Are you following @CinemaPalettes on Twitter? It’s a movie and design lover’s dream come true.
We’re victims of color psychology every day. From the paint on our walls to the hue of your hair, your mood is greatly affected by the colors around you. Did you know that you should set your desktop to a green image to improve your productivity? Plus, if you want to add more energy to your workout, an orange shirt could do the trick.
The twitter account @CinemaPalettes takes our infatuation with color to new heights by breaking down cinematic stills into pleasing palettes.
Great filmmakers open up our eyes to how colors evoke an emotional result and plunge us into a world of their own. The directors with timeless style have created their idiosyncratic trends that are instantly recognizable.
A designer’s eye can see that Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola opt for a smooth range of consecutive shades, but Tarantino and Scorsese have a tendency towards similar tones accented by contrasting details. John Hughes’ palettes have a distinct nostalgic 80’s feel invoked by pastel purples, mauves and slate grey. Meanwhile, Brad Anderson’s The Machinist or Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook are studies in black and grey.
By looking at film through an artist’s gaze, seeing each still as a canvas, the manipulation of the colour wheel becomes a key factor in the overall narrative and concept. Here are 50 homemade color palettes by @CinemaPalettes that will give you a flash feeling of your favorite film.
The Shining (1980) dir. Stanley Kubrick
Belly (1998) dir. Hype Williams
Léon: The Professional (1994) dir. Luc Besson
Edward Scissorhands (1990) dir. Tim Burton
Little Shop of Horrors (1989) dir. Frank Oz
Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
Deadpool (2016) dir. Tim Miller
American Psycho (2000) dir. Mary Harron
American Beauty (1999) dir. Sam Mendes
Spirited Away (2001) dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) dir. George Miller
Her (2013) dir. Spike Jonze
The Hateful Eight (2015) dir. Quentin Tarantino
The Revenant (2015) dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Constantine (2005) dir. Francis Lawrence
The Big Lebowski (1998) dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) dir. David Yates
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) dir. David Zucker
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) dir. Wes Anderson
Labyrinth (1986) dir. Jim Henson
Mary Poppins (1964) dir. Robert Stevenson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) dir. J.J. Abrams
The Theory of Everything (2014) dir. James Marsh
Home Alone (1990) dir. Chris Columbus
Peter Pan (1953) dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) dir. David Yates
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) dir. Wes Anderson
Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese
Birdman (2014) dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) dir. Nicholas Ray
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) dir. Lorene Scafaria
The Garden of Words (2013) dir. Makoto Shinkai
Wild (2014) dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
John Dies at the End (2012) dir. Don Coscarelli
Alien (1979) dir. Ridley Scott
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) dir. James Bobin
Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013) dir. Sebastián Silva
Timecrimes / Los Cronocrímenes (2007) dir. Nacho Vigalondo
Mean Girls (2004) dir. Mark Waters
Spring Breakers (2012) dir. Harmony Korine
Gone Girl (2014) dir. David Fincher
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme
The Graduate (1967) dir. Mike Nichols
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. Michel Gondry
Pulp Fiction (1994) dir. Quentin Tarantino
Funny Girl (1968) dir. William Wyler
Lost in Translation (2003) dir. Sofia Coppola
Blade Runner (1982) dir. Ridley Scott
Ghost World (2001) dir. Terry Zwigoff
Cry-Baby (1990) dir. John Waters
Discover more color combinations @CinemaPalettes and don’t forget to follow us too @useformat