What is the Teal and Orange Look?

The Teal and Orange look is a popular colour science trend used in video and images. It has been a conventional trend in Hollywood movies and TV for at least a decade now and is still very much in vogue. It is often attributed to the cinematic look you see in Blockbuster movies.

But why is the Teal and Orange look such a popular colour schema to use in film? The main reason is that teal and orange are two complementary and contrasting colours. But what in particular makes these two colours such complimentary, as indeed there are other complementary colours? Well, teal is used in the shadows (the darker part of an image), while orange is used in the highlights (the brighter part of an image). Orange is a flattering colour for skin, as skin colours exist on the orange spectrum. So when the highlights are orange, it compliments and draws one's eyes to the subject's skin. It helps contrast the subject from the background. Thus, it is flattering for the talent, as it helps draw attention to the person speaking or acting. In short, it creates a flattering depth to the image focusing on the subject.

So next time you’re watching a popular Blockbuster film, see if you can spot this trend. For instance, I recently watched the TV series Westworld. In the HBO show, the Teal and Orange look is often used:

After you understand this popular look, it’s hard not to see Teal and Orange.

The Teal and Orange look can also be referred to the 'California look’. It’s no coincidence, as Hollywood is the leader in terms of defining this iconic look.

Overused Trend?

Some critics in the film industry will say that the Orange and Teal look is overused. This may be the case, but certainly, if you want to make your video more cinematic, you can't go wrong with this look popular colour scheme. YouTube creators I follow, also highlight this point.

Future Blog Post I’ll Show You

In a future blog post, I'll show you how I colour grade, to get the Teal and Orange look. This can be accomplished by either pulling the highlights to orange and dropping the shadows to teal or you can also add a LUT using the Orange and Teal look. Stay tuned, and I’ll show you how to do this in a future video!

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