Color Theory in my Animation

I want to portray my character, Link, as a lively, innocent boy who is roaming the playful setting of Skyloft. As he is roaming around, he is alerted by a sound , and this causes him to feel confused. Then, Link senses the possible urgency of the matter and calls his Loftwing - his majestic bird - and prepares to fly off the island. Through this story, I want the audience to feel what Link feels. At the beginning, the audience should feel at ease and even happy. Then, as Link becomes alert, the audience likewise feels confused. The audience should then feel suspense as they assume that something concerning might have occurred.

Through this story, I want to first introduce Link's character. Link is to an extent innocent, yet I want to reinforce his strength and reliability. He is the one Skyloft is increasingly relying on for their safety, so I want to not only portray his immaturity but also his importance and his authority. As a result, I will implement bright colors into his appearance. I will keep his green clothing and yellow hair saturated, and I will ensure that the environment is less saturated than he is to reinforce his importance. In addition, I will use playful colors such as yellows and greens in the scene to reinforce Link's immaturity and childishness. Then, I will use lighting to decrease the value of the scene and thus signal that with less playful colors, Link might be assuming a more mature role.

In terms of setting, I want to emphasize how the setting switches from a peaceful mood to a threatening and uncertain mood. At the same time, I want to contrast the setting with Link's importance by drawing more emphasis to Link as oppose to the setting. I will do this by starting the scene with an analogous color scheme. This will create a peaceful and comfortable mood and reinforce how the setting is natural. I will use yellows and greens across the background and foreground, ensuring that Link remains more saturated than the background. Then, as the mood begins to change, I will adjust the lighting to create a split complementary color scheme wherein the main yellow color is seen through Link and the remaining blues and violets are desaturated and repeated throughout the remainder of the setting. This color scheme draws the audience's attention to Link. Even though the background colors will be desaturated, sad colors like blue, Link's bright yellow will signal that although something concerning may be happening, Link brings hope and leads Skyloft to the solution of the problem.