Tim Burton

Bold and stark contrasts in lighting and focus grab our attention and demand to be noticed. Burton's thematic style shows us how this can be accomplished in the cinema industry.

Tim Burton uses a variety of lighting selections. For example, in his movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," he uses High Key White lighting in the opening section. As time progresses, and the Golden Ticket Winners walk through the gates, Tim Burton changes the lighting element to that of Low Key. This gives off the feeling of intense darkness. I think he selected this lighting to bring about the sense of a, "lock down," because of the past scandal within it's walls. Willy Won-ka was most likely a bit paranoid and ultra protective as he had to fire past workers for stealing his candy recipes.

Another example can be seen in Burton's movie, "Edward Scissor-hands." In this particular movie, he selects the Ying-Yang lighting feature so that he can convey both light and darkness. This can be viewed in the particular scene that pans above the garden entrance, where the outdoor area is well lit, cheerful and bright. Then as the camera enters the mansion, a feeling of dark mysteriousness takes over. Peg experiences almost shadow like surroundings. As she slowly proceeds through the mansion and climbs the stairway, in hopes of finding a person, she meets Edward on the top landing. In this scene, the lighting remains dark as Edward personifies a boy trapped in a scissor-hand body.

One other key style or element used by Burton is that of, framing and angles. This can be seen in his