10 Things You Somehow Missed In Zodiac (2007)

There are many tools that a film director can utilise to convey a story including music, costumes, sets, and cinematography. But another factor which viewers often forget about is colour. Movies like The Matrix, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Edward Scissorhands use specific hues in each scene to highlight how the characters feel, build tension, or to amplify the atmosphere.

And in Zodiac, the colour blue is prevalent, as a reference to how the killings take place near water (which is known as The Water Theory). Many of the main characters wear marine-coloured shirts, including when Paul Avery and Robert Graysmith first meet. The Zodiac's letters are written in blue ink. While at a bar, Avery drinks an Aqua Velva, which has a cerulean tint. Graysmith's phone is also blue. The prime suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen, wears navy overalls while being interrogated. The music that plays in the background when Avery and Graysmith are drinking is Crystal Blue Persuasion, proving the blue theme isn't always visible.

Even though many viewers didn't pick up on this aesthetic, Fincher believed it was needed to maintain the plausibility of The Water Theory.