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Interiority In Ed Wood

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Tim Burton’s Ed Wood focuses on a short period in the life of the filmmaker and director Ed Wood, but it is able to delve deeply into the character’s desires and motivations as both a director and a regular person. In a movie like Ed Wood where the action is slow and ordinary, it becomes clear that the story is more about the artistic passion and desire for acceptance and community that is driving this man forward rather than what he is physically doing in his attempts to rise up in the world of movie making. In film, the motivations behind a character’s actions cannot be seen, so the narrative space of the story can begin to seem pointless and disconnected. In movies focusing on some great quest or task, it is easier to see the mind and…show more content…
The ceiling is low as if it is pushing down onto his head and causing him to appear hunched over. In addition to this, there are very few people shown in the frame surrounding him. Without these points it is nearly impossible to scale just how far away the walls are from him, so they appear to move in around him as well. This scene, occurring right after his rejection for the position of director in the sex-change film, reflects his feeling of defeat. With no money and no job it seems to him that the world is closing in around him and leaving him with limited opportunities just as the bar appears to be limiting the space around him. This effect is enhanced by the chiaroscuro lighting because he is the brightest thing in the room while the frame behind him fades into blackness. The biggest hints that this scene has entered into Ed’s interior are the fade in from a previously bright scene and the smoke surrounding his face. By fading in from a bright white scene, the darkness is made to be even deeper. This reflects the depth of his feeling of disappointment. Although the previous scene ends with his disgruntled expression, this expression does not satisfy his interior emotions to the same extent as the darkness and enclosure does. The smoke around his face, like him, is accented by the highly contrasted lighting. This creates a haze around him that is associated as dream-like which shows that
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