I decided I want to go for a realistic yet cinematic look for VET-MAN as the comedy of the piece requires for the focus to be on the delivery of the deadpan humour, however, I still wanted the piece to have a visually good quality, hence the idea of introducing a slightly cinematic element. Polly Morgan highlighted the importance of putting the story at the centre of the decisions for the aesthetic of the production, therefore, I feel the realistic yet cinematic approach is best for VET-MAN as it puts the delivery of the story and the desired comedic effect on the audience first.

When deciding how best to achieve this look, I decided to look into common film colour schemes to find which would be most appropriate to apply to the colouring of VET-MAN.


The first colour scheme is the complimentary colour scheme. This uses opposing colours on the colour wheel to form a complimentary pair. Due to the contrasting qualities of these colours, this works to make a production stand out and pop. A common complimentary pairing in recent cinema is the combination of orange and teal. As Todd Miro highlights in an article in The Guardian when discussing the increasing popularity of the use of teal and orange - "Anyone who has ever taken Colour Theory 101 knows that if you take two complementary colours and put them next to each other, they will 'pop', and sometimes even vibrate". [Hoad, P]

Examples of the teal and orange complimentary colour scheme can be seen below:




The second colour scheme is analogous colours - these are colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel that are used to create a sense of harmony in a film's colour palette. Usually, one colour is chosen as the main colour with the others being used to support and accent this main colour - again adding to the sense of harmony in the colour palette.

A similar colour palette to this is the monochromatic colour palette in which similar colours are used to create a palette in which one or two colours continue all the way through the production.

Examples of this colour scheme can be seen below:


The third colour scheme is triadic colours - these are three colours that are spaced evenly around the colour wheel. Like with the analogous colour scheme, usually, one of the colours is used as the main colour with the others supporting and accenting this colour and is normally used to create a striking look and contrasting look.

Examples of this colour scheme can be seen below:



The fourth colour scheme is split complimentary colours - this has a lot of similarities to the complimentary colour scheme but instead of using directly opposing colours, this scheme uses one colour on one side of the colour wheel and the two colours next to the opposing colour. This creates a similar effect to the complimentary colour scheme by creating quite  high contrast, however, this contrast is not as high as the complimentary colour scheme.

Examples of this colour scheme can be seen below:



The final colour scheme is the tetradic colour scheme which uses four colours which are arranged into two complimentary pairings. One colour is usually dominant with the other used to support this colour - this creates quite a harmonious look with an abundance of colour within the production.

Examples of this can be seen below:


From this research into colour theory, I have decided to use a complimentary colour scheme of teal and orange within the production of VET-MAN as this appears to produce the most conventionally cinematic result which will aid the realistic yet cinematic look of the production. I will use this colour grading technique but at a lower intensity than is seen in most hollywood films as this will allow the realism of the piece to show through more.

Further to this research, I also conducted some research into the visual design of productions such as the aspect ratio.

I found that the usual HD aspect ratio is 16:9 which is used for the majority of television programmes nowadays. However, this doesn't produce a very cinematic look. Therefore, I decided to do some research into the cinematic aspect ratio which I found to be 21:9. According to one source "Just about anything will look more cinematic or more ‘filmic’ when shot in this aspect, considering that originally it was associated with the anamorphic/cinemascope look and we are trained to associate this aesthetic with higher end feature films." [Kroll, 2014]

Anamorphic lenses capture film is such a way which stretch the image vertically during shooting. When this is then protected back, it is pushed back down which produces this wider cinemascope look.

Using an aspect ratio of 21:9 " would allow for a completely different type of framing, and help to emulate a perspective that was in many ways closer to what the human eye perceives." [Kroll, 2014] This means that using an aspect ratio of 21:9 within VET-MAN would automatically produce a more cinematic look as this wider aspect ratio immediately shows the action in a wider perspective which both emulates the perception of the human eye and simulates the cinemascope look. 




References:

Hoad, P (2010) 'Hollywood's New Colour Craze' At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/26/colour-grading-orange-teal-hollywood 

Kroll, N (2014) At: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/aspect-ratios-explained-when-to-use-the-major-three/ 

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