Instagram Vimeo Website

Learn More

Est. Reading Time: 2 Minutes

On Colour Design

MARK (M) I really liked the film's baroque colour palette, it's really striking and vibrant! Please provide a little insight into designing the colour scheme as well as its connection to the film's era and time period.

CHRISTINA (C) The film is set in the 1700s and time lapses into the present. I wanted to make the colors feel like a typical day in Massachusetts during autumn for the beginning. When Maurice became alone I used the same colors but wanted it to feel like spring and be set in the present time. I didn’t want it to change the colors too much because Maurice doesn’t realize how much time had gone by and I didn’t want the audience to feel like they were in a new world in terms of colour.

C So when the story moved to the present, I just added roads, houses and made Maurice’s tombstone area overgrown with more trees and longer grass. I used a limited colour palette to make everything feel consistent. I looked at tons of old photos from Massachusetts, but to be more specific with the time period since photography wasn't invented yet, I looked at old paintings, drawings, architecture and objects from New England in the 1700s-1800s. This helped guide what colours I used. I also looked at clothing from this time period. It was mostly pilgrim clothing and the colours of pilgrim clothing were pretty colourful but also kind of muted with lots of brown, grey, yellow, red, blue and green.

On Process & Discovery

M In making and finishing the film, what did you discover and learn that you might adopt or further explore in future projects?

C I learned so much from making this film. I learned that it’s okay to have moments of rest. Let the viewer’s eyes rest for 30 seconds in one setting is okay. I’ve always struggled with this pacing but forcing myself to do it made the film more enjoyable and allowed the viewers to really soak in the narration, dialogue and mood of each scene. I also enjoy adding cool transitions from one scene to the next but for this film I had to limit myself because it wouldn’t have made sense for the story. I also want to learn more about boarding dialogue. I think I could have had better shots but this was the first time I added dialogue to a film. Each film I make is always a learning experience.

The founder of Hommage, Mark Shaba published this interview on 14.07.2022. Mark is a filmmaker from Victoria, Australia. He respectfully acknowledges the past and present traditional owners of the land on which he creates, promotes and screens art, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation who are the custodians.