Emotional Palette—Exploring Yellow and Blue in 'Heartstopper' S1

Spoilers

As the second season of “Heartstopper” season two unfolds on screen, it's a perfect moment to delve into the artful interplay of colors that defined the show's first season. The vivid use of yellow and blue holds a captivating narrative, echoing emotions of bravery and repression. Through the lens of the second season, let's explore how these colors have woven intricate meanings, not just in isolation but also as symbols of characters' involvement. Join me in unraveling the multifaceted aesthetics that lie beneath the surface of each example we've discussed, where colors go beyond a single thread and offer a realm of varied interpretations, enriching our aesthetic experience.

In this analysis, I delve into the metaphorical significance of colors, particularly yellow and blue, in shaping the relationship between Charlie and Nick. How do colors silently shape their dynamic, reflecting their inner thoughts? And how does the dynamic interplay of colors drive the evolution of their relationship and personal growth?

Focusing purely on colors, I will explore key scenes and how the director masterfully employs visual cues to amplify the metaphoric power of colors.

Colors of “You” & “I”—Charlie and Nick

Let's start with a pivotal scene - the intense conflict between Charlie and Nick at the end of Episode 01. This scene is crucial as it sets the "first impression" of their relationship for the viewers. How do you create an immediate connection between two characters? The director employs the pairing of contrasting yellow and blue to evoke a sense of cohesion.

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Associating yellow with Charlie and blue with Nick is the first technique used to represent their colors. This takes advantage of our brain's innate color pairing perception, creating a simple yet subconscious association.

Building on this color representation, we can analyze color intrusion, or how colors intervene in the context of "Nick in blue" and "Charlie in yellow."

For instance, in the image above, Charlie's blue tie and backpack straps, as well as the intrusive rectangular yellow in Nick's background, represent a form of interplay between the two characters.

Following the confrontation in Ep 01, Charlie's symbolic yellow infuses his journey home, amid outdoor scenes drenched in yellow sunset hues. However, blue subtly interjects - in the sky, cars, and shadows on the road, signifying "the intrusion of blue."

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On the other hand, as representative of Nick, blue permeates his journey home within the car, creating an enclosed atmosphere of deep blue. Despite this, his mother wears a yellow outfit and consistently inquires about his recent days, symbolizing an intrusion into Nick's emotional state by an external force.

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This interplay of colors continues throughout the series: For instance, in the snowball fight scene in Ep 02, Charlie dons Nick's blue hoodie, underscoring the idea of color interplay and deepening their connection.

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In the same scene, we see Nick's attire - a yellow jacket, a direct and strong color intervention signifying Charlie's influence.

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Paying homage to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

Let's delve deeper into the layers of color interaction between the two characters. When Charlie puts on Nick's blue hoodie closer to his body, it signifies an awkward, unrequited love scenario. He's in a middle ground of revealing his feelings to Nick while not yet having the secure sense of reciprocation, hence the need for his own jacket to shield those emotions.

On the other hand, when Nick wears yellow on the outside, it carries a more potent metaphor. Charlie, symbolized by yellow, becomes the guardian—waiting, protecting, and supporting Nick as he explores his own emotions. Nick's internal blue clothing represents his still-unaware moments of special affection towards Charlie.

Thus, let's return to the warmth behind this scene. In reality, the director has used colors to create a state of considerable uncertainty. Despite the colors intermingling, they are far from truly touching the depths of their hearts.

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Recalling Nick's donning of the iconic Adidas jacket in Ep 08 after coming out, he has embraced yellow as a personal and unique element, integrated into his identity. Under the deep blue sky, he bravely confesses his feelings to Charlie.

However, a question arises: Why didn't Charlie wear a snug blue T-shirt as a complement at that moment? This leads us to the notion that yellow and blue extend beyond merely representing Nick and Charlie.

Colors of Heart—Comfort and Melancholy

These two colors symbolize the characters Charlie and Nick, although their inherent meanings aren't overly emphasized. Blue, often associated with calmness and introspection, aligns well with Nick's character, while yellow's gentle and artistic qualities, contrasted with blue, reflect a protected and cherished emotional experience suited for Charlie.

However, the film's director masterfully utilizes the inherent emotional connotations of yellow and blue. Yellow represents feelings of security and courage, whereas blue embodies melancholy and suppression, recurring throughout the narrative.

It's important to note that the sense of safety derived from courage and the melancholy resulting from suppression constitute a progression from action to emotion.

Let's begin by examining the emotional spectrum of comfort and melancholy. Looking at Nick and Charlie's respective rooms, the color division is intriguing: both protagonists' rooms can be categorized as "yellow zones" and "blue zones."

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This division allows the director to subtly indicate the characters' internal struggles through their physical surroundings.

For instance, at the beginning of Ep 08, Charlie is plunged into repression due to the conflict between Nick and his former football gang. In this scene, a beam of yellow light slices the frame, setting a boundary. Meanwhile, Charlie is positioned amidst deep blue hues on the right side of the frame.

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Ep 08

In contrast, at the end of Ep 03, following the initial kiss between Charlie and Nick, self-blame ensues. The yellow light source within the room fades, engulfing the surroundings in blue.

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Ep 03

Continuing the narrative into Ep 04, when Nick reciprocates Charlie's kiss, the room's setup is predominantly yellow.

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Ep 04
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Ep 04

Although Nick's feelings for Charlie remain uncertain in this scene, it's noteworthy that Nick responds to Charlie's kiss, and Charlie embraces Nick's inner turmoil. This shared role as providers of emotional security fills the scene with warmth and safety, symbolized by the enveloping yellow light. This technique is also employed to depict Nick's inner journey.

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Following the snowball fight, Nick experiences feelings for Charlie that go beyond friendship. The director introduces a medium shot to narrate this event.

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Ep 02

When Nick is still reveling in his affection for Charlie, unburdened by self-awareness, the director employs a close-up shot bathed in comfortable, secure yellow light.

However, Nick's realization of cognitive dissonance disrupts his pure affection, replacing it with confusion, doubt, and suppression. The director stages Nick in the shadowy corners of the room, enveloped in deep blue light, effectively showcasing his emotional turmoil.

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Let's examine the three pivotal kissing scenes through this perspective of color interplay.

1) In the initial kiss of Ep 02, the ambiance is intensely melancholic, with the room dominated by blue tones. Only a faint unnatural yellow glows from a window behind the characters, representing their private, cautious comfort.

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As Nick is awakened by Harry's voice, this scene attempts to draw viewers back to reality from the intimate world the two characters share. This return to reality is marked by the scarcity of the previously abundant yellow, underscoring the melancholic undertone of the scene.

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2) Moving on to Ep 08, where the corridor kiss takes place, an intriguing interplay of colors occurs. In this scene, blue serves as the dominant tone, yet a closer look reveals that this blue isn't the dark, nighttime hue associated with depth. Instead, it's a light blue, illuminated by the touch of yellow sunlight. This transformation imbues blue with connotations of clarity, transparency, and youth, a metamorphosis of its original meaning.

Of course, another interpretation could be that this is a process of yellow triumphing over blue, a narrative where comfort conquers melancholy, where yellow prevails.

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Regardless of whether we perceive blue's transformation as a journey to clarity and beauty or the victory of yellow over blue in a dichotomous thought, in art, there's no right or wrong, only beauty.

Let's focus on the scene in Ep 08, where Nick dons a yellow shirt, his forceful movements assertively occupying the blue of the sky, almost as if declaring war on the blue.

Yet, the blue here doesn't seem to be engaged in battle; rather, it has transformed into the color of the vast sea and sky, capable of accommodating the sun's yellow. The once melancholic deep blue has become an embracing, expansive sky blue.

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3) Between the initial and final kisses, let's delve into the confession kiss of Ep 05. Here, Nick gradually accelerates his self-discovery, yet the romance remains veiled in secrecy. Blue and yellow engage in a fierce struggle in this scene. Unlike the previously mentioned kisses, this moment is marked by conflict.

Within the setting of the claw machine, the vibrant yellow from within the machine and the melancholic blue from outside engage in an almost stand-off. The internal yellow, symbolizing safety and comfort, seemingly attempts to overflow from its confined space, while the external blue, representing the world, fiercely resists the encroaching yellow.

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Consequently, we can perceive that the three kissing scenes represent varying levels of safety and melancholy: the initial kiss of Ep 02 carries an atmosphere of intimate rarity; the hallway kiss in Ep 08 embodies a struggle between comfort and melancholy, ultimately favoring comfort; and finally, the direct and public kiss in Ep 08 reveals a range of emotions through the arrangement of yellow and blue.

Colors of Actions—Bravery and Repression


As we previously discussed, yellow and blue also play a significant role in portraying emotions of bravery and repression. It's important to note that the metaphors of yellow and blue, whether representing characters, emotions, or actions, often don't exist in isolation. Color metaphors can convey a range of emotions or simply serve the purpose of visual aesthetics and harmony.

Throughout the series, the acknowledgment and exploration of love are crucial narrative threads, involving a spectrum of colors associated with bravery and repression. For the most part, blue signifies repression, while yellow embodies courage. As previously mentioned, the melancholy brought about by repression and the comfort brought by bravery interchange.

Clothing

Let's examine three scenes that showcase the change in Nick's clothing colors: In the first instance, Nick's inner self remains closed off, still associated with the Football gang, as evidenced by his usual dark blue attire. Notably, whenever Nick is with the football gang at school, he predominantly wears blue, symbolizing his internal repression.

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Moving into the middle of the narrative, Nick is seen wearing a yellow jacket on two occasions—a stark change in color metaphor. During this phase, Nick exhibits a torn feeling of blue and yellow in public spaces, where bravery and repression are locked in a struggle. This period aligns with the turmoil mentioned earlier in the context of the kissing scene in Ep 05.

It's worth noting that during both instances of wearing the yellow jacket in public scenes, Nick's opponent is Imogin. This holds significance: firstly, Imogin represents the character Nick must confront within himself, and his yellow attire reflects his growth; secondly, the presence of the yellow jacket in both scenes, along with the warm-toned settings, implies a positive image of understanding, support, and encouragement associated with Imogin's character.

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Finally, in the scene where Nick comes out to his mother, he is dressed in the iconic bright yellow outfit. Let's take another look at the color composition of this scene. A rainbow spills outside the left-hand door, a well-recognized metaphor; Nick's mother wears a considerably warm yellow-purple outfit.

However, what's even more significant is the painting behind Nick. Against a blue background, the yellow pattern and blue coexist and intertwine, with yellow invading the blue. Courage erupts within the background of repression (blue). When coupled with the warm yellow tones throughout the room, the painting essentially portrays Nick's internal blue bursting into yellow.

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Ep 08

As we've discussed previously, colors within a scene can signify multiple aspects, so in the coming-out scene, the dominance of yellow over blue can be interpreted as bravery conquering repression, safety triumphing over melancholy, or even Charlie completely occupying Nick's heart.

Scenes

Continuing from the coming-out scene we discussed earlier, the warm yellow representing courage and the subsequent sense of security, let's explore more scenes that represent bravery and repression.

We can contrast scenes from Ep 03 and 07 featuring Nick and Harry's confrontations. In Ep 03, Nick loses his composure during Harry's questioning, reflecting his internal repression, and the entire scene is dominated by deep blue.

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Ep 03

However, in Ep 07, during Nick and Harry's second altercation, pay attention to the three yellow billboards against the blue backdrop, along with the hero images on the billboards. Here, Nick is about to take an aggressive action to assert himself and protect Charlie, with yellow invading his repressed inner self. The hero images on the billboards serve as a direct metaphor.

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Ep 07

In Ep 07, and the beginning of Ep 08, when Charlie decides to repress his feelings again, colors are also employed. The director uses a blue table to divide Nick and Charlie, but the yellow light fixtures above cast light on their heads, representing a situation where they are both suppressing their emotions while heavily relying on each other.

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In Ep 08, when Charlie chooses to suppress his desire to have lunch with Nick, the deep blue sea in the background can be interpreted as repression with roiling emotions. The yellow sunlight casts onto the wall, similar to the warm yellow light in the previous scene, depicting a similar metaphor.

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If we review the later part of Ep 08, we can see that the yellow background has thoroughly saturated the entire story.

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Supporting Characters

Here, we'll focus on Nick's perspective because it's evident that metaphors of bravery and repression are most applicable to him. Those who support Nick in facing his inner self often appear in various shades of yellow – primarily Charlie, Imogen, and Nick's mother.

Firstly, Charlie's character itself is inherently associated with yellow, making it a natural alignment. The intrusion of yellow seems to inform the audience about Charlie's significance to Nick – the reason Nick feels brave, comfortable, and safe. In numerous scenes where Charlie tries to guide Nick, Charlie is often dressed in yellow.

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Another character that supports Nick is Imogen. In scenes where Nick confesses to Imogen, the dialogues take place in a comfortable yellow setting. Imogen herself is depicted as warm and brightly yellow.

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Lastly, Nick's mother deserves special mention. When she appears, her surroundings are often filled with yellow lighting or she's wearing yellow clothing, symbolizing a warm and supportive figure.

In this scene, the director often splits Nick's room into blue and yellow sections, with the soft yellow light falling on his mother. This represents a warm and supportive figure – one that encourages their child to be brave and provides unwavering support.

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In more solemn scenes, Nick's mother is frequently seen in yellow.

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In conclusion, I appreciate your time in reading up to this point. I'd like to highlight once again that the use of color symbolism isn't confined to a single interpretation. The presence of a certain color can signify courage, security, or even the presence of characters. Each of the examples we've provided can be explored from various artistic angles, offering a richer and more complex aesthetic experience.

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L. Guavara
Much needed article!
12:02 10 November, 2024
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