Week 5 - Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy 7 is a PlayStation one game released in 1997. It follows the main character Cloud as he tries to save the world.
The first picture shows the city of Midgar, a city that uses up a lot of the resources of the earth, and is separated between the rich and the poor. Looking at all the grey smoke and metal, the player will instantly assume that this is a city of factories. There are next to no bright colours,everything is quite dark and dull. The area used to be green but since all the city has been using the environment resources, the health of the area has died.
The second picture shows a section of the inside of Midgar. It contains a lot of green but not in the good healthy sort of way. The town looks polluted and the bits f grey scrap metal make it look like a rubbish tip. The viewer will probably feel this place is an area of poverty and full of dirt, making them quite curious.
In the third picture, we see an average forest with a glowing light at the end of the trees. The area is a healthy green, which will make the player feel this is a calm place with no threats. The light source at the end of the forest may also be leading to the exit or the goal.
The forth picture shows my favourite scene of the game. The town of Nibelheim has been burned along with its inhabitants. The mood as you enter this area is a very scared confused one, since there is bright yellows and reds flames coming from every angle of the screen, which is quite a shock when only moments ago the area was full of colours and life. The fact that there isn't a single area of the town that isn't in yellow engulfing flames makes the player feel like there's no way of saving this place, there is no hope left, the town is done for.
The last picture shows the chamber that leads to the evil character of the game. the player gets this vibe that this is a dangerous place instantly by the highly saturated reds. There are actually people being kept in the steel cocoons on either side of the stairs, and the viewer knows this by the glowing tinted blue light that's being admitted from there, suggesting there is a life form sleeping within it. I think this scene was well done, because of the amount of redness and the strength of it, I was instantly terrified when I entered this room. I knew something big was going to happen and it made me prepare myself for what was to come.

Week 5 - Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is about a father fish who's son get taken away by a human. He embarks on a quest to rescue his son.
At the start of the film, a predator fish invades marlins home and eats his wife and kids, except 1 little fish egg. The first picture shows the father finding the little egg.
The environment is a very depressing pale blue with a hint of purple. Also the normally brightly orange coloured clown fish is very desaturated and  tinted slightly blue from the environment. The only thing in the scene that is saturated is the little egg.
The blues of the scene make it feel very sad and depressing, yet the little egg, even though its slightly dark, makes the event also a relief that at least one of the little fishes survived.
The next scene shows Nemo going to school. The environment is full of bright saturated colour which make the viewer feel happy and excited. Most of the film is portrait in these bright colours which is what I think makes it such a pleasing film to watch.
The final image shows a bunch of under water bombs exploding in a chain, set off by a shark. When the view sees these bright yellow bursts in, what was a deep dark blue sea only a few seconds before, they become worried and surprised at the sudden change. The viewer should feel a sense of danger and shock from the bright light.

Week 5 - Spirit Stallion Of The Cimarron

Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron is an animated film about a horse that gets taken away from its herd. Many humans try to break him but no matter what happens Spirit stays strong until he can be reunited with his family.
The film uses a lot of yellows and greens since most the time he's either in grasslands or desert.
The first picture shows the beginning of the film. The bright colours make the scene feel very happy, and the blues and greens show that the area is rich and healthy. Spirit is a tanned horse, showing off yellow fur and darker mane and legs. He is much brighter then the rest of the pack to show that he is the dominant strong leader.
The second picture shows a darker moment in the film, the scene when spirit gets captured. All the colours in the scene are very shaded, bringing the general mood of the film down. There is also a lot more darker colours then lighter, maybe indicating that spirit might loose the fight. Although, in this picture, spirit is above the enemy showing that he's still fighting for his freedom.
The third image shows a love scene between spirit and rain. The bright yellow sunlight in the background gives a sort of heavenly mood to the scene. The very light blue lake also makes the scene feel quite pleasant  especially with the water lilies too. I like how the whole scene is done in tinted pastel type colours, making it look every calming.
In this last picture, it shows spirit running away from a forest fire. The scene shows a bit of dark forest but mainly highly saturated reds and yellow from the flames. This makes the scene feel very dangerous and worrying. The flames also highlight half of spirit, making him seem like he's being over come by this force of nature. The scene makes the viewer feel nervous and edgy, worrying about what's going to happen next.

Week 4 - The Princess And The Frog

The Princess and the frog is a Disney film released in 2009. The story is about a girl in new Orleans that kisses a frog in hopes she will turn it into a prince. Instead she herself turns into a frog, so they both embark on a quest to restore themselves to what they were.
The first piece on concept shows the inside of a very warm and inviting looking interior.The colours surrounding the picture are quite saturated pinks, reds and yellows, making the place feel quite girlie. Since these colour take up about 70% of the picture, it makes me feel like this scene has no threats going on in it.
The lady at the other end of the scene is being shown in white but with a light blue moon light shining from above her. since the light takes up a good third of the picture, I can assume the character must be of some importance. I also think since all the colours around her are light and airy that she must be a good person, maybe even a very cheerful person. Also the fact that all the other animals in the scene are looking upwards at her suggests she is maybe admired or powerful.
In the second picture the environment is very damp, dark a gloomy. The blues show that its night but the darker colours make me feel like the swamp looking place isn't safe. Since the blues take up most of this picture, I'm guessing the environment is much bigger then what id seems, it also looks quite cold and unwelcoming.
The thing that changes the mood of the picture is the small boat in the middle. The boat is giving out a little red and yellow light. compared to the rest of the picture, that is smothered in blue, the red light looks very small, but since its above the darker blues, it seems a little more safe then the outside environment. The warm colours show there there is life living within that boat where as the swamp looks deserted.
The final picture shows 3 people in a green and pink lit environment. There is a lot more pink towards the start of the room where the 2 men stand, and their clothes also reflect the pinky colour. The pinkness of this area makes it seem like they are safe at that distance but not to get any closer, as it seems the pink lights fade down the hallway. I also think that this may not be the case, maybe the pink light it a hint of playfulness, maybe the man at the other side of the room has identified his targets and the people highlighted in pink, are it, and perhaps he used these lights to draw them in on his trick.
One thing is for certain, the man at the other end of the room, that is completely highlighted in a light green, isn't giving off a nice vibe. The tiny yellow table makes the place look a little inviting, but the green light looks like the man is evil and actually planning something nasty. Even though the colours in this picture are quite balanced, it seems the scene is warmer rather then colder, but the complimentary colours clashing together gives it a rather twisted feel.
The other man, shown in yellow, looks a bit out of his comfort zone, being bombarded by the bright colours, but the primary colours he's wearing show strength, maybe pride, and from the way his hands are placed I'm guessing he's looking down on the man towards the end of the hall.

Week 4 - Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 is a first person shooter game with a very stylized comic book look to it.
The aim of the game is to stop handsome jack from opening the vault and controlling the creature inside.
The first picture shows the character Zero fighting a lot of bug looking enemies  The creatures colour pallets consist of a harmonious yellows and reds. The scene is also mainly covered in shades of yellow from the light source above the scene and from the yellowy smoke on the floor. The redness of the enemy may also show how hostile or strong it is compared to the smaller yellowish ones in the background.
Zero is shown in black but his sword is a very bright glowing blue. Since the red and yellow tones seem to be covering most of the scene we can guess that either these enemies are very powerful or there are a large number of them. Zeros blue sword being small compared to the other bright colours shows he's going to have a hard time, but his stance shows that he's ready for what ever is to come.
The yellow light being ahead of zero may also suggest that he's on the path to justice, as also the fact his sword is blue, telling the players he's a hero not a villain.
The next image shows the female character Maya using her attack, a big round purple energy orb. The orb is tinting everything in the scene purple or blue colours meaning that this attack has great power and also means that Maya has control of the situation.
The last 20% of the colours in the scene are the small yellow robot that isn't tinted by the purple. Judging from the amount of his colour that is in the scene and from the way he looks like he's backing off, it seems he is loosing the battle. His yellow colour is also more shaded compared to the explosion of yellow coming from the other players gun, maybe meaning that the robot is much weaker to the weapon and is definitely going to lose.
The last image shows the little robot (Claptrap) being held up by the enemy. Once again the weaker one is being depicted in a light yellow colour where as the Huge monster and the rest of the environment is in whites and blues.
The claptraps colours being so small in the image shows he is probably going to get crushed by this monster but also that fact that the monsters colours and design matches the environment must mean this is where he usually lives and so is used to fighting in these cold condition, where as the claptrap looks out of place entirely.

Week 4 - Infamous

Infamous is a game mainly based around a karma system.
The game begins with Cole, a delivery driver, who is delivering a package from an unknown costumer. His curiosity gets the better of him and he opens the package.
The special item causes an explosion that wipes out half the city. For some reason Cole doesn't die, but instead obtains the power to control electricity.
Through the game Cole has to make Decisions that will effect people around him, he can either choose the good path, or the path of evil.
The first piece of picture shows Cole with his new powers. The city is in ruin, most of it being incredibly dark and smokey, with bright red fires down the road. The darkness in the picture shows that city is in a really bad way, where as Cole its wearing bright yellow and its glowing a light colour.
Since 80% of the picture is darkness and Cole, even thought small in proportion to everything else, is the only one lit up, I assume that the picture is telling us, the city is destroyed,  but there is still a little ray of hope, someone with power who can change the fate of the city. I think it also means, because there is so much darkness, that Cole has a very hard and tedious journey ahead of him.
The stance Cole is portraying in the picture makes me feel like he might only be observing the ruins, but as he's looking down and has a sort of powerful pose, it also feels like he has control of the situation and is willing to do something about it.
In the next picture, Cole has 2 different types of electricity power. Through the game, depending on the choices you make (good or evil) your electricity starts to change colour, evil being red and good being blue. In the picture both the blues and reds weigh out 50% of the area each. From this I can tell that Cole has a choice, both paths hard but equal and just as powerful as the other. I also can see that the glow from each of the lights effects the colour of the buildings behind Cole which might be describing the effects his choices will have on the environment.
One other thing I noticed about the game is, if you start going towards the evil path, the sky slowly starts to go red. In the third picture, it depicts a typical environment most likely towards the start of the game. It has a blue sky and everything has a slightly light blue tint, weighing out the red fiery chaos of the petrol station. The blue tints make the scene feel calm and as if these minor problems can be solved.
However, in the in the forth picture, the scene differs largely from the previous. Cole has made bad evil decisions through the game and turns the whole city into a disaster zone. The red sky forces a red tint on all the buildings in the area and matches the appearance of Cole as well. Id say about 90% of this scene is soaked in dark and light reds, with a few broken colours hear and there. Just observing the picture you can tell instantly that the evil side of Cole has won, and he's brought the city down with him. Cole has a brighter red on his hands and arms, maybe meaning that he is the god of all this chaos that has been caused.

Week 3 - How To Train Your Dragon

How to train your dragon was released in 2010 by Dreamworks animations.
The film is about a young Viking that wants to kill dragons like everyone else, but he is too weak and instead ends up befriending one.
Most of this film is full of colour, there are a few scenes that I really liked. I enjoyed the first scene of the film because of all the flames in the town, giving almost everything a saturated red glow. This kind of made it feel dangerous and yet homely at the same time in my opinion.
I also loved the night flying scene half way through the film. Using complementary colours (blue and orange) worked well, but I also liked how the contrast of the highly saturated yellow torches stood out against the very blue shaded area. It made the scene look very warm and beautiful.
They portrait the last fight scene in the film very well with its use of colours. Everything was very desaturated compared to the rest of the scenes, mainly a combination of broken greys and browns, with the odd red fire ball. The colours really helped make the scene feel depressing and unfriendly.
The final scene is probably the most colourful since its meant to be the happy ending. The environment is much more saturated in the grassy areas and the colourful dragons really help lift the mood again.

The Fight Scene

Week 3 - Katamari

"Katamari" is a Japanese game, the first one being released in 2004. The aim of the game is to gather up as many objects as you can into katamari balls before the time runs out.
The game is designed very simply using mainly straight forward shapes, making it look cartoonish.
It uses a wide range of colours, with the hues or more saturated colours being more dominant  The game itself was only made to be fun and humorous for the player, an isn't in anyway serious, hence why I think they chose to use lots of bright colours and make it look quite child friendly.
I also think they used such a wide bright colour pallet so the player can easily distinguish between the objects they must pick up to gain extra points in the game.
The main character, the prince, consists of only 4 colours, the green, yellow and orange, which are quite harmonious with each other,  then his legs are coloured in a strong purple, complementary to the top half of the body. This combination makes the character very visible and its simple shapes makes it easy for the player to identify it among all the other strong colours that cover the levels.
One of the other characters known as the king, wears a strange cylinder head piece which is, no matter which one you choose, always decorated in a variety of saturated colours. The mixture of all the colours and pattens that the head piece has I think shows how eccentric the kings personality is.
I love this games colour choices because its very rare these days to find a game that uses so many bright colours in a simple way.

Katamari ball and the Prince

The King

Week 3 - Alice: Madness Returns

The game is based on the well known fairy tale of "Alice in wonderland", with a slight twist. In the game, everyone thinks Alice is insane after her house and family are burned to death in a tragic accident, and her doctor seems to be trying to cure her, but in actual fact the doctor is making her more insane. Because of these events the game jumps from reality and the fantasy world inside Alice's head.
Scenes outside the dream world are desaturated and broken. Some of the scenes are tinted (the hospital scene) and some are very dark (the orphanage) and most have a sepia tone to them. Alice is also portrait in desaturated colours to show her depressed and stressed state.
Most of the environments in the dream world are highly saturated and full of vivid colour (with the exception of a few levels) especially in the first level that introduces you to this crazy eccentric imagined land. Alice also wears brighter clothes in these levels, and her skin is more full of colour.
The lighting in the scenes also strangely is high contrasting. In some of the scenes you can see bright primary red, yellow or blue light flooding areas, making the highly colourful objects more noticeable.
Most of the monster in the dream world are also desaturated and dark shaded, to make you feel like they are out of place and a threat.
Alice's attacks and weapons are also bright and colourful, to make them more noticeable, and to let the player know they are good objects to take out the darkness of the monsters.
When Alice uses her special attack (Hysteria mode) everything in the dream world turns black and white for a short time, and the only thing that is saturated, or coloured at all is the blood in the area. The big contrast of the red on a black and white backgrounds makes you feel something serious is commencing,since this mode only activates when you are low on hp and it also catches you attention.
Most the memory scenes are done with 1 colour in different tones, usually primary colours.
I like the colour pallet they used for this game because it really helped distinguish between the wonderland and reality.  It also made wonderland more creepy in a way, its a dangerous place, yet full of colour, which is the same kind of feeling you get from the monsters (eg: a killer china doll). The colours used also help you know when your in danger, making the game easier to understand.

First Level

Hysteria Mode

The Asylum (reality)

London Streets (reality)

Week 2 - Amnesia

"Amnesia; The Dark Descent" is a survival horror game released in 2010.
The game is about a man who wakes up and doesn't remember anything, as he starts exploring the castle he is in he discovers memories that he forgot, but he is also very ill. The games key theme is sanity. Staying in the shadows blurs your vision, where as staying in the light makes you feel better, but the monsters with in the castle can also see you in the light, so you have to be very careful where you stand at what times. There are no weapons in this game which makes you feel very helpless.
The game doesn't have an amazing art style like most games in my opinion, its fairly average with the exception of a few colourful rooms, but because the game is so dark, and the colours of the textures are very dark shaded, it really gives a terrifying feel to the game.
Light tinted colours are rarely used in the game but they do appear in a few rooms, or places where there is a lot of light, but mainly the game consists of dark wood or stone. It also makes the castle feel very old and unfriendly.
I think the colours in this game really did help to make this one of the most scariest games in history, since with so much darkness its harder to see what's going on, being naive to your environment is a unsettling thing. When the characters sanity is low and the screen blurs making all the dark colours smudge together, its quite daunting and worrying.
The artist made the right choice with the pallet, light tinted colours will rarely ever work in this sort of game.

Week 2 - The Snowman

The snowman was released in 1982 on channel 4. The film is about a boy on Christmas eve who makes a snowman, the snowman comes to life and has a night of adventures with him.
I love the old animated style to this film even to this day.
The animation was coloured with pastels, crayons and a few other colouring tools, then put together on celluloid.  The background was painted in the same style so it would blend in.
I love the light tinted colours the pastels give off. The tinted colours are obviously dominant in this film, though there are some shaded colours here and there.
I suspect that lighter colours were used to make the view feel how cold the scene is, since the scene when they are in the house, the colours are slightly darker.
This will always be one of my favourite films, not only because the story and ending were so amazing but because I haven't seen many other film with such a beautiful art style and colour pallet as this one.

Week 2 - Okami

"Okami" is a game that was released in 2008 for the PlayStation2 and Wii. Its based around Japanese folklore and myths.
When the design team started planning how "Okami" was going to look, they initially wanted the game to be photo realistic. Later on they decided having a lot of light and fresh colours would be better since the wolf in the game is meant to be giving life to the forest, and colours would portrait that better. They were also limited by the graphics of the PlayStation 2.
The whole game looks like an ink drawing or painting, and the pallet used is tinted, light colours. The art in "Okami" is highly inspired by Japanese watercolour and wood carving art of the Ukiyo-e style.
I think the game is very beautiful and original, and I like the extra touches they added such as letting you have control of the celestial ink brush. I also love all the pastel colours that the game is showing, sometimes there are scenes where the colours are saturated or dark, but most the time the light pastel colours are there to make you admire the world that the artists have created.
Lastly I found the bold black ink line that coats the character and environment is very powerful, contrasting and it draws your eyes in.

Week 1 - The Lion King

I was trying to think of films that I have seen that have really striked me as colourful every time I see them. A film I watched recently was probably one of the most colourful films I had seen in a long time, "Rio".  All the jungle and carnival scenes in the film are flooded with really bright simple colours, and full of saturation. It gave off a very happy feeling while I as watching the movie. Even though I thought this movies use of colour was good, when it comes to colour pallet I don't think any film beats "The Lion King".
"The Lion King", was indeed full of lovely colours but you could tell they had taken a lot of time and thought when picking there pallets out for different scenes.
For Example;
The beginning of the film, everything is bright, healthy harmonious colours (blue, light/dark greens) making a good feeling, happy atmosphere.
In the scene where scar is singing with the hyenas,there is a complete change in colours used from harmonious to complementary  The colours portrait his evil mind and feelings, with lots of greens and yellow and huge flashes of red. I've never known why very bright highlighted greens and yellows have always given off that evil feeling but its a good combination. There is also a lot of contrast in this scene with the long black shadows.
When Simba goes back to take pride rock, the deserted landscape is desaturated, lots of dirty colours (browns, blacks, greys) making the audience feel this is a very depressed, empty and lifeless place now.
Once Simba discovers scar killed Mufasa, he it now surrounded by strong harmonious reds, yellows and oranges, showing his anger and setting the atmosphere for the fight. when finally the other lions find out, they run out from the dark shadows of their previous sad emotions, into the light of the fire to help fight.
Towards the end the land regrows and returns to the healthy and lively colours of greens and blues, and everything is as it once was.
Because the artists really thought about the colours and how he or she wanted the audience to feel at certain points of the film, it really has helped make them strong emotional connections with the characters, as you feel like you know what they are thinking or feeling without them even saying a thing or showing an emotion.

You know the artist has done a fantastic job showing the characters feelings through these ways when people (myself included...heh) well-up with tears when ever they so much as witness 10 minutes of the ending. Its a amazing film and they done a fantastic job.

Week 1 - Journey

"Journey" is a PlayStation 3 game I've been dying to play for quite awhile now. Its not the story, or the game play that attracts me to it, but the visuals. Journey is based mainly in a desert, so its filled with warm, inviting colours.
Its composed mostly of  harmonious hues, most notably dark and light yellows and browns, but then the artist has decided to make the main character stand out more. They have done this by making it a bright, vibrant red, which is very contrasting against the lighter environment.
The warm golden colours of the game make it feel very beautiful and rich, with the added extra of the slight glitter in the sand which really gives it a magical aura.
With some games I find my eyes get weary or strained when the game contains too much contrasting colours, or a very desaturated colour scheme, but unlike the average game my eyes feel so relaxed and comfortable just staring at this piece of work, I almost feel drawn to look at it.
The art style itself, kind of makes the whole game look like a piece of concept art or a painting. I think the artist has really thought about how he wants the player to feel, and how he or she wants people to be mesmerized by it as soon as they set eyes on it.
After the many good reviews it got ("Journey is a gorgeous"- Kotaku.com  "Worthy of the highest praise, from colour and lighting to the awe-inspiring spectacle" - uk.ign.com), it just goes to show that choosing the right colour pallets can really make all the difference, and can also make your work stand out among the competition.

Week 1 - Day Of The Dead

Since our first lesson was on hue, It made me think of colourful things I've seen or heard. One of the most colourful things I heard of which has always interested me is the Mexicans' "Day Of The Dead". This festival, occurring in November, celebrates the lives of all the people that have passed on. I would have always thought a festival like this would be overwhelmed with dark or desaturated colours, since death is a sad experience.
Strangely though this festival is full of bright colours to lift peoples moods, Asking people the celebrate someone's life instead of morn.
In this season every colour has a different meaning;

-Red is the blood that represents life

-Orange Is known as the sun of the festival

-Yellow, the colour of the Mexican Marigold (a bright flower), represents death 

-Purple stands for the grief and pain of the Day Of The Dead
-Pink is the colour of hope and celebration

-Lastly white stands for purity and hope

All of these colours flood mexico on this day. The colours used are very contrasting, high in saturation, but are the perfect value between light and dark, making them brilliant and bright.
I love the use of all the brightest of colours since it gives such a vibrate feeling that is not felt very often.