Ms. Morrow
English I Pre-AP
16 December 2012
How does Tim Burton’s unique style show through the use of cinematic techniques in his films, and what message does he communicate to his viewing audience? “Movies are like an expensive form of therapy for me.”- Tim Burton. This quote was said by the Tim Burton and it definitely shows through his wonderfully directed movies. Tim Burton uses cinematic techniques such as color, music, and establishing shots to capture his audience’s attention and have them spellbound.
The first cinematic element considerably used by Tim Burton would be how he uses color in his films. An example of color in one of his films is in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Little Charlie lived in London and at the time, it was winter. It was white all around with the occasional greys, blacks, and dark browns coming from buildings, stores, and homes. If you’ve seen the movie, did you notice that anything that had to do with Willy Wonka was vividly colored? His chocolate bars, inside the candy factory, even his workers were all brightly colored in contrast to the boring, dull London and the outside of his candy factory. Another amazing example of color being used in a Tim Burton film called Edward Scissorhands. Way up high in Edward’s mansion close to the peak of the mountain, there was no color. The whole mansion didn’t have a lick of color and even Edward’s flashbacks didn’t have any color. Edward was pale with black hair, black clothing, and metallic silver scissor hands. Once Pam brought him down to her neighborhood, the movie was filled with color then on. The houses were bright and in shades no one would think to paint their houses now. The lawns were bright green and the sky was a darling blue. It was a true example of two worlds coming together. The last example of this cinematic technique will be found in Tim Burton’s Big Fish. When