Narrative, Entry 1.

The mood or 'narrative' of colour composition relates to the human connotations to certain colours and how they are used by an artist to add subtext to what the audience is witnessing.

for example, a character bathed in blue light is more likely to seem sad or lonely than a character well lit by midday sun, This is because we sometimes associate the colour blue with sadness and lonliness, a solitary figure under soft blue light connects the dots in our minds for us.

Conversely, We have natural responses to colour as well as emotional responses. For example, Bright vivid accents of hue's like red or orange tend to denote danger. toxic/dangerous animals use this colour in the wild, and we are conditioned to feel alarm when we encounter these hues when used correctly. Another Association to red and orange is of course fire, a truly primal fear. A character standing alert in a corridor with red lights flashing on and off overhead obviously denotes danger or a need to defend or escape the situation (the fight or flight response.)

Complementary to these 'alert' responses to colour, human beings also have positive or calming responses to colour, for example, Green is a colour that instinctively signifies safety and calm. From our tree dwelling ancestors, we have inherited a 'calm' response to shades of green.

Artists can use these responses to colour to impart additional contextual information about the emotional state of characters or the nature and 'mood' of a newly introduced environment.

With the principle explained, it's time for some examples.