Tim Burton is an American film director known for his dark comedies and fantasies. Some key points about Burton:
- He was born in 1958 in California and had an interest in film and art from a young age despite struggles in school.
- His films often feature dark tones, strange characters, and unsaturated or oversaturated colors.
- Recurring actors in his films include Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Christopher Lee.
- He frequently works with cinematographers to use lighting, camera angles, and color palettes to enhance the mood of his films.
2. Quick biography of Tim Burton
โข Born august 25th 1958 โ 58 years old
โข American born in California
โข Known for his dark comedies
โข 2 children
โข He started off making short films in his back yard
โข He was not a well behaved student, too indulged in painting and watching
films.
โข His child hood hero was Roald Dahl.
โข He started off working as a Disney animator but then dropped out after a
year.
3. Tim burtons film genres
โข Adventure comedies- Pee wees big adventure- 1985
โข Superhero films- Batman- 1989
โข Sci fi films- Planet of the apes- 2001
โข Musical adventure films- Charlie and the chocolate factory- 2005
โข Horror fantasy's- Sleepy hollow- 1999
โข Fantasy/Drama films- Edward scissor hands
โข Comedy/Fantasy films- Beetle juice
-
โข Animated musicals- the nightmare before Christmas -1993
Tim Burton in general has an obvious dark pattern with his
films, even if the genres are different.
Batman
Planet of the apesBeetle juice
4. Tim Burton likes to have the same actorsโฆ
โข Winona ryder- appeared in 2 or 3
โข However these guys are in countless Tim Burton Films
โข Johnny Depp
โข Helena Bonham- Carter
โข Christopher Lee
โข Jeffrey Jones
5. He likes his blondesโฆ
โข Sandra Bloom - Big Fish
Katrina Van Tassel - Sleepy Hollow
Kim - Edward Scissor-hands
Johanna - Sweeney Todd
Vicki Vale - Batman
Daena - Planet of the Apes
The White Queen - Alice In Wonderland
โข Tim Burton always has a blonde character in his films. In fact his
obsession with blondes is so intense that he gets brunettes to dye
their hair blonde a lot of the time.
6. Tim Burton always has very
strange and dark looking
charactersโฆ Some of which kind of look
like himโฆ
Edward Scissorhands - Edward Scissorhands
Beetlejuice & Lydia - Beetlejuice
Pee Wee - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Mad Hatter - Alice in Wonderland
Ichabod Crane - Sleepy Hollow
Willy Wonka - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Ed Wood - Ed Wood
Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd
Barnabas Collins - Dark Shadows
Many of his characters look obviously
Hand painted and cartoon like.
7. Unsaturated colors Tim Burton films
Beetle-juice Corpse bride
He shoots his movies in either oversaturated or under-saturated color
8. Edward scissor handsColours
The small mountain and the mansion on top of it are set in a dark grey shade that strongly contrast to the pastel colours of the
suburb below, found in the clothing of people and the brightly coloured houses. While Edwardโs colours are black and white the
others are dressed in soft pastels. Since black is the traditional colour signifying the bad guys we assume at first glance that
Edward is evil. this is also emphasised by his hands. If we imagine this film with Edward dressed in white or some shade of pastel
it would not have the same effect.
low key lighting-
( which again contrasts massively with the overly bright coloured houses) Also, flash backs of Edward scissor hands in order to
effect his audience's
Mood is portrayed throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NGjZLnrRWQ
Above is the flashback scene in Edward scissor hands. We
Have three flashbacks in our thriller opening โ All aboardโ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLCkEBB6xs
Above is another one of my favorite scenes, this is when
Edward makes good use of his hands and cuts peoples
Hair!
9. The point of view shot
Burton enjoys employing point-of-view shots quite often in his films. This technique
is demonstrated most clearly in Edward Scissor-hands. This film has several shots
where the camera is clearly seeing something from the point of view of a specific
character where their eye would be, rather than serving as an outside eye looking
in.
This is a point of view shot- being viewed by Edward.
10. Medium Shot- This is a shot that shows you a character from the top of the head to right
above the waist. For example, in Alice in Wonderland, there is a scene when the Mad Hatter is
talking to Alice showing just from the head to the waist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOBIBoyFxU
Above is my favourite clip from Alice in Wonderland, I
Love Johnny Depp, especially in Alice in Wonderland, I
thought he was particularly impressive.Ariel Shot- It is usually done with a crane or with a camera
attached to a special helicopter to view large landscape. For instance,
they used Ariel shot when Alice climbed out from the rabbit hole and
walked away back to the party.
uses the traditional three
Alice in Wonderland
11. Charlieand the chocolatefactory
โข Color is again a huge factor of this Tim Burton film, everyone is
dressed in a different color outfit, with Willy Wonka in a vibrant
purple waistcoat, this allows the sparkly colors of the chocolate
factory stand out even more, making this fantasy movie seem even
more magical.
Burton is still known for using the camera to capture color unlike most other directors who put the colors on the screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcREWDplGBo
This is my favourite โ I donโt care sceneโ- I find
Johnny Depp in this movie very funny.
