Colour Theory

Colour theory is the understanding of contrast, complimentary, harmony, mood and the context of colours. Colour theory is used and seen in nearly every aspect of our modern life; from the design of popular technological products to even flower arrangement by florists and gardeners. In the media and in particular the film industry, colour can be used to portray characters in a desired manner by using colour theory to manipulate the mood of the costume, set, and overall aesthetics of the movie.

Colour theory is often based around the colour wheel; a display of organised colours used to show the relationship between colours. The first colour wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, however it has been debated, changed, and progressed over the years. Below are the basic colour wheels of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

Primary colours

The primary colours traditionally are yellow, blue and red. These 3 hues can not be formed by any combination of colours and all other colours are derived from these primary colours.

Secondary Colours

Secondary colours are produced by blending and mixing primary colours together. For example, mixing red and blue produces purple, or if you mix yellow and blue a green hue is created.

Tertiary Colours

Tertiary colours are formed by a blend of primary colour and secondary colour. For example, if you mix blue and green together a new hue is created, this is the reason that Tertiary colours have a two word name (ie. blue-green).

The colour wheel can now be used to identify colour compliments (colours that are in harmony together). Colour compliments are usually opposite each other on the traditional colour wheel, for example, orange and blue are complimentary colours. Refer to colour wheel to see this.

Another popular technique for colour combination is the analogous colour scheme. Analogous colour scheme are hues that are placed next to each other and harmonise together to create a serene and peaceful mood.