A hot gold wash sells this middle-American summer, balanced by a selection to maintain the rich cyan sky. Amber waves of grain show the classic beauty of an American road trip to a long time shut-in finally returning to the world.
Tag Archive | cyan
Prometheus – monochromatic (blue) wash
Prometheus begins with a pre-dawn blue light. This scene feels as calm as morning coffee before the hustle and bustle of a world springing to life. The morning look works as a sort of double entendre of figurative foreshadowing: present day in lush Scotland finding cave paintings like the scene before, as well as linking that past with the monochromatic alien world to come.
Other colors in this film are almost exclusively reserved for humans and human habitat. The sterility of monochromatism isolates the cerebral logic and monolithic power of the alien world from the nature and emotion of humanity.
Minority Report – magenta skin
Magenta areas of the face can show a vulnerable emotional connection to the other character on screen. Often present at intense or cathartic moments: breakups, sexuality, flirtation, this is not a sign of physical pain or weakness, but an inability to overcome the emotional impact of, or receptiveness to, the other character’s identity.
Children of Men – cream highlights
Children of Men’s most consistent feature is the compressed creamy highlights. Be it a high contrast bloom, a shadowy afternoon, or mid day out in the open, the sky and highlights ride very low with no piercing speculars. This ties together war torn chaos and pleasant reprieves under one umbrella of oppressive smog.