Tim Burton Style Analysis

Essay by sinclaire99Junior High, 9th gradeA, May 2014

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Nicole Lewis

Mrs. JB

English 1-2

31 January 2014

Style Analysis Essay

Trees. They are often misrepresented, all kinds of strange shapes and colors. Tim Burton has a habit of making trees a part of all his movies, along with other techniques. In the films Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, director Tim Burton uses lighting and music to demonstrate his eerie style.

Tim Burton's lighting effectively shows his style, eeriness. In both movies, there are a lot of light-dark contrasts. For instance, in Edward Scissorhands outside of Edward's dark and creepy house there is a bright garden. The irony in it and the surprise behind it is what develops Burton's style. Another portraying of this is in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Charlie's house is shown in the white snow. His house is a dark, crooked, and beat up house, while the outside is bright and lovely.

Burton uses that technique as well as using dark flooded lighting. He uses this specifically in Edward Scissorhands whenever Edward is present. He also uses this in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory whenever someone was 'eliminated'. His repetitive use of dark lighting and light-dark contrast conveys Burton's style.

Another factor in Burton's movies that demonstrate his eeriness is his non-diegetic music. Throughout the movie Edward Scissorhands there would be mysterious music playing. The music set the mood and the choices he made set the mood as creepy. Burton also uses Johnny Depp in both movies as well as many others, and includes frequent flashbacks from the characters played by Depp. Using Johnny Depp also contributes to the mood since Depp adds a certain whimsical feel to the strange plots. His unorthodox music choice mixed with his intentionally dark lighting developed a very spooky mood in Edward Scissorhands and...