In movies everywhere, shots are seamlessly put together to create something great. Cinematic techniques serve a purpose in every shot of every movie. Tim Burton, a unique and interesting director, knows this better than anyone. Known for his dark and quirky movie style, viewers can almost instantly pick out a Burton film when they see one. Burton was always the one who stood out for being different, so he put this idiosyncrasy into his movies today. The incredible Tim Burton uses close up shots and low key lighting to portray a odd, dark, and almost creepy feeling in his viewers and communicate an overall message of being treated as an outcast. Furthermore, close up shots that are shown in many of Burton’s films help communicate the message …show more content…
For example, Burton uses close up shots in “The Corpse Bride” when the shot is closed in on Victor, the main character. Victor is a boy who is considered weird and improper according to his bride-to-be’s family. This illustrates the message of being an outcast because emphasis is shown on his uncomfortableness and anxious expressions and body language when around other people that are not like him. The way he does not feel like he belongs gives the viewer an understanding of how outcasts get treated differently than those who are considered normal. Additionally, Burton also uses close up shots in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” when showing only Willy Wonka’s face. In these shots, Wonka’s odd and creepy facial expressions can be shown throughout the film. This further demonstrates the message of being an outcast by showing how different his body language is from everyone else’s and how he is not the same as most normal people. The expressions on the characters face help emphasize the creepy and dark feeling Burton was trying to cast on the viewer. Lastly, Burton puts close up shots to …show more content…
With little light shown in the shot, many feelings and emotions can be casted through this cinematic technique, and therefore help to communicate a message towards viewers. For instance, Tim Burton makes use of many shots with low key light in the movie “Edward Scissorhands.” In the mansion where Edward dwells, dark rooms with a creepy feeling can be shown. This shot displays the message of being an outcast by showing the mansion the same way the person who lives in it- different, creepy and strange. The shots also allowed Burton to cast an odd and dark feeling towards the people who are watching. In like manner, this cinematic technique was also used by Burton in “The Corpse Bride,” In the introduction of the movie when showing Victors room, a very slight amount of light can be shown where the character resides. This illustrates a theme of being an outcast because of this spooky type of lighting in the room relates to how the owner of the room is seen. Additionally, this technique can be seen in Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Low key lighting was used while showing Willy Wonka’s face and helped Burton give him a creepy and peculiar vibe, illustrating the message of being viewed as an outcast. By only having this lighting on Wonka’s face, it shows great contrast between the ‘normal’ and the ‘different’. The creepy feeling is set on the reader once again by using
In the movie Edward Scissorhands, a lot of different cinematic techniques are used. This movie mostly focuses on lighting, usually using darker low-key lighting throughout most of the film to create a darker, creepy tone. Low-key lighting is used mostly in scenes with Edward scissorhands in them, not as much with the girl. A good example of these low-key lighting scenes are the beginning ones, when the girl first enters Edward’s castle. The atmosphere inside is dark and creepy, adding to the already mysterious and dark tone of the movie. Another example of a scene with low-key lighting is the very beginning of the credits screen. The words are displayed in white with the rest of the background as a dark and evil setting. This already gives
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.
Halloween is rife with psychological scares that affect its audience greatly. “Symbolism, dreamlike imagery, emotional rather than rational logic” are present in Psychoanalytic criticism. Siskel and Ebert talked about how the movie makes you feel as if you are the protagonist, scared for your life and feeling every bit of suspense (Siskel and Ebert). The movie is purely fueled by emotional responses to what is happening to the characters and focuses itself purely on how the audience will respond. In the clip shown, the main protagonist talks about how she killed the killer but he is shown alive. The movie is not concerned with the logic; otherwise, the killer would have at least been slowed down by the injuries he sustained. Siskel and Ebert laud the movie on its set up of scenes, score, character development, and use of lighting to make the audience feel the terror the characters undergo.
Most people go their whole lives without ever discovering who they truly are. However, that is not the case for many of the main characters in Tim Burton’s unique films. Burton establishes a theme in his films that young people truly find themselves when they deviate from the path society has carved for them through his uses of misfit protagonists and magical settings in his movies.
...As we are examining the people on the screen, we are viewing ourselves. Burton produces a “perfect” figure of Edward who is kind, caring, and signifies the most striking feelings of individuals. In addition, his evil appearance exists only because humanity says that he is unusual. Burton wants us, as the audience, to be conscious of ourselves as a part of the social order, and to cautiously consider the realism we decide to accept as true and exist in.
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.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
Jean-Luc Godard’s film, Breathless (1960), is a conventional crime movie that is told using unconventional methods. The film tells a tale of a low-level gangster, Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), who aims to become Humphrey Bogart, a character in American crime films. He steals a car, in turn, shoots and kills a policeman. Michel escapes to Paris where he begins seducing a young, American, blonde named Patricia (Jean Seberg). Patricia does not know of his criminal activities. However, when the police final catch Michel, she tries to hide Michel from the cops. She learns Michel murdered a policeman, has multiple aliases, and is married to another woman. Patricia betrays Michel and allows the police to find him. Michel is then shot and killed in
The vision Christopher Nolan had for The Prestige (2006) was to add to the outbreak of street magician film, whilst playing a large dramatic subplot equal in grandeur to the magical performances within the film. In the final sequence of the film, I will analyse how the cinematography and sound helps to resolve the plot so that it summarises the themes present in the film, whilst also invoking a response from the audience. Nolan uses close up shots, non-diegetic sound (music) and dialogue collaboratively to convey the dramatic, personal subplot of the characters and their relationships, whilst appealing to the audience bringing forth an emotional response from the audience. The heavy, slow, dramatic atmosphere of the ending sequence uses various
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
This slow zoom creates a suspense because I was unsure what was going happen to Chris. Another example is when the camera zooms in to Georgina (Betty Gabriel) while she stares in the mirror. In your typical horror movie a director would typically choose dark colors to create that creepy feeling for the audience. Peele is not your typical director, I found it brilliant when arriving at the Armitage estate Peele decided to use bright lighting to create a calm and welcoming mood, towards the end of the movie the lighting becomes darker as Chris slowly begins to realize it create this unbalanced feeling and this false sense of security. The use of close-ups in Get Out is another strong cinteampghapic tool that Peele uses.
Tim Burton uses similar camera angles in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands. In both movies, Tim Burton uses mostly high angles and low angles in both movies. High angles are shot above the subject. Low angles are shot below the subject. One example of a high angle in Burton’s film is when the Oompa Loompas were swimming in the chocolate river in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Another example of a high angle in Burton’s film is the high angle shot of the neighborhood in the movie Edward Scissorhands. Low angles are used less than high angles, but it was noticed that Burton does not use eye level angles as much as high or low angles. However, in the film Edward Scissorhands, more examples of eye level angles
Tim Burton displays these stylistic elements in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and The Corpse Bride. Low key lighting is presented in these three movies by displaying the darkness of the tunnel and the gloominess in Edward’s house. Also, low angle shot is shown throughout these movies by looking up at the factory, Edward’s house, and the butterfly jar to reveal the large significance of each subject. Finally, non-diegetic sound is used in these movies by playing background music to go along with the scene that only the audience can hear and help create the mood. It’s important to use these stylistic elements when filming a movie because it helps the audience better understand a certain scene and reveal a deeper meaning behind each
This low key lighting film technique creates a sense of scariness and suspense. This was seen when Elliot was moving in the field not sure what he was about to find. We see it again in the scene where E.T. calls home, and we see how the light is restricted to what the blinds allow in. The shadows on the faces and objects within the house are a lot and it adds to the overall suspense of what is happening in the scene. The lighting is what most times tell us what is coming because when it’s bright the characters tend to be more relaxed as opposed to the low lighting which alluded to the fact that something would most likely happen. The lighting in a way kept the movie going as we looked forward to what would occur
This would help to build up importance of the object depicted. They also used many portrait shots of people to show their individual