Tim Burton Analysis Essay

From Edward Scissorhands to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, director Tim Burton has been captivating audiences with his unique style for over 30 years. One can agree that Burton has a rare and uncommon gift in the directing world, which allows him to twist the audience emotions, and create feelings that wouldn’t normally be there. In many of his films, Tim Burton uses framing and angles, music and sound, and lighting to control the mood of the scene. To begin, director Tim Burton manipulates lighting to create a feeling of fear and suspense in the audience. One way that Burton does this is when he uses low key lighting, mixed with side lighting, in Corpse Bride. When Victor is walking through the forest, repeating his vows over and over

Similarly, in Corpse Bride, Burton uses a low angle on the bride when she rises out of the ground.

When the audience sees the bride from this angle, one can imagine how Victor sees her, and begins to feel frightened by her, because she appears so much larger than a normal sized person. It is not until later in the movie does one realize that she is actually an average-sized person. This effect is achieved because of the angle on the bride when the audience first sees her. Additionally, Burton uses a long shot in Edward

Scissorhands when we see the mob of people enter the forest. By using a long shot, the audience can see both how many people there are, and their angry, almost crazed body language. When these two things are shown together in one shot, one can understand the gravity of the situation, and begins to fear for Edward’s life. Throughout all his films, director Tim Burton uses many film techniques and cinematic elements. However, when Burton wants to control the audiences’ emotions, and twist the mood of the scene, he uses lighting, non-diegetic music, and framing