Tim Burton Cinematic Techniques Essay

Cinematic techniques are the nuts and bolts that hold a movie together. They transition the film from one scene, to another. Every shot has a meaning and no two shots are the same. Two shots may appear to have the same look, but they have different connotations. This is an observation from watching any of Tim Burton’s films. Burtons cinematic technique choices impact the audiences interpretation of a scene. A common theme found in Tim Burton’s films is that he uses low lighting and high camera angles to convey a gloomy, scared, or an exposed emotion.

Burton uses low key lighting to alter the emotions of a scene. The way Burton directs his movies, he uses the lighting to change the tone. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the lighting in the factory is bright and cheery, but as the scenes flash back to Willy Wonka’s past, the lighting is lowered to give a …show more content…
High angle is positioned above the character or object in the film to show a shot from a different perspective. In Edward Scissorhands, Edward’s mansion is shown from a high angle to show it’s massiveness. The high angle makes Peg seem extremely vulnerable in the large space. By making her seem so small, the scene becomes more intense as the watcher doesn’t know what is going to happen next. Burton has a way of changing the whole perspective of a scene, just by changing the angle of the camera. For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie’s town and home is shown from a high angle, seeming so sad, powerless, and puny next to the enormous chocolate factory. As the shot gets closer, Charlies home can be seen, and it seems so glum and almost has a haunted feel to it. Though on the inside, it is full of love, laughter and a family that doesn’t have much , but has eachother. Camera angles can be deceiving, and can persuade the whole scene to have a certain tone, which is exactly what Tim Burton does in his

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