Color Grading Mistakes in Movies: When Too Much is Too Much

Sometimes a movie just tries too hard! We all know that filmmakers are trying to create something really special but a little too much emphasis on the details might actually be what makes audiences turn away!

id="color-grading-mistakes"> Color Grading Mistakes

It happens to even the most experienced and well-known filmmakers! Some people take the details, visuals, colors and other interesting choices, but it goes a little too far!

Sometimes, we have the opposite of a film that isn't memorable. Instead, it makes viewers uncomfortable!

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Color and its Importance

It's easy to miss but filmmakers use the palette of a film for so much! There's a power in the emotions and feelings that are able to be delivered when colors are chosen well! The goal should always be to make it look immersive so audiences don't feel like they're just watching colors move across the screen but get lost in the action!

For example, it appears that when a certain color really sticks out! It may have a really great effect as long as it's meant to stand out and get your attention!

When color doesn't play a specific role and just appears to make every single part of a movie feel "bluish", "greenish", or even worse: a combination that shouldn't have existed on screen, you might see this turn out to be something negative!

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Top 10 Movies!

We'll delve into ten movies and why color wasn't able to work its magic. It is not uncommon to find some movie's color choices so much worse that viewers end up distracted! These are not a reflection of the talent in Hollywood but a case of why less can really be more!

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) & The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Justice League (2017)
The Aviator (2004)
Speed Racer (2008)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
Peter Pan (2003)
Twilight (2008)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Into The Woods (2014)

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The Matrix Franchise and its Green

It’s a super cool thing, the Matrix movies were great back in their day and they still had an exciting impact! What they didn’t get quite right was color and for those who were super excited about those visually exciting moments. What may be less appealing for fans was just the intensity of green throughout these sequels! Fans might recall that even in The Matrix (that was made in 1999) used green, it wasn’t so much everywhere.

However, this specific green makes those sequences feel very real, just like how the color palette is inspired by computer technology.

It certainly may work for those who really love science fiction! What some viewers feel, however, is that those colors may be too much, bringing more negative connotations. They can get in the way of some of the incredible acting from Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss!

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Justice League And its Visuals:

What could go wrong with using a green screen?

It all depends! There’s a reason why we might say “a good movie or a good production can really turn the tables with those special effects”. When visual effects come in at a great time and add extra flavor or spectacle that we all adore, it works really well!

In Justice League (made in 2017) It wasn’t exactly the way these effects should have worked out, and a lot of people didn't love this! Some of those early movie moments, such as Batman with glowing eyes or all those green screens that became too much and made it seem less authentic.

Fans love seeing movies like Batman as being super cool and they've had their fair share of exciting adaptations, but this series seemed to lack that vibrancy, particularly with the use of too many colors!

id="the-aviator-and-its-blue-orange">The Aviator And Its Blue/Orange:

You’ve seen some of these crazy color pairings, but have you ever wondered how these combinations came about in the making of a movie?

While this might sound great, in theory, The Aviator (a 2004 movie) brought some crazy elements and had too much of those blues and oranges!

Some fans loved this series, but the look was off! These particular tones, it seemed like a very strong stylistic choice, but it didn't play well for those who wanted to be able to dive in deep to what's really being shown and feel as if they are in the "Howard Hughes" world, even though it is an important story that gets brought to life by the talented Leonardo DiCaprio. The main intent is to make these choices work as an aesthetic and that would then influence viewers as to how they felt about Howard Hughes.

id="speed-racer"> Speed Racer:

It doesn't take a great deal of talent to realize, that these special effects were super trendy in 2008. The color choice and other designs that were incorporated into Speed Racer.

A lot of those viewers may not remember that there is a very popular manga series called Speed Racer that the Wachowski Sisters (who made "The Matrix" series) got the inspiration from. In order to make this movie they even made a super interesting choice to give the series a very interesting manga vibe! While there were some really unique choices for these colors in Speed Racer it turned out that all these visually striking colors didn't really enhance this exciting movie story!

In those early movie moments you might even get a sense of these amazing visual effects but those moments could even go a bit too far.

id="charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory">Charlie and The Chocolate Factory:

Those who like these classics always enjoy a good time revisiting! What can't be ignored is "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" (created in 2005)! Tim Burton is a super great director with plenty of fans! For this one he decided to reimagine the candy world that "Willy Wonka" was so famous for!

But a classic tale for sure, with the addition of Johnny Depp! He brings it back in such a way that this story really stays on screen for a long time!

If you ever thought it would have been better with just the visuals of a regular movie, maybe. You see, those visual choices went so far over the top! They might just be a little too striking and the movie became a little less memorable! Roald Dahl's stories have incredible and powerful descriptions but the movie really tried to enhance them even further. Maybe all they had to do was keep things simple, even when bringing those fantasy characters to life on the screen!

id="in-the-heart-of-the-sea"> In The Heart of the Sea:

For those that love this classic period in the 1800s!

This period piece is full of adventure, history, and intense situations!

A big budget film with some of the world's biggest stars such as "Chris Hemsworth", "Cillian Murphy" and "Tom Holland"!

What it did! was put so much on the screen that it became visually overpowering! It wasn’t even one specific element of the movie! In fact, almost every scene was infused with so much color. Those intense moments were hard to watch, the teal blue water that they chose! As well as, the dark orange tones that helped set the mood, might not be the perfect recipe for what the audience needed at that time to be captivated!

id="peter-pan"> Peter Pan:

It's all a fantasy and it needs those visual elements to truly become real for those who want to see this classic story! You can feel it through the magic, charm, and fantasy. This all goes back to the movie's special effects and those who created them, as there's no "easy" feat to make a movie feel like the classic book.

What the makers of "Peter Pan" (which released in 2003), made such bold choices to make the sets, costumes and other elements visually impressive!

In this movie they used so many vivid, dynamic and interesting colors! Some will really love them and appreciate their style! What viewers get to see! is a really great story, that is full of joy.

id="twilight-and-its-blue-hue">Twilight and its Blue Hue:

"Twilight" is one of the most intriguing love stories! Fans who adore vampires and those who follow the "Twilight saga will certainly agree!

"Twilight" (2008) came out, bringing us some unforgettable characters, including the very unique vampire named "Edward Cullen" as played by "Robert Pattinson," but all of those visual moments came with too much blue, really, a super dark filter that overshadowed those amazing performances from "Kristen Stewart," and Robert Pattinson.

It almost makes it look as if you can't really enjoy some of the key characters and those stories that you want to dive deeply into, it could have really benefited from some more colorful shades and may even bring it into a brighter, better space. The story was always dark in its approach, as these vampires and werewolves are supernatural and may only find the world of a regular human being a bit dark, but that shouldn't make the world feel dark!

id="harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince"> Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince:

This isn't something you want to hear about Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince!

While the Harry Potter films got darker over time, to help reflect the depth of the series.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince (in 2009), it felt like they brought too much of a dark mood. There's nothing like a well done series, and this series had some of those elements in its cinematography and color choices to make it dark but not to the point where viewers can't tell who is who.

Some scenes make the main actors such as Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Gambon a little hard to distinguish making it so difficult for audiences to appreciate those really powerful performances that these two put together. The darkness of the colors! These colors take away some of the story.

id="into-the-woods">Into The Woods

In "Into The Woods," you can sense the epic nature of the movie, and there was a true intention from the makers of the movie. You see, the colors may not work!

In "Into The Woods," a musical made in "2014" was also in those movies, that could be categorized as being way too dark, giving off an overly saturated blue! These colors might make it really hard to even appreciate some of those key details of the set. You know those memorable fairy tale moments? The forest, was supposed to look truly special and fantastical, which means those who worked on the set created amazing pieces that stand out visually! But when they didn't show up the right way!

The colors in the movie made the film have these hues, that even ended up interfering with the costume design. What happened? This made it almost impossible for the audience to see those great performances, and those amazing elements!

A great list for anyone who has these titles on their watch list or anyone that really wants to delve deeper into some of the films you can give another watch, so to speak! The only thing these films didn't have is the right dose of colors that really get viewers' attention!

Color Grading Mistakes in Movies: When Too Much is Too Much

Color and its Importance

Top 10 Movies!

The Matrix Franchise and its Green

Justice League And its Visuals:

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