I have just been working on the colour palette for ‘Gone Fishing’ with Emily Johnson, the production designer. We both felt that we wanted to somehow mirror the two worlds of the ‘fishing flashback’ with young Bill, and the world of Old Bill, the old man whose story it is, through careful use of colours. That meant blues and greens, but also browns, that were muted and yet still warm. Crikey. That’s confusing.

Then we stumbled on a set of Brooke Bond cards that were given away free with tea bags when I was a kid. They were a set I bought of eBay last week to use as props. They featured British fish. We took a look and immediately realised we had our colour palette for the film, all contained in these cards. They are no work of art, but their colours felt right, and consistent with our ideas.

I am a great believer in figuring out and sticking to a colour palette through the shoot, and I believe the audience senses this, perhaps sub consciously… and that means that is used creatively, this is yet another tool you can use to better tell your story.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
mail@livingspirit.com