With Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock proved himself to be one of the best directors of suspense thrillers filled with mystery and humour. He himself called the film his most cinematic one because it was told only in visual terms (Morrow), but it was also a challenging “editing experiment” as the entire film was shot from one place, Jeff’s apartment that overlooked his backyard. The Film follows L.B. Jeffries “Jeff” (James Stewart), a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg at work. He spends his days watching his neighbours and eventually suspects that one of them killed his wife. His caretaker, his girlfriend Lisa and his detective friend, at first unconvinced of his suspicion, eventually join him in his voyeurism and help him to solve the crime. In this essay, I will discuss how the film is about film itself. The notions of gaze will also be analysed, through a discussion of voyeurism and Jeff and Lisa’s relationship.
Tim Burton uses his mysterious and creepy characteristics and expressed it through his film Edward Scissorhands Burton uses his unique style of editing that helps understand the main character’s, Edward’s, background. In comparison with the editing the sound helps understand the meaning of certain part such as the suspense of what would happen to Edward in the end. The costuming was a peculiar choice, it shows how in the town there was a lot of colors, but, Edward wore an all black steam punk like clothing showing how he was different. Therefore Tim Burton’s character, Edward, is a somewhat reflection of himself. Like Burton he has an imagination in order to create “art”, and the style of clothing is alike to that of Burton’s.Tim Burton’s brilliance
in Corpse Bride, Burton uses a low angle on the bride when she rises out of the ground.
Tim Burton uses many different cinematic techniques to achieve very specific effects in his movies. The most important cinematic techniques that he uses to create his unique style are Non-Diegetic sound, lighting, eye level, and zoom. These techniques that can be seen in the films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and Corpse Bride, create the effects of sadness, dark moments, express the feeling of other without telling. He uses Non-Diegetic sound when he puts a song, he uses sad songs, happy songs, and more to show the feeling of the character, to give us like a hint of something that is going to happen, if it’s going to be bad or sad. He uses lighting to make the moment or scene sad or mysterious. He uses eye level
In a castle high on top of a hill lives an inventor's greatest creation, he was a near-complete person. The creator died before he could finish his hands. Instead, he is left with metal scissors for hands. Furthermore, he has lived alone, until a kind lady discovers him and welcomes him into her home. A well as he shows his true talent by cutting hair, grooming pets and making beautiful ice and topiary sculptures. Edward from director Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. His films often have gloomy storylines, with dark lighting and color scheme, which helps develop a clear style. Tim Burton‘s dark, gothic, macabre, and quirky horror style is best conveyed through his use of low key lighting, high angle and music in his films: Edward Scissorhands
In Tim Burton’s films, he uses various techniques to demonstrate different moods and tones. Tim Burton’s films include Edward Scissorhands, a drama film where a scientist dies before he can finish building Edward, leaving him with a freakish appearance by the scissor blades that the scientist has replaced hands for, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a adventure film where a small group of contest winners get to tour the magical Wonka factory and get a lifetime supply of chocolates, candies, and sweets. In the films mentioned before Tim Burton uses low-key and high-key lighting to create a gloomy and bright effect, and a long shot to create the distance of how far you are away from an object or a place.
For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Willy and the golden ticket winners travel down chocolate river in a boat and the oompa loompas play a dark tune. By including this dark tune in the scene, Tim Burton creates an ominous and suspenseful mood which really gets viewers on the edge of their seats. In Edward Scissorhands, another nice example of music is used at the end of the film when a melancholy tune plays and Edward is cutting blocks of ice into snow. The bittersweet melody adds a sad and lonely mood, as well as displaying how Edward must face loneliness in result of the actions he performed. This tune causes nothing but heartache and tears to swell up in the viewer’s eyes. A more light-hearted example of music is found in Big Fish when Edward joins a circus and carnival music is playing in the background. The carnival music adds a light-hearted and goofy mood which describes Edward’s early life perfectly. Music is an essential cinematic technique for adding mood in a film, while also enhancing the viewer’s overall
Tim Burton applies sounds such as background music and sound effects to add reality and emphasis to the film and to create a certain, precise moods. Tim Burton’s films utilize music to enrich the viewing experience of all of his films. In the introduction of the movie Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton
Throughout his life in making films, Tim Burton has shown his unique talent and vision. He proceeds taking advantage of the cinematic techniques; lighting, sound, and camera movements creating a certain mood/tone. These three techniques are used numerous of times for the duration of each film. Although, many various emotions are constructed, there are feelings that anyone may connect to. Tim Burton is a successful filmmaker and has inspired many with the use of his cinematic techniques.
“Movies are like an expensive form of therapy for me”(Burton). Tim Burton, a very mysterious and dark director, had produced many unsettling but fantastic movies. Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are two very well produced movies from him, which feature common themes shown with appropriate cinematic elements. Tim Burton uses tilt, low key lighting, and non-diegetic sounds in Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to convey how creepiness can lead to curiosity.
Tim Burton’s distinct style became evident in his very first films and stayed clear in his later film, while the plot of Burton’s films vary greatly his style stays pronounced. This can be seen across his many movies from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, “Vincent”, and “Frankenweenie”. In all of these films his distinct style is developed through the use of a strong contrast of high and low key lighting to show contrast between characters and circumstances, a recurring motif of mobs antagonizing the antagonist, and the frequent use of shot reverse shots to show the development of the relationship between the outsider and the people on the inside. With the use of a contrast between high and low-key lighting, a recurring mob motif, and the use of shot-reverse-shots Tim Burton develops his hopelessly bleak style.
Tim Burton is well known film director. The movies that he has created are often described as mysterious, odd, and intriguing. Burton's movies use certain film techniques to create a certain feeling for the audience to experience. The three main techniques that Tim Burton usually uses is the lighting, camera angles, and sound techniques.
Edward Scissorhands is about an animated human, created by a genius, who falls in love with a young beautiful girl, but struggles finding a way to express himself. Then he is soon shunned and becomes an outcast due to his strange hands, which are actually tons of sharp objects. There are many factors that contribute to Tim Burton’s cinematic way of an artistic style. Burton’s unique style is brought into play by his exploitation of bizarre costuming, eerie lighting, and subsequent editing.
“True contentment comes with empathy.” (Big Fish) Tim Burton is known for creating films with dark and whimsical undertones. Most of his movies are inspired by influences such as Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price, and Dr. Seuss. Burton’s film are characterized by notorious plotlines and heartfelt moments. Tim Burton uses lighting, sound, and camera angles to portray the joy and sadness each of his characters experience to capture the empathy of the audience.
Tim Burton’s unique style grabs many movie watchers attention. When he was a child he always enjoyed monsters because he always felt like an outsider. His early inspirations and influences were Vincent Price who played in many horror movies,and the author Roald Dahl. He displays his character and setting in non conventional way giving him a unique style. He gives off this unique unorthodox dark style and theme of everything is not what it seems,or don’t judge a book by it’s cover. He uses lighting and editing techniques in his scenes to give you movies that shed a new light on the way we perceive the characters and scenes.