Film Opening: Audio

    Every film must include some kind of sound, especially in wordless storytelling. When creating a soundscape for my animated film opening, I knew I mainly wanted to use music and stings to enhance the mood of the scene.

    The scene of course begins with imagery of the burning houses and buildings, showing the damage and ruin that this village has suffered from a massive fire. While this is being shown to the audience, I think I would want to utilize music that is slow, saddening, and sentimental yet striking, probably including violins or some kind of string instrument. This music would be non-diegetic, meaning it does not exist inside the world of film. Instead, it is there to set the tone and create feeling inside the audience, and in this case, make them understand that this is a tragic and dramatic situation. The music makes the audience feel emotions of sorrow at the traumatic event that has occurred. When the shots transition to take place inside the destroyed house of the protagonist, the audience sympathizes with the protagonist and understands his grief as we see the kind of life he once had through the items inside his home. The music sets up the depressing atmosphere and feelings of pity and commiseration that would come with the sight of a wide-scale tragedy.

    Other important audio elements that I am very keen to incorporate into the sequence are the sound that accompany the initial appearance of the dragon as the massive figure slowly moves into frame. Up to that point, the cause of the fire is left unanswered, until we see the fire-breathing creature flying overhead. The audience understands that it is clearly capable of causing a large amount of death and destruction, so I want the moment when the dragon shows itself on screen for the first time to be impactful and powerful. Sound effects such as a loud shrieking roar could accompany the moment, as well as a strong musical sting. I imagine that sting would be comprised of brass and horn instruments, which are known to produce loud, powerful, resonant sounds compared to any other instrument (brass instruments are the loudest in an orchestra). 

    This idea was influenced by this moment from the film “The Sea Beast,” in which the massive sea monster suddenly appears on screen with a haunting music sting. 

    The moment following the dragon’s appearance would quickly change the tone of the opening sequence. The music would become much more sparse and muted, and the realistic diegetic audio effects would be the primary sound. This would probably include the sound of the dragon swooping down as it flies away, growling, and the crackling of the fire. 

    As for foley (sound effects created with objects), I feel that I could use sharp kitchen knives for when the sword is pulled out from the ground, and possibly crinkling bubble wrap, tinfoil, or even sizzling bacon for the sound of the fire.

   Finally, the part when the main character picks up the sword, and we see a point of view shot of him pointing it in the direction of the dragon intercut with a tight close up of his eyes — I want some kind of dramatic musical sting to kick in at this point to place the proper emphasis that this important moment requires. It establishes the goal of the protagonist and his desire for revenge. Though I’m not sure exactly what kind of sounds this would involve, I imagine the music would be rather orchestral and dramatic. This is a key moment that concludes the opening of the film. 

Character Development

     Developing a character is key to engaging your audience, especially within the beginning of the film. This goes beyond just creating and naming them. You have to give them personality, backstory, desires, and motivations. 

    Because the first two minutes of my film don’t have any dialogue, it is most important to convey the personality and background of my character through visual and surface level elements, such as his name, physical appearance, and movements. I want him to come across as a tough, aged, rugged warrior, yet also a wise, kind, gentle, and ultimately emotionally mature person under his rough exterior. He is an older man, honorable and brave, but has a misguided affliction for taking revenge on those that have hurt him, as we see in the opening sequence.

    For the protagonist of my film opening, I wanted to give him a name that reflected the setting and genre. In most western fantasy narratives, the characters often have names that the audience would likely not be familiar with in order to establish the new, magical, world in which the story takes place, often based in the past. Characters may have foreign names derived from different languages, or ones that are entirely made up. So I decided to search the internet for Old English names originating from the Anglo-Saxon period (450-1100), and often featuring strong nature-based or virtue-driven meanings. I thought this would nicely match the personality of my character and the medieval-inspired setting, and quickly decided  on the name: Aldrich. The name means “old and wise ruler,” comes from Old English words, and is historically associated with Anglo-Saxon nobility. The quality of being a leader, king, or “ruler” reflects the respectable, honorable nature of the character, as well as the wisdom he has in his older age. 

    Much of the plot in the opening minutes is devoted to establishing the protagonist’s backstory, and depicting the aftermath of the fire. But once again, the absence of dialogue means that the information must be relayed to the audience visually. The character’s’s village has been destroyed by a fire-breathing dragon, an event that gives him a motivation behind the main goal that he would strive to accomplish throughout the rest of the  narrative: to hunt and slay the beast. Consumed by vengeance, he embarks on his quest, which kicks off the rest of the story.

    Finally, when designing this character, I of course had to incorporate parts of his personality into his design, as that is what makes a good character design. The character is supposed to be a strong, tough fighter, I wanted to give him a thick, heavy muscular build, with broad shoulders. To further enhance this look, I also have him a thick fur cape, which was perfect to make him look even larger and bigger than he already was. It also hides parts of his body, of course, making him seem a bit mysterious. Immediately, I decided to give him a beard, to make him look older and more rugged. His hair would also be grey, and I gave him large boots to enforce that idea that this character is a tough warrior. His clothing was definitely inspired by medieval style clothes, and the costuming in Game of Thrones. I wanted his clothes to look ancient, and from a different age. I imagine his clothes would be colored grey and brown, very neutral tones, but I do want to incorporate some blue into his design as well, possibly in the eye color. The eyes are where the viewer’s attention should go when looking at an animated or drawn character, because that is where the character show the most emotion and humanity.

Momcozy. (n.d.). Aldrich name meaning, origin, and popularity insights. Momcozy. Retrieved February 16, 2026, from https://es.momcozy.com/blogs/baby-names/aldrich/

Storyboard

Here is the first storyboard for my animated fantasy film opening…

Integration of Media Theory

     The class has been studying media theory since the beginning, so it is only natural for us students to be expected to incorporate our knowledge of media theory into our film opening project. With so many parts of mine already thought out, I believe I can find a theory that applies to my story quite well… 

    Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory states that we experience life through the concept of opposites like good vs. evil, birth and death. This theory relates to narratives where elements of the story are constructed through opposition, and it applies to my own story as well. During my research, I discovered that Strauss studied mythology, a common inspiration for lots of fantasy media, and how his theory persists throughout so much of it. He broke down myths into basic elements and showed that myths from across the world are structured by binary opposition and patterns of transformation. I deduced that this might be why we see so many complete opposites in fantasy, such as the contrast between rich and poor, strength and weakness, beauty and ugliness. The audience makes sense of stories through these concepts which are easier to understand. Of course, I should be able to effectively integrate opposition into my film opening.

    The character of the dragon, who is the monstrous beastly villain of the scene, could be interpreted as a representation of evil and in many classic pieces of mythology, they are. However, I can further illustrate that concept by using color design. A black and red color scheme would  make the beast seem all the more malicious and dangerous, as those two colors, especially when used together, invoke feelings of danger and mystery in the human mind. I might contrast the inherent monstrousness of the dragon with the hero of the story, who is human, and therefore the audience would understand and empathize with him. His facial expressions are readable and we can comprehend his thoughts and feelings without any dialogue. To further push the theory of binary opposition, I should emphasize his facial movements while animating the opening. 

    Overall, focusing on one specific theory and reworking my initial plan a bit to better reflect it has helped me to learn how media theory as a whole could impact a film.

Main Idea and Major Inspirations (Film Opening)

     The time has come to explain the full story behind my film opening. I have had the film’s plot already conceived for a while now, and though there is no specific piece that directly inspired it, the influence that dramatic fantasies have had on my writing is certainly in effect. I wanted the film to be the set up for a big epic story, and really lean in to the idea that this is the beginning of something greater about to happen. Many fantasy films follow the “hero’s journey” formula with their plots, often involving slaying great beasts or defeating an evil force. I wanted to allude to this in my film opening using techniques like foreshadowing and visual storytelling — it shows the hero about to embark on his quest, and why he wants to do so. I also knew from the moment I chose to make a film in this genre that I wanted to involve a dragon, as I’ve always loved the mythical creatures and I have been drawing them since I was very young. 

    The scene opens on a slow fade-in to an overhead establishing shot of a village gone up in flames, burning into ash. This would be the start to a slow, somber sequence of shots showing the singed and severely damaged town, and the smaller individual areas where buildings and structures have been destroyed. I imagine some kind of slow, sad violin or piano music would accompany this to set the tragic mood, and a lack of any sound effects. Then, in one of these shots, we would suddenly see a man, injured and scarred, crawling out from one of the houses. There would then be multiple slow panning shots showing objects or rooms from inside this house to communicate crucial background information about this man, who is our protagonist, and his backstory; the man had a life and a family who were taken by the fire. Suddenly, with a loud musical sting (possibly harsh brass instruments and horns), the scene hard cuts to a large dragon would soaring above the village with a huge roar, completely changing the tone and surprising the audience. As it flies away, becoming a small shape in the distance, the man would start to recoup himself. He stands up, spots a nearby sword projecting out of the ground, pulls it out, and points it the dragon’s distant figure. There would likely be a POV shot with him pointing the sword directly at it. He then hobbles off in the direction that the creature flew off to.

    The concept behind this opening is that the home and life of the protagonist was completely destroyed by this villainous dragon, and he is now setting out on a journey to hunt the beast down and exact revenge. A bit dark and gritty, but many intense fantasy epic have a very similar tone, if not even more so. The protagonist, I want him to have a rough, grizzled, but strong and powerful appearance, as if he were a tough, brutal warrior. The dragon, on the other hand, would certainly need to have a menacing and monstrous appearance to communicate the challenge that the hero will face in his quest to slay it.

    For someone who has been engaging with fantasy media as long as I have, there are so many inspirations that come to mind when I think of how I want to create a film from the genre. In particular, I am really looking to other films as an example for the visual aesthetic and style that I want. Along with finding a basis for the background art, it is quite the obstacle for me at the moment. So observing how other films handled these aspects and many others could benefit me greatly, and help me to improve my standing in the process.

    While developing an art style for the film, I was not sure whether to take a more realistic approach or really lean into the fantastical magical concept. But in the end, I think I am going to combine the two, though definitely on the darker gritty realism side to better serve the serious tone of the story. A more exaggerated art style can make a piece of media inherently feel upbeat or whimsical, regardless of the content itself. This is why comedic animation often comes in the form of cartoons, while intense drama typically looks much more realistic. Either way, fantasy always tends to be more colorful to illustrate the magic in the setting. The general look of the film is indicative of its tone (unless there is an intentional contrast between the two). For an exceptional example of bringing together two distinct visual styles, I took some inspiration from Sleeping Beauty, a 1959 film by Walt Disney Animation Studios. 

©️ D23

 ©️ Zoungy Kligge

©️ DailyArt Magazine

©️ D23

    The first thing from this film that I wanted to try and emulate was the backgrounds. The way every single stone and tree has small details to give it a textured appearance, the careful lighting and shading, and the gradients are all so pleasing to look at. In addition, the pictures can be broken down into simple abstract shapes, such as the curved rolling hills which look like smooth perfect curves. That fine symmetry exemplifies how the film combines realism with fantasy. But my favorite part about the backgrounds is the color. Each location has its own unique palette, such as the pastels in the kingdom, and the natural tones of green and brown and blue in the forest. The visuals make it so that it feels different when ever the setting changes, and this distinction makes the world of Sleeping Beauty seem so much bigger and more interesting. This brightly colored world truly feels fantastical, even without fairies or an evil sorceress on screen. Though I most likely wouldn’t put in the same amount of extreme detail when I begin working on the backgrounds for my project due to time constraints, I will absolutely do as much as I can to achieve a similar look and aesthetic, and use similar techniques with colors, shapes, and lighting. 

Another reason why I want to take inspiration from this film is because of the character designs in the film. Disney as an animation studio has a very recognizable and well-know style which can be seen in all of their movies, whether they are hand drawn or CGI, and it of course affects character design; characters in Disney’s films are usually drawn with large expressive eyes, small noses, rounded edges, realistic proportions, and sometimes exaggerated features. This style has always spoken to me because it allows for more visually distinct emotive characters, and I love incorporating elements in a character’s design that reflect their personality. For example, Maleficent, the antagonist of the film, has pale sickly green skin, long, sharp, pointed features, and wears all black, conveying her wicked nature. Meanwhile, the three fairies have very round faces and bodies with small dainty facial features to match their kind and nurturing personalities. I want to use these techniques for myself when designing the few characters in my film opening.

©️Readly

©️ The Internet Animation Database 

©️FlashFilm

   The final point of inspiration I drew from Sleeping Beauty is the design of the dragon (more accurately, Maleficent in her dragon form). My opening also includes a dragon as a major plot point, and I would like the creature to have a cool memorable look. The great thing about mythical animals in a visual medium is that they don’t exist in the real world, and therefore they can look however you want. There is no rule as to what a dragon must look like. But that presents a challenge as to what the one in my film will look like. Dragons appear a lot in fantasy media, and each film has them look a bit differently, even if they behave similarly. So deciding what mine should look like — and also getting it to stand out — is difficult. But that is why I look to other films for inspiration. I originally wanted the dragon to be red or orange to match the warm colors in fire, but I realized that might cause it to blend into the bright fiery background of the burning village. And it is also a rather common, generic design for a dragon. The next thing I considered was to color the dragon black, representing darkness, mystery, and evil, alluding to its antagonistic role in the story and vague motivations. Black is a color that automatically causes the mind to feel fear or intimidation, especially in large amounts. This would also help it to be much more visible against the background. Afterwards, I immediately thought of the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. In that film, the dark color of the dragon was a clever design element. The scary elements such as the large toothy fire-breathing mouth and glowing eyes are especially striking when set against a jet black silhouette. It also made the dragon more mysterious because the dark color obscured textures, details, and shadows. This makes it feel more like an otherworldly being, even in a fantasy world. For these reasons, my final design for the dragon in my film will likely take a lot of inspiration from Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty.

©️ True Myth Media

©️ Disney Wiki

    Approaching the designs of the clothing and costume of my main character, I looked at Game of Thrones’ costume designs. Many of them are very clearly influenced by medieval styles of apparel and armor, illustrating genre. Characters in that series such as Jon Snow and Ned Stark wear thick fur cloaks, which I quite like as it makes them look rugged and I think I would want this aesthetic for my character as well. For me, the most important thing about the character’s costume is that it looks like something that would only be worn in olden times instead of the modern day, and that it communicates the “battle-warrior” aesthetic. Game of Thrones fits both of these criteria as it is a pretty war-heavy show, and the medieval inspiration is very noticeable in every single aspect of its production. And because my fantasy film will also take inspiration from medieval-style designs, I will definitely take inspiration from it.

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    Game of Thrones also has several individual dragons integrated into the story, brought to life in a realistic way using CGI. What I most like about the way dragons are portrayed in Game of Thrones is the pure size of these creatures that makes them seem powerful, intimidating, and larger than life on a grand scale. Having the dragons be so incredibly huge really emphasizes the sheer strength and might that they possess, causing the human characters to come across as weak and small in comparison, truly presenting the challenge and threat that a dragon could be. Because the dragon in my story is built up to be such an intimidating and daunting opposing force, having it be similarly big would definitely capture its strength and dominance over the protagonist. 

©️Heroes Wiki

©️Fiction Horizon

    The final point of inspiration for my film opening is Lord of the Rings. Going into this project, I wasn’t fully sure how I was going to design a serviceable backdrop for the film opening. Of course it is set in a medieval village, and the basic aesthetic that I am aiming for is that of a classic small, simple, rural village like you might find in the English countryside, surrounded by nature, only with a vintage medieval aesthetic. But there were certain aspects of that kind of location that I just didn’t know how to design. For example, I didn’t know what the houses should look like or the what kind of infrastructure a medieval town would have, let alone how to draw that location in ruins and wreckage. Luckily, I was able to find a perfect reference that perfectly captured the exact same image that I wanted achieve. Lord of the Rings features the very setting that I had envisioned in one of its primary locations, called Edoras. It is a great example of Old English-inspired set design with wooden and stone structures. I will also be using this as major inspiration for my own set design.

©️LOTR Wiki

First Group Meeting

    Before moving on any further, the class as a whole was assigned to groups made of other students, where we all had to meet up, discuss our ideas with each other, offer constructive criticism as to how to improve the project, and take note of what the other members thought. This was particularly challenging for me because I was quite nervous to share the concept behind my film opening because of how different it is. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by how productive, attentive, and understanding my group was. I think we did an excellent job of staying on task while also keeping things light-hearted.

    My group was made of students Ella, Isabella, Jake, Katalina, Marat, and Santi. Marat was the first to share, and he explained that he wanted to do a crime mystery film opening where an antagonist who takes precious artifacts from all around the world, is stealing a piece of jewelry, and the two main protagonists, who are the detectives of the film, find clues after that he left behind. He also explained that he wanted the credits to be done using calling cards that the villain left behind, but the teacher advised him against it. To me, he seemed to have a strong base idea of what he wanted to do in terms of the story, but he wasn’t fully prepared to carry it out and his vision needed a bit of revising. So the group members asked him a lot of questions about his film opening, such as where he was going to film, who he planned to use as actors, and offered some advice as to how he could improve the story. 

    Santi’s idea was a bit similar, though he seemed to have a more solid plan. He also wanted to do a mystery film. His opening would be based around an interrogation session with a mysterious doctor, framed as a flashback sequence (I believe is what he was saying). The main thing that everyone was concerned about was how the scene was going to be lighted, as Santi noted that the interrogation would take place in a dark room. So the group offered some suggestions as to how he could better light the scene, and some lighting techniques that could also be utilized.

    Jake was the next person to share, and he wanted to make an opening for a horror thriller movie. Immediately, I was a bit confused because the teacher had deterred though not banned us from choosing the horror genre. However, I found his idea to be quite interesting, engaging, and unique. Jake’s opening would be about a person running through a dark forest at night, before stumbling upon an abandoned building. This is a tricky setup, and the group was very questioning about where he planned to film this scene, and the location where he would shoot specifically, as this opening seems to be very reliant on the setting for its mystery. Jake explained that he found a sufficient nearby location called “Treetops.” I had never heard of it, but from what I understood, it is some kind of park or campgrounds that is heavily forested enough for the opening. The group asked him about how late he planned to film the opening, as he specifically said that it would take place at night. We all encouraged this decision, as having a dark background would add to the suspense and intrigue. Many of us also recommended that he use frightening sound effects to make the opening a bit more engaging and less vague, and also to use shaky handheld camera movements to match the scary tone of the scene. I believe that Jake needed to find out how late the park would be open in order to film there at night, but I think that he figured it out, and that it would be open late enough.

    Katalina’s film opening would be about a girl in her room, listening to a voicemail from her mother, who is out late and ignoring her calls. The protagonist then starts packing up her things to leave. She goes downstairs and finds alcohol bottles all over the place and a man lying on the floor. The girl would accidentally knock over one of the bottles, waking the angry man up. Katalina was still debating about who the man would actually be, but explained that he was likely the father or a boyfriend of the mother. We all agreed that this story has a lot going on at once, and that perhaps she should trim it down a little to fit the time limit of two-minutes and to avoid feeling too rushed. These things take time to set up and establish, otherwise the opening would just be confusing. Ella suggested using blank cream soda bottles as props for the bottles of wine, which I thought was a very clever idea. Jake recommended a shot taking place downstairs, showing the main character running down the stairs, and juxtaposing the clean house with the girl’s messy room (although that comment confused me because she had explained that there would be alcohol bottles all over the floor downstairs). 

    Ella wanted to make an opening to a teen drama film about a neglected girl, focused on the protagonist struggling to prepare for a party at her house. When she asks her parents for help, they dismiss her. Ella said that she was considering framing the shots to only show the adult’s from the neck down, and hide their faces. I though this was a very meaningful technique to represent the distance between them and the daughter, and how they might feel like a stranger to her, but I also noted that it would require some tactful camera work and tricks in order to do so in a way that looked good.

    Isabella’s film opening would be about a girl rushing out of cheer practice, and exchanging a strange look with a guy when she does. The protagonist runs to her house and packs up some drugs, and then the sound of a car honking would be heard before she drives away with that same guy. Isabella wanted the ending to be ambiguous and mysterious, and to show the contrast between the two lives of the protagonist. Some of our group members suggested that she use sugar or grass as the drugs. She also said she wasn’t sure whether to roll the credits towards the beginning or the end of the opening, so I suggested that it should be towards the beginning because it makes the more regular part of her character’s life seem simpler and mundane.

    And finally, with my own opening, my other group members had some questions about the story and audio elements. They had some interesting ideas for me regarding how I could portray the situation and also the technical elements such as the title and credits, such as recommending using the fire in some creative way when rolling the credits, or showing the title in the form of the dragon breathing smoke or on a wooden sign. Isabella asked me what kind of style I was going to animate in, and I knew that I needed to think about that some more. From my own perspective, I don’t think I explained the overall idea of the story and main character very well because of how frantically I was speaking. Either way, I am grateful for the small bit of input from my group and I hope that my final project will be impressive to them.

At first, I was rather hesitant to talk to others about my film opening project, but I really quite like the group I was assigned to and I really appreciate the cooperation from everyone. Throwing around ideas, receiving feedback on how to make them better and improve the story was rather fun. It reminded me of the stage in the production process where writers, screenwriters, directors all spend days discussing the script and story behind a film. Therefore, I can see how these group meetings will be extremely helpful for every student in the class, myself included.

    

Color Schemes: Researching for Portfolio Project

    One of the best ways to make a film’s opening really stick with the audience is to have a strong color scheme used in the scene. Color is an essential aspect of filmmaking in any medium, but especially in animation as you basically have a blank canvas to utilize any colors you want. But I feel that I need to learn more about color usage and especially composition before I can move forward. What shades should I use, and how much of each color? I have compiled most of the time I spent researching, looking at animated films in particular for examples.

    A color scheme is a set of colors that a shot, movie, or any form of visual media uses in its design. Though the reason for the use of color to make things look more dynamic and appealing might be obvious, color also tells a story. Color is a huge part of mise-en-scene and everything we see in frame, and it can have an emotional, psychological impact without us even noticing. Color in film can build harmony or tension within a scene, or bring attention to a key theme. When telling a story, colors illicit a reaction, draw the focus to a specific detail, set the tone, represent character traits, or show changes in the story. And that is because of color theory. Color theory and psychology shape how we perceive and interpret what imagery. You can use color schemes to direct your audience’s emotions and desires. Directors, producers, and writers utilize a movie color palette / exploit color theory to get their film’s tone and heart across.

    Designing a good color scheme is essential to evoking mood and setting tone in a film. Regardless of your intention when choosing a color, the way that the viewer actually interprets the use of that color may be drastically different. That is why color psychology is so important. It explores how different colors affect human emotions, behaviors, and perceptions. Different colors have different universal meanings and associations that are widely accepted, and therefore helps us to predict what reaction the audience will have from a specific color. When you’re creating a color scheme, you should consider the psychology of color and decide whether the color scheme you want to use is the best for evoking the right feelings and thoughts in your audience. To make sure that you’re always aware of how color psychology affects your work and that you’re using the right colors, keep in mind the following ways in which specific colors are perceived.

    Warm colors like red and yellow evoke feelings of high energy, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, cool colors like blue and green tend to induce calmness and serenity.

    Red always represents intense feelings, like anger and aggression, but also passion and love. It has the ability to accelerate heart rate and breathing and is so it is also associated with danger and urgency too.

    Orange is a combination of red in yellow, and the responses it creates are very much a combination of the two as well. Orange can represent joy, creativity, and warmth and comfort. However, it can also evoke thoughts of passion and aggression. It is linked heavily to the autumn season.

    Yellow can be seen as a cheerful, playful, and positive emotion, often associated with joy and excitement. It grabs the attention quickly, but it’s difficult for the eye to take in when there is too much yellow in a space, so it is sometimes used as a threatening or intimidating sign. It is also known for madness, obsession, idyllic, and naivety.

    Green is most commonly used to represent nature, health, prosperity, and peace. However, it is also viewed as a color of envy and jealousy. In some contexts, green can relate to sickness, disgust, or be associated with villains.

    Blue is one of the most popular colors there is. The sky and water both influence our understanding of the color blue. It often represents calmness or peace, and can even cause the body to produce calming chemicals. Blue is a symbol with positive meanings, and tends to represent goodness, loyalty, and productivity. Although it can also represent sadness, melancholy, and loneliness. 

    Purple is often referred to as a color of royalty, and that is how it came to be known, evoking ideas of wealth, power, beauty, luxury, sophistication, sincerity, and authority. It is also seen as a rare and artificial color because it does not appear in nature much, and also associated with fantasy, mysticism, magic, and even evil.

    Pink often relates to femininity, and evokes ideas of romance and love. It is a soft color that is sometimes used to make the scene feel more pleasant. It brings to mind gentleness, happiness, playfulness, tranquility, innocence and youth. 

    Black has many meanings, both positive and negative. It signifies death, grief, mystery, and evil, but it also invokes thoughts of sophistication, formality, simplicity, and tradition. Black is also seen in religious settings and is a sign of submission.

    White represents innocence, purity, sincerity and happiness, but also sterility, both because it is difficult to keep clean and because it is the absence of all color.

    Brown brings to mind earth and dirt, which invokes ideas of ruggedness, solitude, hardness, and reliability. It can also be seen as a basic and bland color.

There are three main components to consider when choosing a color scheme:

• Hue refers to the pure color itself, distinguishing one color from another like the difference between red, blue, and green. 
• Saturation measures the intensity or purity of a color, ranging from vivid or muted tones. 
• Brightness indicates dark or light a color is, altered by adding black or white.

These components drastically affect how a color scheme facilitates the design. For example, a desaturated grayish shade of blue might be read as depressing and gloomy, while a brighter shade of blue would be considered much more pleasant. It is very important to understand color theory, but these are not the strict standard rules for how color can be used. Context also plays a major role in how color is interpreted.

    A color wheel is a fundamental element to keep in mind when building up your color scheme. Red, Yellow and Blue are the three primary colors spaced evenly around the wheel. By mixing together the primary colors, we get the secondary colors, orange, green, and purple. And finally, combining primary colors with secondary ones results in tertiary colors. The right side of the wheel contains warm tints, and the left side, cool tints. A color scheme can contain any colors you want, but there are some specific types of schemes with rules that you should abide by. 

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    In a monochromatic color scheme, there is one dominant hue from which we would get various tones. It comes in shades of a single color such as red, dark red, pink, and light pink. This creates a deeply harmonious feeling this is soft, soothing, and lulling. It is easy to immediately understand the mood of the shot. 

Monochromatic Color Scheme in 

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    Complementary color schemes ade one of the most popular in the filmmaking world. Contrasting drama, complementary colors are located on opposite sides of the color wheel to each other. Complementary colors often represent internal or external conflict, and use both warm and cool tones to create heavy tension and heavy contrast.

    Analogous color schemes utilize colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel. They tend to occur in nature and are pleasing to the eye. Examples include red and violet, or yellow and lime green. Since the colors lack the high contrast of complementary colors, they instead create a more unified harmonious feeling. In general, when creating an analogous color scheme, one color is chosen to dominate, one to support, and one other like black or white to accent.

    A triadic color scheme is when three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel are used in conjunction. Red, yellow, and blue are the perfect examples. One of the three colors is chosen to dominate while the other two are used in a complementary fashion. 

    (Note: The 60 - 30 - 10 rule: a basic formula that designers in media use for color. Sixty percent of the shot should focus on a main dominant color, thirty percent should utilize a secondary color, and ten percent should use an accent color.)

    There are plenty of ways to create symbolism in a film by using colors; it is a great visual storytelling technique. But using different types of color schemes can be most effective. Even if the audience is not actively noticing the symbolism, they are subconsciously effected by it. Discordant color schemes, for example, consist of one of one or more colors appearing in a particular sequence of the movie despite it never being used before. It can help a character, object, or moment stand out in the rest of the film. Discordance is a deliberate choice of the director to deviate from the rules of the balanced color schemes in order to draw attention to something. It makes for a much more obvious symbol. Another way to make symbols using colors is through association with one character or concept. When a recurring color represents a theme / character in a film, it connects visual elements with emotional storytelling. Finally, transitional color usage is when a change in the color scheme represents a shift in the story. This could be a shift in tone or mood, in genre, or within the characters themselves. 

Color discordance in Mary and Max (2009)

Copyright: Into Film

Transitional Color Scheme in Up (2009)

Copyright: Studio Binder

    A movie’s color scheme is a place where filmmakers can create conflict and drama, improve their skills, and make compositions even better in terms of mood. You can build up your color scheme anyway you want as long as it appears cohesive and attractive. Nevertheless, there are guidelines that help to ensure that a film’s use of color is logical and meaningful. 

    As I go into production for my film opening, I now have multiple references as to how to make a balanced color scheme. The first thing I am going to do is consider the tone and mood of the scene. This will help me to determine what colors will best represent the feeling I want to convey in my opening sequence, and I can then apply my knowledge of color psychology and theory. Doing more research on developing character should help me to develop a color scheme as well.

Sources used for research:

Hurlbut, S. (2016, September 28). Building a color palette in your film. Filmmakers Academy. https://www.filmmakersacademy.com/color-palette-in-film/

Furneri, F. (2022, August 23). Color schemes in filmmaking. PremiumBeat. https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/color-schemes-in-filmmaking/

Risk, M. (2024, November 27). How to use color in film: 50+ examples of movie color palettes. StudioBinder. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-use-color-in-film-50-examples-of-movie-color-palettes/

The Los Angeles Film School. (n.d.). The psychology of color. The Los Angeles Film School. https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/the-psychology-of-color/

StudioBinder. (n.d.). Filmmaking techniques: Color theory in film. StudioBinder. Retrieved February 2, 2026, from https://www.studiobinder.com/filmmaking-techniques-color-theory-in-film/

Fiveable Content Team. (2025, September). Color Theory and Psychology (Visual Storytelling Unit 5.1). Fiveable. https://fiveable.me/visual-storytelling/unit-5/color-theory-psychology/study-guide/RMd5c7YU46H3DcKG

Radulescu, R. (n.d.). Movies In Color. https://moviesincolor.com/

Wood, K. (2025, August 7). The 60/30/10 color rule explained (with a FREE printable). Thistlewood Farm. https://thistlewoodfarms.com/the-60-30-10-color-rule-explained-with-a-free-printable/