Color Blocking on Videos – Highlighting the Beauty of a Subject

Color blocking, as many fashion enthusiasts already know, is a method of wearing an outfit with various solid colors. This outfit often revolves around two or more color palettes. It is hard to miss this kind of fashion as it features bright and bold shades. The result is almost always a chic look. Patterns and prints are not often used when color blocking since this method tend to veer away the viewers’ blocked vision.

Color blocking was quite popular during the 60s. This is not an easy trend that just about anyone can pull off whether on the runway or on videos.

The Video Color Blocking

Have you ever noticed one of those TV commercials, music videos or special effects shots that feature a monochrome background while the subject is the only one in color?

Or do you remember the movie Pleasantville? In the film, the featured artworks were often highlighted through color blocking. Massacio’s Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, an early Renaissance artwork was brought to light on this film.

Color blocking is now a popular effect that can now be done with the function called digital mixer chroma. For purposes of instruction, the equipment that will serve as an example is the Panasonic MX-50. You can also follow these same instructions with a Videonics MX-1, Panasonic MX-20, Sony FXE-100 and Videonics MX-PRO.

• Assign the single video source to the digital mixer’s busses. Press the identical select buttons on the A and B busses. On MX-1, go to Setup mode then assign the one video source to the Current and Next inputs.

• Alter the key source (Next input on your MX-1 and B Buss on FXE-100 or MX-50) from color into black and white. Do this by going to the digital effects part then going into monochrome or mono. The background source or the A buss/Current input should stay in color. Place the T-bar to the B buss position then turn on your Chroma key function.

• Next, specify the color that you would like to stand out on the monochrome background. Using your FXE-100 or the MX-50, adjust the hue according to your desired color. Using MX-1, use the Preview screen cursor to choose the color for your foreground.

• It may be important to fine-tune the effect by creating some adjustments on the slice or clip. The result is the shade plus a tinge of green, red, blue, yellow, etc. which you selected to appear on its colorful state while the rest will be black and white.

The next time you feel that your video appears bare, then make good use of color blocking. This does not just work well in fashion, its power can be carried over to the video that you are trying to produce. Orange is known to stimulate learning so you can use it to make educational videos more exciting. The psychology of color says a lot about the impact of color in human emotions so use it to your advantage.