If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die: The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling

BLUE

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In a few weeks, a warm-hearted woman in a Winnebago will tell Schmidt that he is a sad, sad man.

Blue can be a tranquil pond or a soft blanket of sadness. It is quiet and aloof. Year after year, our color investigations show that in a blue environment, people become passive and introspective. It’s a color to think to, but not to act. Think Hamlet. Director Lasse Hallstrom is a master at creating a sense of longing—of something left unfinished—with a grayed blue. Think of The Cider House Rules or The Shipping News. Both have a pervasive sense of melancholy—what the dictionary calls “a gentle sadness.”

There’s a great ...