“Twilight,” a fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, narrates the love story between a vampire (Edward Cullen) and a human (Bella Swan). According to the movie, these two loved each other but could not be together. Bella moved to a small town called Forks and did not expect much from a boring place. She then met Edward, who came from a family of charming vampires, and their love story began. Bella finds herself in a dilemma between leaving her past and taking a dangerous life path. Various elements in “Twilight,” such as color, have shown the difficulties of a forbidden love story and what people are willing to sacrifice for their loved ones. This essay analyzes the choice of color in the movie, explaining why the directors chose specific tints for the scenes.
Although the four series of “The Twilight Saga” had different directors that used different styles to display the movies, there is a significant difference between the color selection of the first movie and the following three. The first series has a beautiful and well-orchestrated visual journey. The color tone of “Twilight” is a consistent blue tint throughout the film, without cutting corners and lapses. Werewolves and vampires had become a significant element of creativity in pop culture at the time. Stephanie Meyer introduced a new type of these monsters in her novel “Twilight” to show the problematic romance between a human and a vampire, who encountered various challenges throughout the story, including wolf packs and other vampire covens.
The movie’s constant blue and grey color tones fit with the Forks’ dull atmosphere and enhance the pale complexions of vampires compared to werewolves. The color combination illuminates this idea and the nature of vampires as portrayed in the film. The tints have been used literally and figuratively to display the coldness of vampires. In other scenes, armor colors, such as brown and orange, have been used to indicate werewolves. Since “Twilight” focuses more on the relationship between Bella and a vampire, the blue and grey tint is appropriate. However, “New Moon” is about Bella and Jacob, a werewolf, thus the brown and orange color combination. According to the series, the body temperature of werewolves is higher than that of regular humans, making the reddish color selection that represents them perfect. In some scenes, there is an orange truck in the background. Although the vehicle takes over large screen parts, its color is washed and does not divert the viewer’s attention from Bella. The presence of the orange truck might signify the coming of werewolves into Bella’s life with her best friend, Jacob.
Most of the scenes in “Twilight” were shot outside, making them very bright even though they are in passive blue and grey tints (desaturated turquoise), and the weather is mostly cloudy. The choice of color makes the film more charming, unique, and mysterious. The foggy environment may symbolically show the difficulties or challenges faced by Bella and Edward’s romance. The action parts of the film provide the audience with a thriller and suspense feeling as they have low-key lighting. For example, Bella’s kidnapping act took place in an old dance studio with big windows and mirrors. There was darkness, and the only lighting came from the narrow rectangular windows, making the scene dramatic. In addition, the low-key lighting might represent something terrible is about to happen; in this case, Bella was abducted. On the contrary, high-key lighting symbolizes happy and fulfilling events. For instance, Catherine Hardwicke used high-key lighting in the scene where Edward and Bella are lying on the grass. Edward’s skin was unusually shining, and the weather was sunny, which is not the case in most parts of the film. The movement of the camera is also strategic with the light as it zooms their faces in and out, allowing more light from the top. The filmmakers manipulated the lighting to show a romantic and peaceful episode.
The desaturated turquoise tint can also be attributed to the filmmaking style of Catherine Hardwicke. The director used a similar color selection in “Thirteen,” a film shot in 2003. The subsequent series after “Twilight” was directed by Chris Weitz, who used warmer brown and orange colors. Apart from shifting the movie’s primary focus from vampires to werewolves, the director had employed brighter tones in other films, such as “A Better Life” and American Pie.”
To conclude, “Twilight” was the first movie in the “Twilight Saga” series, and it had a strong tint of blue and grey colors to symbolize the coldness of vampires. In addition, the desaturated turquoise signifies the dullness of Forks town and the difficulties of Bella and Edward’s relationship. The film’s more dramatic scenes tended to look colder and blueish to make them more thrilling and create suspense for the viewer. The color combination of the series was consistent with the script and the novel, elevating the audience’s experience. Additionally, this analysis shows that the director paid attention to details when making the film by choosing suitable colors that fit the characters and personalities in the movie.