The use of color in Turkish cinema

This study focuses on the color phenomenon that brings together the art of cinema and painting. Cinema has established strong ties with the art of painting since its early years as an art, and the use of color by painters has been a guide for filmmakers. While color is a figural and aesthetic element in cinema, it is also a way of meaning making. The study aims to reveal the purpose and function of the colors in the films produced after 2000, when digital technology gained importance in Turkish cinema, through selected films, and to reveal the color palettes used in the films. A qualitative approach was chosen and a descriptive analysis model was used in the study, which also aims to determine whether there is a difference in the use of color between popular and independent films. By analyzing the visual and audio materials and documents, the themes have been determined with research questions. The three functions which are called by Zettle as informational function of color, the compositional function of color, and the expressive function of color are based in this study while determining how colors are designed in cinema works and in which functions they are used. Six films selected from popular and independent films of Turkish cinema through purposeful sampling, 'Color design components' 'Color functions; have examined the concepts of information, composition creation and aesthetic function. As a result of the analyzes made, it has been seen that a lively and cheerful spectacle is created in which beautiful, decorative images are created with multi-colored harmony schemes in which different color essences are used in the color design of popular films. The dominant Yeşilçam tradition in popular Turkish cinema, and the traces of the use of light and color in the miniature art, which is at its origin, continue today. The directors of popular films also use similar visual aesthetics in cinema, as they produce in the TV or advertising industry. In the study, harmonious and incompatible color schemes with limited color cores were used in independent films; It has been seen that the light-shadow arrangement, the color arrangement provided by the use of tonal steps of the colors, is applied. It has been observed that independent filmmakers refrain from using different color essences in the color design of their films, which are defined as art films, and tend to continue the use of visual design and color that ensure festival success. Keywords: Color design, compenents of color design, informational function of color, the compositional function of color, and the expressive function of color, Turkish cinema