Cool Stuff: Lou Romano's Color Script For Pixar's Up

For every Pixar movie, a color script is created, which is essentially an at a glance look at the color keys and tones for the entire film. A color script gives you a good look at how the color arcs in a film relate to the story. Lou Romano created the color script for Pete Docter's Up, which you can see after the jump. As a color script is an overview of the entire movie, be warned that it not only contains spoilers, but is a giant spoiler.

Romano writes on his blog:

"This was my last assignment on UP. I tried providing more lighting information than the abstract scripts, which are more for tone. Other artists also contributed greatly to the lighting design after I left the show, and the Lighting Team led by Jean-Claude Kalache did a superb job."

Click on the image above to enlarge.  You will notice that the beginning of the film is heavily saturated. When Ellie enters Carl's life, she brings much needed color. When Ellie dies, Carl's life again becomes more mundane and colorless. But the color returns, as with the memory of Ellie and her sense of Adventure, when Carl begins his journey with Russell.  Each new character brings a new level of color and brightness. Also, notice how the scenes of adventure are bright, and the scenes of danger get dark.

You can see more art on Romano's website or in the highly recommended The Art of Up book (available for around $26 on Amazon).