Tim Burton Character Analysis

Initially, as the movie begins Tim Burton introduces Will to us at a fairly young age. Even at this young age Will's character is fully developed as someone who is not very interested in his father's tall tales. This is seen in the film when Edward is telling his story about the Fish during the campfire scene. “Now I’ve tried everything on me.” This is stated by Edward telling his story of how he caught the Fish. Within this mise-en-scene we are shown various types of camera shots and movements, along with diegetic sounds and lighting effects. The opening of this scene is a long shot, along with a pan which informs us of the setting. An over the shoulder shot is then used to show that Edward is telling this tale to all of the kids at the

campfire. *As the camera pans from left to right while zooming in on each child's face you can see the reactions on everyone's face. All in “aw” except for Will. The lighting of this scene is very odd due to the campfire setting.

With this, the lighting upon the other children's faces is straight on, showing their expressions and emotions. While on the other hand Will’s head is tilted away from everyone causing a slight change in the lighting on Will’s face. Thus casting more of a shadow and creating a darker presence on him. Because of this it builds Will’s character by showing how over time with the stories Will hears, his expressions and enthusiasm towards the stories fades. When Will was a young boy he truly admired his father's stories but when he kept telling them several times and to everyone he knew Will soon became fed up with his father. This frustration with his father builds up within Will resulting in the way Will’s character develops. This development of character plays a huge rule in the movie as it is the reason why Will leaves his father in the first place. Will is looking for the real stories not the childish ones his father tells him at bedtime. He just wants to know who his father really is.. . .. It is almost as if Will lives under his father's shadow with all the stories Edward tells. Especially when Will’s father always tells these stories during significant parts of his life. In situations like campfires, school dates and Will’s

wedding. For example “For one night in your entire life the world didn’t revolve around Edward Bloom.” As this is said very harshly by Will a use of close up shots are also portrayed showing the emotion on Edwards and Will’s faces.

Along with the the shots of within this mise-en-scene each character is even furthermore developed by the use of lighting and colour. Between the conversation the light upon Edward is much brighter compared to the lighting on Will's face. You can see Edward more clearly due to the light effects. This relating to thr fact that we see Edwards personality shone more bright compared to Will thus the reason why the light effects on Will are more toned down compared to Edward. Along with the light effects the colours used on each person’s tie represents a part of the person's personality With the scene’s background so dark and both Edward’s and Will’s suits are black which causes them to blend in with the background but they key components that stand from the background are their heads and their ties. The tie that Edward was wearing was blue which is a colour that represents comfort, peacefulness and could possibly symbolize water. On the other hand Will’s black tie symbolizes how sophisticated he is and how he always wants the truth and nothing but the truth. All a father really wants for his child is to be happy and to look up to him, this is not the case in which Will is in. Edward is trying very hard to please Will with these extravagant

stories. But sadly these stories do not seem to make Will hay or proud but embarrassed of his father. This embarrassment and rage of just wanting to hear the truth from Will’s father is the cause of Will’s character development. This results in will slowly distanced himself from his father and his crazy stories making them “like strangers that knew each other very well.”