Following on from the colour theory research I did, I thought I would research into Wes Anderson’s films, as he uses colour in his films really well.
To do this I watched quite a few of his films and made different notes on his use of colour throughout.
Filmmakers understand colour theory, and know that you use saturated bright colours in happy scenes, and dark and desaturated for something more grounded. However Wes Anderson blurs the lines between joy and darkness.
Scene from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Anderson covers quite dark themes throughout his films, but he uses colour as a way to explore adult concepts in a childlike and fantastical way. This helps to lighten the mood and make the audience feel more comfortable listening to the topics mentioned, as they are covered with a comedic undertone.
His worlds are bright and colourful, but that’s just the facade. They are coloured in a storybook way to give it a childlike perspective. This is a signature aspect to Anderson’s work.
Scenes from Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Royal Tenenbaums.
As well as blurring the lines between joy and darkness, his colours also blur the lines between fantasy and reality.
Moonrise Kingdom (2012):
In Moonrise Kingdom topics such as death, mental health problems and suicide are mentioned but his use of warm colours help to lighten the mood of the film.
Scene from Moonrise Kingdom (2012), dog gets shot and boy gets stabbed.
Wes Anderson uses an analogous colour scheme of muted shades of yellows, greens and browns throughout Moonrise Kingdom to emphasise feelings of innocence, youthfulness and nostalgia. This colour palette creates a heightened sense of reality that perfectly accents Sam and Suzy’s story.
Scenes from Moonrise Kingdom (2012).
At the start of the film light, bright, plain colours were used. And only extremely dark ones were used towards the end of the film - when Sam and Suzy were at the top of the bell tower and almost attempted suicide.
Throughout the film the colour palette slowly darkens, probably to show how reality is catching up with the characters, and their idea to runaway might not have been as perfect as first thought.
The full colour palette of Moonrise Kingdom (2012), contact sheet with my favourite scenes circled.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014):
The Grand Budapest Hotel follows separate timelines with their own aspect ratios and colour palettes.
The first and main timeline of the film follows Museo Gustav and his lobby boy Zero, in his hotel. The colours in The Grand Budapest Hotel are very highly saturated, so that the primary colours used throughout really pop. There are an assortment of colours used throughout (Red yellow, blue, pink, purple etc.), and it makes every frame feel like a storybook picture.
Scenes from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
With such vivid saturation and hues, Anderson created a movie that doesn’t quite feel real. With his colour palette being greatly exaggerated, it allows him to exaggerate other aspects of the film.
Scenes from The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gustav escapes from prison (2014).
The majority of the timeline however isn’t so bright due to the nature of war happening at the time of the film, but the hotel scenes have vibrant hues that give it a vibe of beauty and comfort, despite the challenges they have outside of it. It’s like the Grand Budapest Hotel is a disguise to hide the cruelty of war for the rich at least.
Scene from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
The second timeline is about the old Zero Mustafa in a used and old version of the Grand Budapest Hotel and the younger self of an author who later on writes a book about it. In this timeline the outside scenes showcase a low saturated green and the interiors are in matte and mid-saturated oranges; a colour palette that shows warmth but also tells us about the apathy about the hotel.
Scenes from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
There is another timeline which shows us a later period of time in the author's graveyard where colours are drained out to picture a cold world; and there is a young girl interested in learning about the glorious days of The Grand Budapest Hotel by reading his book.
Scenes from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Other Films
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) has a brighter, more highly saturated colour palette, which makes sense since it is a cartoon based off of a children’s book.
Scenes from Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
In Isle of Dogs (2018), instead of having a yellow saturation like in Moonrise Kingdom, his scenes are more prone to red. It’s a colour associated Wirth love and passion, and it’s an appropriate choice to make considering the plot is about a boy travelling to an island to rescue his dog. His love for his dog drives the entire plot, so a red saturation is appropriate.
Scenes from Isle of Dogs (2018)
Conclusion:
Overall, it is interesting to learn about how Wes Anderson uses colour in his films to break ideal ‘norms’ of how to use it, and I will definitely be taking on board different ideas of how to include colour in my films. As well as films, Wes Anderson’s filming style in particular is interesting and something I will be looking to try out by myself.
I really like his use of long tracking shots, extreme zoom shots and quick fast camera movements.
References:
Mindling, M (2017), Tongal, Color and Film: Learn the Rules of Color Theory (and How to Break Them), Available at: https://tongal.com/blog/tongal-taught-me/color-and-film-learn-the-rules-of-color-theory-and-how-to-break-them#:~:text=In%20Moonrise%20Kingdom%2C%20Anderson%20deftly,this%20charming%20runaway%20couple's%20story (Accessed 14/3/22)
Bedard, M (2020), StudioBinder, The Wes Anderson Colour Palette: Bright Colours Meet Dark Subjects, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/wes-anderson-color-palette/ (Accessed 14/3/22)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Directed by Wes Anderson, Available at: Netflix (Accessed 14/3/22)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Directed by Wes Anderson, Available at: Netflix (Accessed 14/3/22)
Isle of Dogs (2018), Directed by Wes Anderson, Available at: Soap2day (Accessed 14/3/22)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Directed by Wes Anderson, Available at: Soap2day (Accessed 14/3/22)
Postpace (2020), YouTube, The Grand Budapest Hotel Color Analysis | Wes Anderson Color & Storytelling, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFKkk_JvQR8 (Accessed 14/3/22)
For all film screenshots:
Film Grab, Available at: https://film-grab.com/ (Accessed 14/3/22)
Comments