Comparison : Character Analysis Of Tim Burton's Life

Indisputably, Tim Burton has one of the world’s most distinct styles when regarding film directing. His tone, mood, diction, imagery, organization, syntax, and point of view within his films sets him apart from other renowned directors. Burton’s style can be easily depicted in two of his most highly esteemed and critically acclaimed films, Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Burton ingeniously incorporates effective cinematic techniques to convey a poignant underlying message to the audience. Such cinematic techniques are in the lighting and editing technique categories. High key and low key relationships plus editing variations evinces the director’s elaborate style. He utilizes these cinematic techniques to

The lighting in the two worlds were completely opposite of each other. The land of the living was low key making the scenes mysterious and gloomy. The land of the dead was high key making the scenes more joyful and pleasant. Even though most of the music in this film was non-diegetic, the sounds in the two different worlds were not the same. When Victor was with the other living people, the music was more creepy and disturbing. When with the dead, the tone of it was more energetic and pleasurable. Putting Victor in the land of the dead is another example of how Tim Burton’s style is putting a character where they obviously do not belong. With Burton’s wild imagination, he creates some of the most astonishing movies to this day.

In the films of Tim Burton, the antagonists are always troublesome, self-absorbed, and ill-mannered, while the protagonists are always the outsiders. Burton, director of many movies such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, Frankenweenie and much more, makes the protagonists outcasts because “‘It’s important to feel like you live or understand the character.’ [...] Like young Victor, Burton grew up feeling isolated in the suburbs, with emotionally-distant parents and a beloved dog, bullied in school and probably a bit depressed…”(Hollywood Reporter). The great contrast between the protagonists and the antagonists convey the tone for how he perceives the world and the people in it. In the films Edward Scissorhands and

Another example from the movie is when Edward is introduced into this brand new style of living where he is the new ‘toy’ and uses his creative side to make people’s lives more enjoyable and fulfilling by cutting neighbours hair and turning a hedge into art. Tim Burton makes us think to look beneath the surface and not too just leave out someone who doesn’t look normal, he makes us think about our everyday life how we can be ignorant, rude and reject people who don’t look like us and have a disability. In Edward Scissorhands Edward isn’t always seen as the good guy from the town’s perspective. In the opening seen when we are given a bird’s eye view of the cars moving in and out of the town, this gives us the thought that the town is bright, bubbly and organized to the split second that the cars come out of the drive way but really as the movie goes on they seem to take the tag of being the ‘bad town’. In the movie the town thinks he is the bad guy because of what people have been gossiping about. Edward becomes the ‘bad guy’ as he is being betrayed/forced into the role of the town devil when he is the town hero as he has bought something to the town that will

Tim Burton’s gothic drama film Edward Scissorhands explores what is immoral with our society. A present issue with humanity is people who are different are encouraged to conform. In addition, society plays by the rules and follow societal norms rather than listening to their hearts. Most importantly, humans are cruel and exploit those who are vulnerable for their own benefit. Through the use of film techniques, Burton proposes the faults in humanity and the brutal nature of humans.

In Tim Burton’s 1990 film Edward Scissorhands, explores how people who are different are treated in society. This statement will explore the reasons why and how people are treated differently. The statement will prove that there are people who are treated differently because of what and who they are.

Tim Burton’s fictional worlds are ones of clear compartmentalization, quite often between literal shades of black and white. Through visual contrasts the audience is not only drawn into the plot, but also given explicit messages about how to interpret the actions and motives of the characters. His macabre art style and purposeful storytelling both hint at his rejection of the status quo; throughout his stories he reinforces the idea that normality is not synonymous with morality through the use of stark lighting contrast, yin and yang style settings, and costumes that are polarly different.

High key lighting makes the viewer feel very happy and open, since high key lighting is usually used in bright and playful scenes. For example, in Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when the Willy Wonka is introducing the tourists to the candy room, there is a variation of colors and the lighting used was very bright. By using this type of lighting, it makes the viewer feel joyful and very positive. Also, in Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, the scene when Edward is introduced to Peg’s neighborhood, the lighting is very bright. This makes the viewers understand the differences between Edward’s deep and dark mansion, compared to Peg’s bright and colorful neighborhood. The contrast allows the readers to feel the uniqueness between the two different lifestyles of Edward and

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton, is a modern day fairy tale which follows the story of Edward, a young man that is taken out of isolation and introduced into a new way of life. Although the film is for entertainment, that is not its sole purpose. The film has deep and rich themes, which convey many important messages to the audience. Some themes of the film include; conformity, appearances versus reality and individuality.

Tim Burton, director of Batman and Edward Scissorhands, has a very distinctive and individual filmmaking style. Two main aspects cleverly used to help progress the plot and engage the audience in these films are setting and character. Burton’s filmmaking style is inspired by gothic aspects which are present in these two films. He used similar and some different settings and character development in these movies. Despite each films differences, due to Burton’s unique filmmaking style, the audience is able to appreciate his skill as a director and the morals he is presenting.

In my essay I am going to reference two films, Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Vincent (1982), directed by Tim Burton. Edward Scissorhands, is Tim Burton’s take on the Frankenstein story. We can clearly see the influences that have appealed to Tim Burton in the classic Frankenstein (1931) was not the character’s monstrousness appeal but the sense of sad sorrow that audiences sympathized to in Boris Karloff’s performance. Whereas in Tim Burton’s vision, we see a “Special” character as the Frankenstein Monster, in the similar way that we call people with disabilities Special. And then we have Vincent, a short stop-motion animation. The short film itself is an entertaining aspect of a suburban boy named Vincent who recites Edgar Ellen Poe and categorizes with Horror film star, Vincent Price. With similarities to Edward Scissorhands, the main character is a chance for Tim Burton to represent himself on the screen as a tortured boy, outsider and artist. I am going to discuss how cultural and psychological concerns are represented through characterization, art direction, cinematography, and sound. I will support my discussion by analyzing a reflection on both the similarities and differences between the two films, and whether a distinctive “Burton” signature (aesthetics, cultural and psychological concerns) is evident.

In the words of Tim Burton, “One person’s craziness is another person’s reality.” This is the truth for the magical movies he has put together. Burton grew up different from others; he was an outcast from the people around him. Enjoying B movies, he would watch them a great deal. Out of all the characters, Burton preferred the monsters or strange creatures. Some inspirations to him are Edgar Allen Poe, Roald Dahl, and Vincent Price. He frowns upon conformity, for he prefers individuality. What is normal to Burton could be completely wild to another. In Tim Burton’s distinctive films, he uses symbolism and the comparison of individuality and conformity to emphasize the purity of an outsider.

In Burton’s films, the use of contrasting settings helps compare the protagonist’s home to the “normal” homes in society. For example, in Edward Scissorhands, Edward lives in a dark mansion. Burton uses an establishing shot and a zoom (in) to establish the darkness of the mansion, which reveals the mansion as a lonely place on top of a hill. The darkness of the mansion creates a sense of isolation for Edward. Beforehand, the audience saw another establishing shot, which was shot in high key lighting, of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is a bright community while Edward lives in the dark, alone. Those details help establish the difference between Edward and the rest of society. The audience also knows that Edward is used to being isolated in the dark. This is normal for Edward and he does not know that “normal” standards of society. This is what makes him unique. In the film,

Society dislikes anything that strays from the norm. Tim Burton, a filmmaker known for disliking the norm and inserting many abnormal characters into his films, would rather be portrayed as crazy and insane than boring and normal. For this reason, all of Tim Burton’s protagonists are irregular in personality and characteristics. Director Tim Burton uses outcast protagonists and contrasting settings to convey no matter how bad the starting place in life is there is always a way to go up

The reality of our world ruins a person’s innocent fantasies, as once spoken by an ingenious film maker, Tim Burton, “fantasy is reality.” Tim Burton has always portrayed himself as an outcast even in his childhood. His unique film style was enormously impacted from his childhood events. He didn’t fit in with the norms of society as a child, and he was often misunderstood for his actions. He believes that people should strive to stand out in a crowd rather than blend in with a crowd. Tim Burton perceives normal as ordinary, and he practically lives in a fantasy. Throughout both Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton interprets conforming to reality as a form of self-destruction to one’s child-like natures.