Pathway: Necessity of Color Pallets within Orlando by Ali Schutz

Using different color pallets within costumes and set designs help to portray the different epochs the film takes the watcher through. Through these different examples, one sees gold, reds, and oranges within the Elizabethan period and then later on towards the end of the film, one can view only blues and greens as Orlando enters into the Victorian period. The use of different colors helps guide the watcher throughout the vast amount of time traveled in Orlando.

1 x colour slide in transparent plastic hanging sheet, Digital, Film Stills - Scene 4 - 's Father (John Bott), Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) and 's Mother (Elaine Banham) in the film

Elizabethan period example, where the costumes and set contain only reds, oranges, and golds.

1 x colour slide in transparent plastic hanging sheet, Digital, Film Stills - Scene 4 - Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) in the film

Queen Elizabeth, dressed in a costume full of golds. Notice the lack of blues and greens, which later emphasize the next epoch.

Black and white A4 computer printed with handwritten annotations, bound into book, Paper,Orlando Sally Potter’s Shooting Script page 4 front

The flowers, which cover the entire table, are noted to be red, orange and yellow. While these colors are common for flowers, it is not a coincidence that they all fit within the Elizabethan epoch color pallet.

Black and white, typewritten, Paper, Earliest screenplay draft, typewritten- undated

Even in this description, Potter makes an important costume decision to have Queen Elizabeth wear a red wig. This decision ties in closely with the color pallet.

long shot of Queen Elizabeth at head of banquet table in Great Hall.

It becomes hard to notice anything other than the gold color hues in this clip. The connotation to royalty is strongly felt though the costume design and set colors.

Orlando running through maze, Great House in background

In this clip, we can watch as the colors change hues to be mostly greens and blues and Orlando skips forward 100 years into the Victorian period. The drastic color change from the red hues help to signify the changing of time.

Black and white A4 computer printed with handwritten annotations, bound into book, Paper, Orlando Sally Potter’s Shooting Script page 77 front

This set description encapsulates the change of the period. The purple and yellow hues, which seem to be on the same spectrum of blues and greens, give a more natural and open feel to the Victorian period.