To visualise the emotional tone and look of my short film, I created a moodboard to help visualise the film’s aesthetic. The story moves between the real and the artificial, so my colours, settings, and lighting choices are designed to reflect that duality.


Colour Palette

The film’s colour palette will shift between two main tones: warm, emotional hues for the past and cooler, digital tones for the present.

  • Warm tones (orange, peach, pink): Used in flashbacks and emotional moments. These colours represent comfort, connection, and love. The time when the girl feels happiest with the boy (the hologram).
  • Cool tones (blue, grey, silver): Used in the present timeline, after the hologram is gone. These colours create a sense of emptiness, loss, and artificiality.
  • Hints of white and holographic light effects: To subtly represent the digital nature of the relationship, without giving away the twist too early.



(Source: my moodboard on Pinterest)




Settings

The locations will play a major role in showing the contrast between memory and reality.

  1. The Apartment:

  • A simple space with warm sunlight.
  • In the present, the same space appears darker and emptier, with cold artificial light replacing natural warmth.

  • Outdoor Sequences (Memories):

  • Small parks, quiet streets, or rooftops with golden-hour lighting.

  • The shots will feel cinematic and dreamlike, symbolising that these memories might not be real.


(Source: my moodboard on Pinterest)




Lighting Style

  • Warm, natural lighting for past scenes: soft sunlight, fairy lights, and gentle shadows to symbolise love and comfort.
  • Cold, artificial lighting for present scenes: LED glow, computer screens, and muted daylight to symbolise loneliness and loss.
  • Flickering holographic lighting during the reveal: small distortions or colour glitches to visually express the end of the hologram.



 (Source: my moodboard on Pinterest)

Creating this moodboard helped me visualise how emotion and technology can blend visually. The contrast between warm and cold tones represents the story’s core message that love, even if digital, can feel real.

This moodboard will guide my cinematography choices in the upcoming stages of production, especially during camera testing and lighting setup experiments.