Colour is an integral part of film production and can be used in various ways. It is used to set specific tones through filters and lighting, as well as to symbolize meanings. Red is often used to indicate danger or something ominous, while the oppressive darkness in Se7en reflects the moral decay in the film through a gloomy colour palette achieved using a bleach bypass process. Colour is also used to depict character transformations, such as the cold blue tones used in Traffic to show the main character's change.

1. Colour can be used in a variety of ways and is integral to the
mise-en-scene of a film.
Colour filters
An orange filter
in The Green
Room suggests
that all the light
in this scene
comes from
candles.
To be able to identify colour and describe its effect (level 2)
To be able to analyse colour and explain its effect (level 3)
To be able to evaluate colour and justify its effect (level 4)

2. Colour as a link
To be able to identify colour and describe its effect (level 2)
To be able to analyse colour and explain its effect (level 3)
To be able to evaluate colour and justify its effect (level 4)

3. Red indicates a connection with the
world of the dead and that something
ominous is going to happen.
The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999)
Colourassymbolism
To be able to identify colour and describe its effect (level 2)
To be able to analyse colour and explain its effect (level 3)
To be able to evaluate colour and justify its effect (level 4)

4. Colour to set tone The oppressive darkness of David
Fincher’s Se7en reflects the moral decay of
citizens in an unnamed city. Shooting in
L.A, a place known for sunshine, Fincher
had production designer Arthur Max create
a dismal, dirty and violent world that
mirrors the actions of its inhabitants. The
brooding, distinctive look of the film was
achieved by a chemical process called
bleach bypass, where the silver in the
celluloid is not removed in order to deepen
the dark, shadowy images on the film.
Even when we eventually leave Fincher’s
unidentified city of near-constant rain for
the climactic dessert rendezvous, the
picture is still dominated by blacks, from
the countless electricity pylons and
shadowy rolling hills to the Sedan in the
foreground.
To be able to identify colour and describe its effect (level 2)
To be able to analyse colour and explain its effect (level 3)
To be able to evaluate colour and justify its effect (level 4)

5. Colour to show character
In order to achieve the cold, monochrome blue of Robert Wakefield’s
(Michael Douglas) transformation from government bureaucrat to
vigilante father, Soderbergh used tungsten film without a filter.
Traffic Steven Soderbergh, 2000
To be able to identify colour and describe its effect (level 2)
To be able to analyse colour and explain its effect (level 3)
To be able to evaluate colour and justify its effect (level 4)