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Design Lover Reveals Striking Color Palettes of Beloved TV Shows, Films, and Music Videos

By Sara Barnes on August 28, 2017

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The importance of color can’t be overstated. In art, design, and film, it plays a vital role in fostering the mood of a composition or scene. Instagrammer Palette Maniac has a “love for colors” that defines the entirety of their account. Using screencaps from film, television shows, and music videos, they extract the prevailing color palettes and display them underneath the image. Sometimes, the result highlights the dramatic array of colors that a director employs, while in other instances, the scene is characterized by its distinct lack of chromatic range.

The Palette Maniac feed features a variety of media, so you’re not going to be familiar with every single color palette source. But scrolling through, you can at least infer the emotion of that particular scene. It yet again proves how color, as much as dialogue or music, can affect how we perceive something. A set of hues can also act as a signature—Wes Anderson is a great example. His cotton-candy and desaturated colors are an instantly recognizable facet of his work.

Palette Maniac acknowledges that “the idea is not original,” and follows in the footsteps of projects like Movies in Color. This doesn’t, however, diminish this homage to hues and those who masterfully employ it their work.