How do you choose and apply color schemes and palettes to enhance your video's message and style?

1 What is color theory?

Color theory is the study of how colors interact and affect each other, as well as how they influence human perception and psychology. Color theory can help you create appealing and meaningful color combinations that suit your video's genre, tone, and purpose. For example, warm colors like red, orange, and yellow can create a sense of energy, excitement, or danger, while cool colors like blue, green, and purple can create a sense of calm, serenity, or mystery.

2 How to use color wheels and harmonies?

A color wheel is a circular diagram that shows the relationship between the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. A color harmony is a set of colors that are pleasing to the eye and create a balanced and coherent impression. There are different types of color harmonies, such as complementary, analogous, triadic, and tetradic, that you can use as a guide to choose your color scheme. For example, a complementary harmony uses two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange, to create contrast and interest. An analogous harmony uses three colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel, such as green, yellow-green, and yellow, to create harmony and continuity.

3 How to adjust color settings in your video editing software?

Most video editing software have tools and features that allow you to adjust the color settings of your video clips, such as hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, and temperature. You can use these tools to enhance the color quality, correct the color balance, and create different color effects. For example, you can use hue to change the dominant color of your video, saturation to increase or decrease the intensity of the colors, brightness to make your video lighter or darker, contrast to make the colors more or less distinct, and temperature to make your video warmer or cooler.

4 How to apply color schemes and palettes to your video?

Once you have chosen your color scheme and adjusted your color settings, you can apply them to your video in different ways. You can use color grading to apply a consistent color tone or mood to your entire video or to specific scenes. You can use color correction to fix any color issues or inconsistencies between different shots or sources. You can use color filters or overlays to add a layer of color or texture to your video. You can also use color cues or accents to highlight important elements or draw attention to certain parts of your video.

5 How to test and evaluate your color choices?

The final step of choosing and applying color schemes and palettes is to test and evaluate your color choices. You can do this by watching your video on different devices and screens, such as a computer monitor, a smartphone, a tablet, or a TV, to see how the colors look and feel. You can also ask for feedback from other people, such as your peers, your clients, or your target audience, to see how they respond to your color choices. You can then make any adjustments or improvements based on your observations and feedback.

6 How to learn more about color theory and practice?

If you want to learn more about color theory and practice, there are many resources and courses available online that can help you. You can also experiment with different color tools and apps, such as Adobe Color, Coolors, or Paletton, that can help you generate and explore different color schemes and palettes. You can also study and analyze how other video makers use color in their works, such as films, documentaries, commercials, or music videos, and see what works and what doesn't. The more you learn and practice, the more confident and creative you will become with using color in your video projects.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?