it and it is this very feeling that plays an important role in the opening story of the film’s protagonist, ‘Neo’ (Keanu Reeves).“What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You felt it your entire life; like there’s something wrong with the world.You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind…” (Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) revealing the reality of the matrix to Neo). From a colour psychology perspective, the use of green is indicative of sinister, calculating undertones and reflects well the concept of the matrix, it being an artificial reality used to ‘house’ the minds of countless billions of humans while their physical beings are used as a form of power generation for the sentient machines.

In sharp contrast from the greens of the matrix, the warm tones used for Zion are indicative of an altogether more natural setting. Technology remains a prominent feature in this setting, however dwellings and other public areas reflect the desire to keep away from it to a certain degree; a desire assisted by the use of colour with the technological elements falling outside of the warm colour scheme, retaining their cold metallic finish. Psychologically, such colours promote feelings of comfort and warmth. When presented with such colours, the mind makes connections with elements of nature such as the fur of animals, rocks, earth, wood and autumnal leaves. Therefore, whilst Zion and the human race is still reliant upon technology and facing the threat of a machine invasion, this setting conjures up feelings of home, comfort and familiarity.

A particularly notable element of The Matrix trilogy is the clothing throughout. Within the matrix, most characters adopt a dark colour scheme, with many female characters opting for materials such as latex, pvc and rubber and most male characters preferring cloth. It is likely that for the most part colour psychology was not the first consideration for the creators when designing clothes but rather current fashion preferences, with clear fetishistic influences evident on outfits such as the figure-hugging shiny black outfits sported by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Persephone’s (Monica Bellucci) equally shiny, bust-accentuating black and red ensemble in the third installment of the trilogy, The Matrix: Revolutions. There are however certain outfits which demonstrate that a certain degree of colour psychology has been applied. The first appears early in the first film in the form of “the woman in the red dress” (Fiona Johnson). The scene in which she appears is dominated by colours and tones of a low saturation, principally black and greys. As Morpheus is guiding Neo through a crowd, the woman appears, standing out clearly against the dull mass. The character’s purpose is to distract Neo and the bold red colour of her dress performs this function perfectly. Looking at the colour more closely one can interpret it as being a sign of danger. The colour of the material can be described as carnation, a colour which derives its name from the Latin “caro, carnis” or flesh. Applied to the scene in question, one could interpret this as serving to educate Neo as to the dangers of the flesh, or the dangers of being distracted by an attractive woman in the matrix. The words of Fulvio Pellegrino Morato in 1535 are of particular relevance: “Amorous Delights are clothed in Carnation”. When prompted to look again at the woman, Neo turns and is faced with an agent pointing a gun at him. Morpheus then explains to him that agents can take the place of any human being within the matrix.

Other outfits of note are those seen in The Matrix: Reloaded. Three characters in particular are clothed in white or off-white outfits: The Twins (Neil & Adrian Rayment) and The Architect (Helmut Bakaitis). Traditionally, white is used to denote purity, blamelessness and a certain angelic quality. The former characters, in the employ of the less-than-honorable Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), are cast as assassins with the ability to pass through solid structures in pursuit of their prey. The latter, is the creator of the matrix and clearly possesses a desire to deceive humankind for eternity. In applying such a palette to such characters, it is perhaps conceivable that the film’s creators aim to challenge the viewer’s preconceptions in relation to certain characters. Alternatively, viewed as grey rather than white, another line from Morato would seem to fit in well with The Architect’s persona: “Who dresses in grey deceives people”.

A closer look at the closing scenes of the story necessitates a return to the ubiquitous viridity of the matrix. Neo must face his nemesis, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) for the final time; only by this stage of the story, Smith has taken over the matrix and the world is seemingly populated with thousands of copies of Smith. This scene takes place amidst torrential rain and the green tint to the scene is somewhat more pronounced than in many other scenes. Neo has been assigned to this task by the machines themselves as Smith has grown beyond their control and must be stopped. In return for his assistance, an agreement has been reached whereby humans will be freed from the matrix if they so wish upon Neo’s success. It is at this point that one can point out an alternative interpretation of the use of green. The grey-green evident throughout The Matrix can be likened to the primordial soup from which some theorize all life originated. With this in mind, the green of the matrix which imprisons humanity could be viewed as having a similar potential for free life. The final scene of the film begins with The Architect walking across a lush green park to converse with The Oracle (Gloria Foster, The Matrix and The Matrix: Reloaded; Mary Alice, The Matrix: Revolutions.). Though this is still within the matrix, the green filter is missing and the colours in the scene are natural and vibrant. The Architect assures The Oracle that those humans who wish to be freed, will be. Both the control and artificiality perspective and the primordial soup perspective can be applied here. The green has disappeared because the control has lessened and human beings are free to make their own choices and begin to thrive naturally once again.

The matrix takes the use of colour psychology in film to tremendous depths, using subtle variations in palettes to change the mood of scenes, often without the viewer even realizing it in the normal sense. Other science fiction productions however opt for more vivid palettes to convey meanings, contexts and emotions and can often apply colour in equally effective, but more simplistic fashions.

Star Wars is perhaps the most famous science fiction saga of all time. Beginning in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope, the series has developed into a total of six films, with Episodes I – III being created after IV – VI, and has led to a vast number of spin-offs including novels ad-infinitum, a vast number of computer games, toys and games.