Why is the movie’s color palette orange?
In an interview with Kristopher Tapley of Variety, the production designer for the 2015 movie The Martian revealed that he took visual concepts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Arthur Max has been the production designer for critically acclaimed director Ridley Scott’s last 11 movies. He was also the production designer for David Fincher’s Se7en and Panic Room.
In the interview with Variety, Max shared how he designed interesting sets for Scott’s movies which usually take form in different genres. He talked about how he went from designing The Gladiator to American Gangster; from the small comedy The Counselor to the large-scale Exodus: Gods and Men.
For Ridley Scott’s latest movie The Martian starring Matt Damon, Max said that he took visual cues from NASA and JPL.
“In The Martian the color palette is white and black and silver and gold and orange. Why? Because those are the colors that are functional and practical to do with solar and cosmic radiation shielding, and the materials that are to do with weight and strength and tolerance of extreme temperature.”
Max discussed a lot of questions he had with NASA and JPL and learned why specific colors were needed.
“The orange comes from the fact that the tape that they use is a specific type of tape called Kapton, which is the only tape that is resistant to gamma rays and solar radiation and won’t break down. Most tapes you buy in Home Depot will just break down in space. It’s like this amber orange, transparent tape. We used it on everything. And gaffer’s tape, which is silver or black or white. They use lots of it on the space station because it’s strong and the adhesive resists breakdown. And it’s integral to the storytelling.” Max said.
Arthur Max has been awarded for his production design in the 2000 movie The Gladiator and has been nominated for his production design works on the crime movie American Gangster, the action adventure Robin Hood, the war film Black Hawn Down, and the sci-fi flicks Prometheus and the recent The Martian.
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