Why Great Movies use the 60-30-10 Percent Color Rule

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[@wolfcrow]

Why filmmakers shouldn't care about film reviews kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6TZlpVvhNiKhdU

[@johnstrawb3521]

Talks about the great films observing x color rule while featuring in the thumbnail a sloppy stupid mess of a film. What a choice.

[@lanasartlife]

Even though I get the theory, I think current films go too far in this. Films feel really departed from reality when every scene only has 2 or 3 colors.

[@mackychloe]

I agree, it's a fine balance.

[@onistag]

Agreed, the "cinematic" look is being brought to the extreme in modern film, especially in superhero films. They could learn a lot by studying films like Amelie, which holds back when needed and is bold when appropriate.

[@RecklessFables]

Color grading is a pox in the movie industry that has been dominating the last couple of decades. I wish it would just run it's course and go away

[@sandyjust]

Now a days most of the movies are really lazy. From cgi to acting

[@yeah493]

@@RecklessFables *bad color grading. Color grading is necessary to display any digital image. Even film processes that never touch digital are still manipulating what the world looks like and are creative choices. Sorry to be penantic, I also hate the trend of overgraded movies. Color grading is in its infancy and hasn't reached the maturity of other elements of filmmaking. Thankfully I think we are past the worst of it.

[@OnMars3D]

Fantastic breakdown on color theory in cinematography. I teach digital rendering and always refer my students to your work because of the way you clearly present the importance of cameras, composition, color, etc Thanks for all you do!

[@jmor3969]

I can't stand it, but obviously films are designed to target to the majority so it makes sense, I'm probably part of a very small percentage that finds it to be distracting as a general rule anyway there is a time and place for it I believe but it's not good when entire movies are saturated with it imo, it should fit in naturally, not just be utilized for the sake of adhering to it.

[@maxmagnus777]

I have almost finished my 10 sec latest mograph. Will be changing colors and adding complementary light.

[@harry1178]

Almost all this video sounds like dogsh*t, man

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

first of all. these are not great movies. secondly, there are tons of examples of great films that don't follow this rule or principle. this video is pure sophistry

[@fernandofaria2872]

@@737simviator lol

[@themovieaudiomashupproject18]

Title: Why GREAT movies use this rule Thumbnail: Red Notice 👀

[@themovieaudiomashupproject18]

@James Veldey That's the point I was making, it was good popcorn fun but not an example of high artistry

[@alejandromedina1019]

came here to say that, see you later

[@Kiyoone]

Agree... WTF

[@99rollo99]

Right?

[@TheMikadoOfLondon]

@@alejandromedina1019 I also came here to say that, haha

[@Ryanin2D]

This carries over in literally every kind of art. Big, Medium, Small in shape design. 1,2,3 value reads for painting. Etc. This even applies to music theory. Really great videom

[@ulengrau6357]

A lot of cherry picking though. Many films that don't follow the rule were left out. But hey! Whatever, right? Isn't that how badly written essays work to begin with?

[@cavemann_]

@@ulengrau6357 I like how you completely missed the point.

[@canucklehead28]

I've been a subscriber for some time now but have never left a comment. I'm a photography enthusiast mostly, but your videos about film can be so easily applied to a photo. You make me look at things in new ways and that's why I think your channel is brilliant. Great job!

[@Rwdphotos]

Gotta interject and say a lot of the examples shown during the part where you're talking about staying away from grading, that most of the scenes were actually graded pretty heavily. You can tell because the shadows and highlights had strong color influences, and most actually used the same color as a wash over both. Shadows always take the color of light that is absent in the key, so the dominant color of the light should be absent in the shadows unless the fill is the same color, but that doesn't happen in those scenes. Like in Django, the shadows had a warmth to them when they should've been cooler due to the blue sky filling in where the sun isn't hitting; there was a warmth across the entire tonal range of the scene. Same goes for Inglorious where there is a cool, somewhat cyan, spread throughout the tonal range. In the Blade Runner scene, the white walls/highlights have a desaturated green/yellow color applied, and the shadows/jacket color were closer to cyan, quite obviously done in post because if they used yellow-green light to color the walls, the jacket would also be the same color due to how light bounces around in a room like that. It's the most obvious in Amelie, where a heavily saturated warmth was swathed over everything- you see it in the highlights as well as the shadows, and it surely wasn't done on set. They could've played with white balancing to achieve this effect rather than color grading, but considering the way the colors shift on highlights and shadows in other scenes, it just screams post-processed. Also, our eyes are most sensitive to green. We have twice as many green cones than red or green, but green cones help to see yellow. High-vis jackets tend to be a green-yellow because they stand out more in the daylight.

[@dinoschachten]

You're absolutely right about those (newer) films being graded heavily. I think the message was not to stay away from grading, but rather to not rely on it to create your colour palette from scratch. There are absolutely scenarios where it's easier to shift colours to your desired palette in post than say paint a whole building that is not yours to paint, and you might do things in post that you can't do in camera (such as treating shadows as you mentioned). And if you know to which extent you can alter colours in post, that can absolutely be a smart thing to do. I believe the point he's trying to make is that newcomers may think they can just go and shoot anything and then create the colour palette in post, regardless of the starting point. With that kind of viewer in mind it's a valuable lesson to do as much colour (and lighting) work as you can in camera, and especially think about the colour palette you want to achieve before choosing costumes etc. - I'm quite sure that's obvious to you personally, but I think some may learn the hard way that you can only push hues so far before the luminosity rolloff, undertones and borders between differently coloured areas are affected in unnatural looking ways (which happens often enough on high budget productions, and I myself am certainly guilty of trying).

[@Rwdphotos]

@@dinoschachten Well I was really more making a comment on how his chosen scenes didn't align with the philosophy he was trying to get across. I agree with what he was saying (ala the "get it right in camera so you don't have to fix it in post" philosophy), but every single scene he chose was showcasing the opposite of what he was saying, so I felt like I should say something about it so people won't get confused.

[@Ildskalli]

@@Rwdphotos I think it was quite deliberate - the whole Tarantino showcase was put right when he was talking about two-color grading, and made it obvious as to how much Tarantino relies on two-color contrasting schemes. I found it a great series of counter-examples to 60-30-10 color distribution. I think the subtle message is: "if you don't have Tarantino's budget to pay people to grade stuff, then pick the cheaper route".

[@MaxIronsThird]

I don't think he ever implied those scenes weren't color graded, guess what, nowadays every scene is color graded.

[@esecallum]

THEY LOOK CRAP. soft fuzzy blurry dark grainy muddy. total crap. everyone watch Bleeding Steel with jackie chan on how to do PROPER PHOTOGRAPHY DAY AND NIGHT. AMAZING PRODUCTION

[@sifux]

How can sich a short and simple video be soooo informative!! You earned yourself a subscriber!!!🙌

[@lanycera]

Really appreciate this video as a photographer! I think the colours, light, lenses + modifiers like filters that get used in film are truly a goldmine for the art direction of photography as well. The only thing that would even elevate the video further would be recommendations for books that touch more on the subject ❤

[@Aleczanderm]

I'm a set painter for the movie industry and we often paint the set walls certain colors depending on the actor in the scene. Its all up to the production designer however.

[@surveyor1515]

Wow, really cool. I bet you’re treated with lots of respect by everyone in the movie industry...

[@hounamao7140]

what are the most used color ? I often see green/blueish greens

[@drmatthewhorkey]

This is intense, thoughtfully crafted, and jam-packed with information. Thank you so so much.

[@UteChewb]

Thanks, really appreciated this. I know next to nothing about movie making, but recently I was watching the TV series of 12 Monkeys and noticed that their use of colour was so interesting. In almost every scene there are three colours: blue symbolising the future, yellow symbolising the past, and red standing for both Now and the Army of the 12 Monkeys. It took me a while to see it, but once I did, I thought I must be imagining it, so I looked at some other series and found nothing. Fascinating concept, I'll keep a look out for it in movies now.

[@trnygbl23]

This is like the best video I’ve seen about color in film! Super helpful! Thank you so much!

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Your videos are not only instructional but also inspirational. This is a fantastic video.

[@andreapotzy]

Great video as usual! Yours is one of my favorite channels, thank you for all the science you drop 🤙

[@larrystuder8543]

in all my years, and all of my design classes, nobody ever mentioned this concept. shame on them. It's one of those underlying principles that's almost universal, and can be used on anything.

[@SPIRE_FAN]

Killer analysis! I appreciate how genuine the video is, it's for sure going to help out a lot of film makers in the future.

[@azursmile]

Amazing content about a subject I knew little about until I saw your 2 colour video. Thanks for the great intros..

[@Krwler]

This was a brilliant video. So much to learn from such a simple concept. It really provides a great building block for constructing a scene or movie.

[@brittacurkovic]

Thank you! This is a truly practical and usable colour guide, will be using for my upcoming work!

[@ANISHMEDIAINTL]

The last 1minunte of the video is the best advice anyone has given me as a low budget filmmaker. Thank you so much for this video.👍

[@HunGerMovies]

I don't know, colorful movies just worked very well in the 90's, this whole colorgrading stuff just came in later with the digital cameras... of course the design of the scene, the furnitures etc. made a difference, but new movies really look like there are just a couple of colors while 90's movies - which looked the best in my opinion - were really vivid, rich in colors and awesome the same time, except for some very artistic movies like Seven, but general movies looked cool with more colors too

[@737e7dhs4]

Can you recommend some movies from the 90s list which looked vivid

[@HunGerMovies]

@@737e7dhs4 Basically any romcom, or comedy (Something about Mary), teen horror movies (Scream, I know what you did last summer, etc.), any action movie with Schwarzenegger or Van damme, etc., or the Mask, etc.

[@HunGerMovies]

@@737e7dhs4 Oh, and Scifi of course, Independence day, Jurassic Park, etc.

[@oanshee2462]

In 70s films looked even better than in 90s, though anything is better than blue-orange picture like they make these days

[@HunGerMovies]

@@oanshee2462 I agree with the second part, but in my opinion, late 90's movies were the peak picture quality wise, including color and everything.

[@tylerismyname]

This is such a fascinating concept I don't know how I've never noticed it! Now I can't stop seeing it! Great video!

[@nostaticatall]

I'm a photographer, not a film maker but I found this very interesting and helpful.

[@robertpearson8798]

Interestingly, Kubrick was a still photographer before he became a film maker and applied what he learned in that field to his movies, so your statement is spot on.

[@filkearney]

I really appreciate this breakdown! I don't see any color, so I'm always trying to find ways to simplify my palette so i can trust the process over my eyes! :) have never heard this rule!

[@SEALCOOL13]

ah yes, "The Red Notice", the classic masterpiece, revered by everyone for it's immaculate writing and characters that feel so real you can almost smell them... *sniffs gal gadot's armpits from the screen*

[@AANasseh]

Now this was a super smart way to sun up the whole art direction in a movie! Well done! 👍

[@manibun727]

At the end of the video, you asked if we found it useful, to like the vid. I find all of your videos useful and filled with information. Thank you for imparting knowledge on various topics of cinematography for those who cannot attend film schools

[@arctic_haze]

This is something which will be difficult to unsee after watching this video. Great job!

[@truefilm6991]

Very informative as always! Thanks also for the practical tips so low budget filmmakers can achieve a coherent color scheme in camera. I think that most great films borrow heavily from paintings. As unlikely a movie as it may be, I first spotted an artwork rule being applied in Rambo III. It's basically all yellow beige (the color of the desert). What is the complementary color? Yep: blue. That's the exact color of that fluorescent light stick. It only occurs in a couple of scenes and it's even mentioned in dialog. This is the equivalent of a color splash in a painting and it should be repeated in a smaller splash in another place (in film that would be time).

[@laiqurrehman7195]

It is such a fascinating experience while going through your video. Learning and excitement keep shootin' up at the same moments.

[@meghanadganapule3194]

What a wonderful knowledge of colour palette as a ratio , Hats off to the masters who studied deeply for this industry . No doubt , That is why cinema industry is very powerful and creates impact for years . Waiting for upcoming videos which will be full of knowledge and study .

[@nweditor875]

This is very well thought out video on coloring thanks for the info.

[@jimdigitalvideo]

I didn't even know about the 3-color rule but you certainly proved it with all the examples you gave. What I had heard of (because the teachers told the students and myself this when I did a short film production course many years ago) was to get as many of the people, objects and sound into the picture while filming because it saves a lot of time AND money in post production. You said something similar around 2:30 (to buy a red jacket, don't make a jacket red later). The only things you add in post production are the things that are too hard to put into the original shot, such as special effects.

[@babydemonlab]

Great quality man! Very informative and spot on examples. Gained my sub.

[@veradragilyova3122]

This is video is so beautiful and piercingly useful, and genius, that it made me cry! Colors, too, have foreground, middle ground, and background, just like composition, regardless of where they are placed. And their relationship to each other, where the 30 is half of 60, and 10 is one third of 30, reminds me of the algorithms that pervade all nature! Somehow, this pattern in color distribution, I see as the analog of the Rule of Thirds in composition! It is! :D This is amazing! :D

[@esecallum]

stop this crap blue filiter rubbish.THEY LOOK CRAP. soft fuzzy blurry dark grainy muddy orange/teal total crap. everyone watch Bleeding Steel with jackie chan on how to do PROPER PHOTOGRAPHY DAY AND NIGHT. AMAZING PRODUCTION

[@salvamando1]

Great explanations of color theory! My favorite director’s work to watch SPECIFICALLY for the use of color is anything by Pedro Almodovar, most notably his latest work - they are simply an interior designer’s wet dream - down to the clothes, seemingly random objects - his set designers are masters of color! Watch any of his movies and the dominant color he consistently uses is the color red, which fits with his passionate/desperate/extreme characters that make up his storytelling.

[@Mersilos]

Its not him, its the priduction designer. The director does not choose colors.

[@salvamando1]

@@Mersilos That was obviously implied in my statement…lol…hence “interior designer’s wet dream.” Also, Almodovar is known for being a set control freak and is absolutely involved in color choices, even to the point where he uses his own furniture from his personal collection to make the scene work. So your statement is factually incorrect.

[@mahen9394]

Awesome comparison, great work. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@AvizStudio]

wow !!! such useful information. I never heard about the 60-30-10. It's make so much sense. The last advice about the room = priceless!!! thanks you so much

[@wavedesignproductionmanage4835]

May be you never head because it is a bulshiting manipulation in the meaning of the movie. It general, it is an interior / design thing. It movies they do as many schemes as they want. This crap about the magic 603010 rule is just a collection of examples that fits the concept. Look critically, check with your own experience, be yourself.

[@AvizStudio]

@@wavedesignproductionmanage4835 It's true for every rule

[@Jarvice]

The next step would be to pick the right shades as well! If you want to offset red with blue you need to pick the right shades or it will still look bad.

[@mixonXD]

The world is a better place because of people like you, a very helpful video for this filmmaking student :D

[@adityak656]

Great work brother, thanks for the video ❤️

[@henkkaj73]

Most interesting video I've watched in a long time. Thank you!

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

Never even aware that so much thought goes into this. Thanks for educating me!

[@Avecfort]

Amazing video! Thank you for highlighting this ;)

[@thesaint7380]

I'm a composer/producer and found this very interesting, as it's also applicable on music writing and mixing...thanks a lot !

[@catfdljws]

This is actually also a great inspiration for app design and 'branding' (when you're a small company or single developer and don't have a full-out branding and design team with this kind of experience already). One thing of note is that even 'red' as a highlight can be complimentary or contrasting. There are many shades of red and some work better with some backgrounds and some clash to the point where it ceases to be a highlight and instead becomes a distraction. The web has lots of color palette generators where you can set some base colors and it'll pick out the best highlight shades to use.

[@KatyAdelson]

Whoa! I just learned a bunch of things I didn’t know were a thing in film….😮 I had noticed the coloring vibe that a lot of films had, and how it impacted the mood, but I didn’t realize it was just the 2 or 3 colors - that’s so interesting!

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

As I prepare to begin posting some videos here on KZbin. I've been noticing that some productions feel really low budget. But for the life of me I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was that was going wrong with them. Just earlier today I started to watch something on Prime Video and almost immediately I shut it off. I just felt like it wasn't worth my time to watch. Even though the topic and the actors are of interest to me. This is starting to make a lot more sense to me now that I've watched your presentation. Thank you for posting this. I love it when I can learn something new that I didn't even know I would be interested in exploring.

[@dinoschachten]

Perfect lesson. Do it in camera. Do it uncompromisingly. Indeed so relatively easy to get a high-budget look if you just know how to use your resources. It's not even a problem if you only have one lens, one talent, one set.

[@tokyodave6663]

This is really exciting. Enlightening even. As a still photographer I have learned tons just watching this. Thanks indeed!

[@crisbycris4012]

I loved this video. I love movies and I have noticed that they really pic colors carefully to make scenes so amazing and now I know why and how. Tks.

[@hillcountrycinematics314]

I had no idea. Thanks for educating me on this.

[@Varchesis]

I never knew about this. Thanks for sharing!

[@PRPWR]

Thank you for the introduction into color

[@370kiran]

I'm simply blow away by these simple facts of color. I find this information on why I could not digest my first visit to US felt quite different from what I have seen all my life in movies and tv shows. I knew it was something to do with dresses but this simply cleared my confusion for decade

[@beachbumpower7018]

I appreciate this video, I learned a lot. Thank you!!!

[@FF-kc7fc]

Gal caught my eye, and I clicked for the title. Now I'm subscribed.

[@RobertWF42]

Thank you, very good explanation! Or in the case of Denis Villeneuve's Dune, the 98-1-1 color rule. ;-)

[@007arek]

True filmmakers brake the rules.

[@CGSoulMotion]

actually, Crazy video! Glad i watch it! Thanks for sharing amazing information!!

[@danielterrazas]

Thank you so much, that was really illuminating.

[@ObnoxiouslyFrench]

That was beautifully done, as usual.

[@john10minutesago15]

AS AN ARTIST, THIS TAUGHT ME SO MUCH MORE ABOUT THE COLOR RULE THAN ANY OTHER TUTORIALS IVE SEEN OMG

[@StarWarsBuddy]

Thank you very much for this short but very interesting video

[@CRUMBLOUIE]

Your greatest video. Fantastic work. Kudos to you.

[@MyJeanf]

Thank you for an incredibly informative and interesting video. I really enjoyed it. 👍

[@ukulelebutterfly]

Just like Interior Design. Thanks for this.🦋

[@lordtherapeutics]

Fantastically helpful, thank you!

[@TheSatzy6699]

Excellent content and explanation 👍🏼

[@Jdshald]

I'm about to paint my apartment so this color video theory is a godsend. thank you!

[@MK-lk7nc]

Thanks for this very informative video, I plan to use these color strategies in my game design. Perhaps that would make an informative future video, game design implementation of things usually seen in film. If so, of particular interest to myself would be exterior shots and landscapes with a full day/night spectrum of lighting conditions - how to make that most interesting and scenic, especially from the air since I'm making a bit of a flight simulator. Thanks again, have a nice day.

[@jamesculford6640]

Lovely explanation - thank you

[@danrazART]

probably the greatest video on the use of COLOR DESIGN in the movies or ART!

[@endtimestcg5146]

Thank you so much! I will apply that to my Comics and Cardgames....and Movies!

[@Dj.D25]

I've been paying more attention to the use of color in movies since getting into photography. One reason I enjoyed 007 No Time To Die was it's use of Teal and Orange, which I sometimes like to use in my own photos, especially urban photography. 300 which I just watched, I noticed it had a distinct look in it's color palette and style.

[@b.n.production9036]

Well explained

[@esecallum]

no wonder it looked crap and had zero impact

[@DanielHodotcom]

Wonderful presentation! Thank you

[@themindset3329]

This is great, I'm sure it will help me to improve the use of colour in the future

[@ApacienciaNECESSARIAparaOgoogl]

Love your channel, congrats

[@lowlowseesee]

really dope had to sub and will check out the two color one soon

[@ozzyfromspace]

I'm an aspiring web developer, and find this rule of thumb to be quite informative. Thanks! 🏆

[@gristlevonraben]

thank you, this explains why so many newer movies visually suck. I appreciate this more than you can know. Very much, thank you.

[@thearthurmigliazza]

Very interesting! Makes sense but I never thought about it before. Thanks!

[@ChocolatesAndChai]

This video breaks down colour theory so clearly that I watched it twice!

[@carlosalbertolealrodriguez5529]

Thank you for this video, just great...! 😀

[@uriahocean6968]

A master class in filmmaking...as always.

[@TerenceGamerYT]

thanks brother....this will come in handy while color grading videos!

[@franciscordon9230]

So well explained! Thanks!

[@SnakeCakeExotics]

always thought it was more about the grading, interesting to see sets are set up this way!

[@davidadrien4369]

This is very good content!!! Very informative!!!!

[@kieranmajury9623]

Amazing concise, colour made simple. Thank you for making this

[@readingbetweentheframes]

This was a wonderful and helpful video. Thank you.

[@Vesohag]

Really good video, my dude!

[@sarozkc]

More than useful. Thank you 🙏

[@asishalamsammo5796]

Sir your videos are very much life changing for my work thanks god blass you 🙏

[@Test_Footage]

Great video, I appreciate the work!

[@piusgyagenda]

Wooow this is an amazing knowledge thank you so much

[@JohnValenteart]

Brilliant analysis 🙌

[@Anonymouscommentor99]

I love this. Great work. Inspiring. You just moved the furniture in my brain dude. Thank you!!!❤❤❤🎉

[@King-ox8ck]

You opened my eyes

[@JimRobinson-colors]

Nice job on this one. Three colors is a great way to break it down. I think people understand the Teal and Orange and forget about the highlight or accent colours. A great point in your video is the production and art design as a more budget friendly approach. Great job. On a personal note ( question ) Do you ever get flagged for copyright when using all that movie footage? Or is there a length of footage you can use, that gets past any of that? Especially when using it for educational purposes. Just wondering.

[@LimitlessLins]

Typically it falls under fair use, because he is using it as an example and not bootlegging whole movies and uploading them as is for views. So, he should be fine. Of course, perhaps occasionally someone may try to make claims, but if he able to prove fair use, the claim should be removed.