Movie Bar Codes

Back to University and the Digital Cinematography classes have begun and so does the research.

We were introduced to colour scripts and it was discussed how colour is used within films, very specific colours to show specific emotions and an overall feel to a movie.

This class reminded me of something I had seen before called Movie Bar Codes on tumblr. The "bar codes" consist of all frames of a film compressed to create an image similar to a barcode. By looking at these images you can easily see the overall colours used in either the film or in specific sections of the film.

Bambi (1942)

Aladdin (1992)

Already between these two Disney movies there is a large difference between the overall colours used in the films. Bambi is largely consisting of more natural colours of gentle browns, greens and blues, reflecting the nature of the film itself. Whereas in Aladdin the colours have far more contrast in them, much more vivid and bright blues, reds and purples. Such a large contrast creates a big difference between the overall feel of the movies.

Inception (2010)

Jaws (1975)

Here are two examples of films that clearly have a very specific tone to the entire film, both consisting of mainly dark brown and grey colours and slight blue.

These are all found, and many more at: Movie Bar Code Tumblr