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Cinematic techniques in alice in wonderland tim burton
Auteur tim burton alice in wonderland
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How does Burton use film techniques to explore thematic ideas in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to entertain the audience? The film ‘Alice in Wonderland’, directed by Tim Burton explores the reoccurring thematic idea of nonsense and curiosity by using a vast array of different camera shots such as close-up shots and wide-angle shots. For instance, as Alice falls down the rabbit hole as a result of her curiosity, multiple close-up shots and wide-angle shots are used as she begins to pass many unusually sized objects including a bed, lamp, and piano. The close-up shots Burton has utilised in this scene allow the audience to see the confused, puzzled and scared emotions shown on Alice’s face. As a result of this, the audience is able to relate and feel
Indisputably, Tim Burton has one of the world’s most distinct styles when regarding film directing. His tone, mood, diction, imagery, organization, syntax, and point of view within his films sets him apart from other renowned directors. Burton’s style can be easily depicted in two of his most highly esteemed and critically acclaimed films, Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Burton ingeniously incorporates effective cinematic techniques to convey a poignant underlying message to the audience. Such cinematic techniques are in the lighting and editing technique categories. High key and low key relationships plus editing variations evinces the director’s elaborate style. He utilizes these cinematic techniques to establish tone mood, and imagery in the films.
Tim Burton is a creative director when he directs gothic movies. This essay talks about the cinematic techniques that Burton uses in the movies, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton uses shots and framing, sound, and lighting, to make a dark and gothic movies. He tries to make you feel a special way, in a certain scene, in his movies, by his different techniques.
Tim Burton once said, “Anybody with artistic ambitions is always trying to reconnect with the way they saw things as a child.” He values various cinematic techniques such as lighting, sound, and camera angles conceive mood, tone, and fantasy in his movies. If he wanted a happy scene, he would make the lighting and music more upbeat, on the other hand, for a dark, gloomy scene, he would have dreary and obscure music. I will further explain how he creates his own world.
Using the production elements of symbolism; especially hands themselves, and the use of allusion to elements from other genres; particularly those from fairytale and gothic romance/horror films, Tim Burton has directed the film in such a manner to illustrate, emphasise and ridicule the materialism and lack of imagination of society. The film however, is prominently a satire which has certain elements from fairytale, comedy and horror genres. Through the choices made by the director, the audience is invited to become aware of the inhumanity present in the way society functions, especially in its prejudiced treatment towards people who do not conform. The use of allusion in Edward Scissorhands is one of the most important choices in production that has been made by director Tim Burton. In order to fully appreciate and understand the plot, the movie is dependant on the audience being able to recognise certain references and elements emulated from other films.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Big Eyes (2014), and Frankenweenie (2012) are just a few titles out of the many films Tim Burton has directed. Tim Burton is an American director, producer, illustrator, writer and animator. Tim Burton was born on August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California. Growing up, Burton felt quite alone and felt as if he was a misfit. Many of Burton’s childhood thoughts and circumstances pose as the inspiration for certain themes and events portrayed in his films. Within these films, Burton effectively communicates his sinister and uncanny style through many cinematic and stylistic techniques. By utilizing lighting, sound, camera movements and shots, Burton creates compelling and meaningful
Tim Burton’s films depict his lashing back from a tortured childhood. Somehow, his movies tell his story. His first big budget movie, Batman, was a huge hit. He then chose to make Edward Scissorhands, his most personal film. Despite the fact that Batman was a hit, movie executives were reluctant to give Burton authorization. His use of cinematic techniques displays his unique style.
One way Burton establishes this theme is by using misfit characters in his films. In Alice in Wonderland, Alice is an outcast compared to the people around her. At one point, Alice’s mother is disappointed that Alice did not wear “proper” attire to a party, and, when Alice defiantly asks her if she would wear a codfish on her head if it was
Tim Burton, a director of numerous successful films, takes you through many stories of unique characters. Although, despite their differences, one still could point out similarities throughout each movie. This is caused by Tim Burton’s cinematic style. This specific style is influenced by his favorite childhood author, Dr. Seuss. Tim Burton uses lighting, camera movements, and editing to build a suspenseful but also calming mood all at once. Burton attempts to convey the contrasting message of darkness mixed within innocence throughout each of his films.
On August 25, 1958, Timothy Walter Burton was born (“Biography”). Burton had a painful childhood in which the relationship with his parents and brother was nonexistent (Morgenstern). Through his intense feeling of isolation, his visual talent began to develop. The comfort found in hobbies such as writing and drawing led him to attend the California Institute of the Arts which led him to his first job in any artistic field at the Disney Animation Studios (“Biography”). Burton has since been referred to as one of the most visually gifted writers, artists, and filmmakers that America has seen (Hanke). His short stories, poems, and film scripts are centered on an inner darkness which he has been slowly acquiring since his childhood. He throws himself into everything he writes and makes even the simplest characters have a deep, complex meaning. His famous darkness and symbolism is shown in his book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. The book contains a collection of his short stories, poems, and illustrations about a variety of fictional characters that can be compared to Burton and his life. Tim Burton’s home life and previous hardships have made a significant impact on his work. In my paper, I will draw parallels to his life and work as well as prove that there is reasoning and beauty in the way he is.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
Burton uses close-up camera angles to show significant items in his film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Tim Burton uses a close-up camera angle when Charlie finds the golden ticket to show how it is significant to the story. The golden ticket is significant because it is like his ticket to a new and better life. In Edward Scissorhands there is a close-up of the hands his inventor was going to give him which is very significant to the story because if his inventor finished him and
Alice in wonderland has compelled many artists and writings to adapt, Lewis Carroll 's book into movies. The original animated movie of Alice in Wonderland came out in 1951; which was produced by Disney. There have been many remakes, but for the purpose of this essay the 2010, live action remake by Tim Burton can reveal the most change. Keeping these two versions in mind, it is possible to get a snapshot of some ways American culture has shifted over the 59 year period. There are five main changes of importance from the original and the remake of Alice in Wonderland. Those changes are: the age of Alice, the dynamic of characters in Wonderland, the Gender roles, the violence, and the agency of Alice throughout the movie. These key changes can be linked to many subliminal messages being conveyed about American
Film adaptations based on particular works such as Dickens’s Great Expectations are not the only means through which we get a glimpse of Victorian culture and society. Animated films such as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005) represent the Victorian era through humor and exaggeration and reveal Burton’s awareness of 19th century English society. In his study Gothic Fantasy: The Films of Tim Burton, Edwin Page argues that Burton’s films are not realistic in nature, but like fairy tales they communicate through symbolic imagery, as they speak of “things far deeper within our conscious and subconscious minds than most films would dare to delve” (7). His films are believed to be personal and reflect dark humor, as he combines elements of fairy tales, the gothic, parody and grotesque. Most importantly, Burton usually identifies himself with subordinate characters in horror films that exhibit grand melodramatic emotion and also finds himself “identifying with the monsters rather than the heroes, as the monsters tended to show passion whereas the leads were relatively emotionless” (13). The monsters in his films symbolize the outsider and the alienated, a figure that defies society and is almost always exaggerated in representation. Significant examples from his numerous films include Edward in Edward Scissorhands (1990), demonic Mrs. Lovett and the blood thirsty barber in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and the tragicomically grotesque jilted bride Emily in Corpse Bride (2005).
Alice’s quest in Wonderland is not well though-out, in fact her encounters are disordered. Having her encounters be unpredictable places Lewis Carroll fairy-tale under Gothic horror. Without a doubt, Alice’s experiences can be illustrated as a nightmare. More importantly, the usage of satire and symbolism by Lewis Carroll gives Alice in Wonderland a meaningful note. All the different characters used in Wonderland essentially come together to form a secret lesson, this secret lesson being teaching children the turmoil of having to grow up. Lewis Carroll utilizes the rabbit hole, growing and shrinking, identifying oneself to characters, and Alice herself as symbols. Like in the “real world,” the only known laws in Wonderland are of chaos.
There are many adaptations of books to movies out there today, none more prevalent than Lewis Carroll’s works; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, The Hunting of the Snark, Jabberwocky. While initially Carroll’s writings are considered to be literary nonsense and fanciful works he is known for his fantasy word play. Alice in Wonderland is so loved that it has been made into two movies, one is 1951 and the more recent in 2010. While much of the story has basically followed Carroll’s work, it has been adapted to fit the generations of each time period it was remade. Follow me while I examine these adaptations and fall in love with both the book and movie from Lewis Carroll’s works.