The first half of The Aviator looks wrong on purpose. Scorsese and DP Robert Richardson replicated two-strip Multicolor, the color process Howard Hughes actually owned, for the early scenes. Green registers as cyan under Multicolor. A plate of peas appears turquoise. Around the midpoint, the film shifts to three-strip Technicolor, tracking how color photography evolved during Hughes's lifetime.
The effect was built into production. Costumes, sets, and makeup were all designed around the color limitations, then finished digitally.
DiCaprio consulted a UCLA psychiatrist and met with OCD sufferers to build Hughes's compulsions accurately. Cate Blanchett watched the first fifteen Katharine Hepburn films and took cold showers every morning, Hepburn's real daily habit.
People on Backlot are revisiting this one. It streams free on Pluto TV.
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