Thank you for the interesting reading (again), @missvictrix. I was deeply impressed when I saw the interview with Kim Sun Ah and Park Hee Bon for Secret Boutique. They discussed how they chose their outfits (incl. color) depending on their characters and also who their acting partners are in a particular scene. Always appreciate that much attention to details. Btw, the color tone and setting for Chairwoman's evil witch chamber in Secret Boutique always gives me a chuckle. 🤭

I’m a total color palate watcher. Cinematography and the color of a show really makes a show watchable for me. Thanks for writing this! I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed Tube into Love, the movie that just came out with Kim Go Eun partly because of the cinematic color palate. It was just so dreamlike. Kind of retro too.

I really like those kind of details in Kdrama.

In EY, it's very well used between the Stage and the Shadow, that is surprisly more warm :p

I won't spoil it for you, but Extraordinary You actually uses two separate palettes - which one is determined by the circumstances at that moment. I won't say why, but it's a really clever way that the color palette helps tell the story!

Honestly, props to set designers (Pretty sure they're in charge of palette design). There's so much subtle thought put into it that not many people realize. You can analyze certain scenes for days just by analyzing the set design and the character's costumes!

Also, I can't be the only one that appreciated that Miss V used the word Palette and used to IU dramas as an example. Probably just a coincidence but I do love IU.

Thankyou for the great post! I have always been thinking the same thing about the shooting set (esp. houses). as an archtecture major I LOVE watching dramas with carefully designed houses hihi. Some of my favs were the iconic house in Full House; Chaekyung and Shin’s palace in Goong (along with their teddy bear collections!); and ALL the sets in Chicago Typewriter (I got super obsessed with YooAhIn’s house - its lighting was perfect- I surfed the net to find the drama set location, but it seems it was temporary set, not an actual house)

Two that come to mind where I remember really noticing the color palette are Cheese in the Trap and Because This is My First Life.
In Tale of Nokdu the colors really pop.

Looking ahead I think, hope, that the drama I'll Go To You When The Weather is Nice will could be perfect for a post like this.

What an interesting observation. I am new to korean dramas and movies but it was the color and tone of these that really set the mood of the viewer. Color and tone permeate some of the movies that I like so much and hey, come to think of it, even those that I don't! My Ajhussi - grim, dark. It's Ok That's Love - light, dreamy. Burning - heavy, just heavy. But I dropped the highly touted Hotel del Luna, despite its gorgeous and ricb production design. Other things that are so apparent in Korean dramas are metaphors and symbols which are freely but most effectively utilized. Now I favor watching Korean over American movies.

Thanks for the interesting read! I'm not familiar with the technical terms, but I have noticed the importance of color and lighting:

1. I tend to prefer dramas with vibrant cinematography and natural, earthy colors. This is often found in sageuks. I almost think I should finish THE CROWNED CLOWN because it was so gorgeous, but the story didn't capture my interest to the end.

2. Washed out colors make me feel tired and drained, but if the story is interesting I'll keep watching. For example, in MISAENG the grey palette was appropriate for an office drama. In contrast, I've dropped most rom-coms this year because, among other things, they looked pale and lifeless, with characters who just strut and fret their hour on the stage.

3. I am not into dark gritty colors, which helps to keep me away from crime thrillers. I did love the retro feel of the palette in LIFE ON MARS but I couldn't stomach the serial killer angle *sob*

P.S.: ARTHDAL had horrible lighting and relentlessly dark colors. The director and crew should read this essay.

As soon I read the title, I immediately thought of the final scene of Moonlight Drawn by Clouds; the soft, fluffy, warm colour palate they created. Pink, soft purple, light blue. The flowers of the field matched the outfits of the main leads. It's the one image I can't forget from that drama.

Oooh absolutely the palette is a must!
I pay a lot of attention to the drama palette either in promos or ongoing recaps in order to check them out.

I can think of a LOT of dramas where it's so vivid to the eyes how carefully the set, costumes, makeup, ambience, picture quality & angle is planned to match the story & its progression throughout. If done right, it sits very well with viewers & they can simply remember a fav scene of theirs from "where that character was standing/sitting at so & so place and were holding something/ there was a nice eye catchy object nearby..." etc

Oh wow, someone else does the same I do!!!!!!!!
Thank you, @missvictrix, for such sadden interesting article.
And yes, you are right.
When I started watching My Ajusshi it was already on ep 4 or 5 because I scrolled the recaps only to watch the palette and because it was so dark, I didn't want to go there. Nevertheless, I captured a few wonderful comments with little spoilers and the beanie's reactions sold it for me.

A more recent drama I want to mention is miss Lee. True, we don't have the recaps, but from the first episode I paid attention to the palette and it is kind of gray and wash out. The reason may be the plot in itself, I won't spoil it either. But I am now on ep 15 and the palette hasn't changed... you get used to it as well. So far, I won't tell if it's worth watching, but the tone of the drama is totally set through this palette and it's amazing how it works with other elements, in order to bring you a unique story.

That'a a very interesting read, @missvictrix. While I unconsciously responded to color palette more than I realized (that would explain my tendency to watch several dramas with similar feels in one cycle), the wonders of sets and costumes didn't really compute in my brain unless it's something very special. Like IU's extravagant clothing in Hotel del Luna. Or my favorite set ever: the Ye brother's apartment in Life. That disabled friendly house instantly teleported me back to my facility layout course back in college.

Thank you for such an interesting topic to discuss.

I haven't really noticed about a show's color palette until very recently. I used to think that if a show is good, that's enough for me to watch. However, until very recently I just noticed that color palette does make me want to watch a particular show or drop one. Me, personally, I love shows that use soft, pastel and dreamy-like palette like Weightlifting Kim Bok Joo (though I wasn't really into the show like many other beanies did, I think their sweet, dreamy color palette did stand out.), Romance is a New Bonus Book, My First First Love and the on-going show When Camellia Blooms. The palettes used in those shows are just right for me, and I think that was one of the most important factors for me not to drop the shows.

This is such an interesting theme! Just got inspired to do a search, and look what I've found! It's not kdrama-related, but I find it really cool: https://www.instagram.com/colorpalette.cinema/?hl=es
Maybe someone should take up the idea and apply it to Kdramas

I've noticed colour palettes years ago but it's only recently that it's actually a deciding factor for me: sometimes the colours are so pretty that it makes the set up and drama unwatchable for me.

Here's an example: what's wrong with secretary kim: the actors (especially the female lead) , the decor, the cars, the big house, the secretary's shabby (but not really shabby) rooftop apartment etc... were all so pretty and very pastel-y that it actually ruined the drama. It all felt so unnatural for me amd so unrealistic.

I'm sure that there are some offices out there that are very pretty but in that drama the company looks like a very important, global very serious type that the colours didn't fit that image.

Not sure if I made myself clear enough lol

Search WWW. I even saw analysis of Pantone Color in key scenes posted somewhere....

It seems like dramas have been killing it with awesome color palettes for the dramas these past 5 years.

I've always been someone who's sensitive to color palette and production design + wardrobe/makeup in general. Since I was a creative writing student, I got to learn about cinematography, mood/tone, mise en scene, color palettes and such, but I never had an opportunity to put all the theories into use (because all I did during uni was... well, writing) until I was involved in a few productions this year.

Production designers spend a lot of time to create every single detail we see on screen, even the ones we (sadly) fail to recognize. Everything that we seen on screen does help us to understand the situation, the whole story, and most importantly, the characters. It's a very hard work; you have to match the director's vision (remember how busy Son Beomsu in Be Melodramatic is before the production of Jinjoo's drama starts) but at the same time have your own understanding/vision too so you can deliver a sincere, detailed outcome. I hope after this we can appreciate this aspect more.

Thank you for the interesting piece!

Very informative and interesting post. I find that I too am drawn by the palette, tone & hues and how it all affects the mood of a drama that I'm watching. I believe I initially noticed these with Signal, with how each episodes went from past to present, and then in Circle, when these told the story through two timelines.

Time is such an underrated drama but it has a gorgeous gorgeous palette, the cinematography in most of the scenes is breathtaking!