Color
Motivation
As we get closer and closer to final lighting, we need to communicate, share and unify our color assumptions to get an consistent direction to the color across shots and scenes of the film Color choices will vary by act, so lets go into it on that level.
Act I
We start on a station that is slightly elevated above the 'real'. Not so far gone to be completely surreal, this station has elements of strange, both in color and physical representation. For instance, it is wide open to the outside, but nobody other than gilgamesh enters it, and having done so, it effectively shuts out the outside for the rest of the film. It is lit, and traversed by trains, however, no train ever stops in it, and it has an air of being unused, boarded up. This station represents a retreat of gilgamesh from the world to her own solipsism and can be seen as a reflection of her own mind. colors are cool, somber, reflecting her mood and her memory, with a preponderance of aqua tones and hints of water in the lighting. Loads of dramatic lighting, atmospheric effects are called for:
However, our color should be more aqua and more variable - in shots a1s01,03,08,12,13,16 light from the outside should be light blue, light inside the sation is aqua, not quite as blue as mobius and bladerunner, but not green like the brasil shot. However the station light should vary from top to bottom; at the top of the sation we need to do fake causics that have a green tint (hint both at water/memory, unrealism of the location, and at trees in a forest)
gradient painted over current render
green at top is actually caustics...
more caustics, sorry for the crappy color change in gimp..
Act II
There's a lot going on in Act II with sometimes competing but sometimes complementary notes: Gore, Reddish Bold Propaganda images, timelapse blurs... at the same time, we need gilga (once healed) to stand out a bit from this, and be 'an observer' She'll stand out from any other moving thing by virtue of not being massivly blurred, and we can allow her skin-tone to show a bit more as any other people will be blurs. We've also got some distinct phases within act II: station, prison, ruin with brief moment of war/ destruction between them. I'm thinking the progression here should be from mixed color with lots of reds, yellows, etc. to yellowish to yellowish + desaturation. Where possible we should be able to use some atmospheric perspective to split gilga from her surrounds.
Some ideas from stalker and red desert:
Inside the traincar is a bit warm, maybe more orange than this...
some shots here have the blackandwhite + red look
saturated character against desaturated bg, but yellow tint
Act III
Ok, here Gilgamesh is a person among the persons. The station is a real place, trains stop, people get off. While our problem with crowds means much DOF in this scene, colors should be: a- naturalistic b- faintly blue tinged resembling the blue outside light in act_1
Specific Items
Interior of train, paper resemble the end of act II as being yellowish/orangish/warm