Cinematic Techniques In Tim Burton's Films

A camera, a director, an actor is all one needs to make a movie, that may be something the audience believes. There’s a science to this, camera angles, sound, and lighting/color that make up a movie. As a film director in Hollywood, Tim Burton must pay attention to these simple key factors that create his films. Tim Burton, a greatly respected film director, creates gothic, bittersweet films ranging from friendship to young love. As Burton inspired many, he himself was inspired by the author Edgar Allan Poe, whose grim side is reflected in his writing. He was also inspired by the American actor, Vincent Price, who played dark characters on screen since the early 1940s. The dark, unusual crazy, quirky characters and settings are reflected well
Sound is a cinematic technique that is used to display true characters. Specifically, there is a diegetic sound of Willy Wonka’s tune when the winners first arrive to the factory. The winners of the golden tickets, are greeted by Wonka’s very cheerful, colorful, and hyper song. The song being played shows how excited and ecstatic Wonka can be. Even though it is not himself singing, the fast pace and cheerful beat is what Willy Wonka really is about. In this case in “Edward Scissor Hands,” there is a diegetic sound of Edward breaking the microphone as he tries to touch it. With the town’s amazement of Edward, he landed a gig on a popular talk show. As they ask him questions he reaches for the microphone and with his scissor hands, a loud pop is heard, breaking the microphone. The loud pop of the microphone scared and left Edward afraid, because he did not expect it to happen. For the rest of the scene Edward is tense and is slightly insecure because he fears being judged after being seen in a negative way for most of his life. The sound in these films can show the real vulnerability and confidence to a
For instance, in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” the competitor’s candy shops are shown to have de-saturated colors. With Wonka’s candy shop business booming the other candy shops are creating odd sorts of candies to beat out Wonka, local kids are seen trying each of the candies out. The shades of the other candy shops lacks in color compared to the vivid color used in Willy Wonkas candy shop in order to show how important to the community and financially Wonka’s store is. The soft colors of the competitor candy stores create a mood of despair, because the muted colors show how unimportant their stores are becoming due to Wonka’s. Such as in “Edward Scissor Hands” there is a high key lighting over the pastel houses as mothers and fathers are heading to work one by one in an orderly fashion. The color of the cars and homes match, streets bare of trees, yet look aesthetically pleasing. The light in this scene makes the suburbs feel mellow and calm, giving the effect of a pleasant area and life led by the people there. The soft colors also create an appearance of a peaceful neighborhood. Hence, light and color can create moods of weakness and