Color Theory

1. The story in my animation is Santa Claus finding an elf who escaped from his miserable life as a slave in the toy workshop. After kicking out the window, Santa jumps through and chases the elf, throwing an object at him with his psychic powers before kicking him to the wall. After that, Santa uses his powers to lift the elf Darth Vader style, keeping him in a levitating chokehold before dropping him. After all, Santa knows when his elves run. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake.

2. I want the audience to be relaxed at first as the elf writes a letter, then startled as Santa breaks into the house. I'd like them to grip the edges of their seats as Santa launches his attacks, then brought to horror as the elf struggles. I can start by using an analogous color scheme with blues and greens in order to establish a sense of peace over the whole scene as the elf writes. However, when Santa arrives, this color scheme is disrupted by his red clothes, so the scene would be more split complementary. I could possibly shift the lighting from a blue hue to a red hue (or cool to warm) in order to signal danger and heighten the tension. And when the scene is at its end, I'd like to use a very red-hued lighting to make the scene look ominous and almost monochromatic.

3. In this animation, Santa is intended to be the villain and a source of horror. Therefore, I have him clothed in a more saturated red in order to draw the audiences' eyes to him. Red also symbolizes danger, which Santa is a harbinger of. The colors of his clothes contrast the elf and the rest of the setting, which are cooler and have a lower value. The elf, for example, is a low-value green. This is to show how he is the opposite of Santa, by establishing a complimentary color scheme. Unlike Santa's high value and saturation red, the elf has a much more muted color scheme, showing that he is more passive and less powerful.

4. The setting in my animation is the elf''s house. I want this to be a very calming setting in contrast to the action that occurs, so the audience focuses on the conflict. By picking a color scheme that utilizes lower value blues and greens, it will feel soothing to the audience-- and since it is nighttime, I don't want to use anything too bright. However, I also want Santa to throw an object (probably a book) at the elf. I can use a more highly saturated green in order to signify to the audience that the book will be important later.