Tim Burton Visual Analysis

Tim Burton’s films appear as very visual and through this use many visual techniques such as juxtaposition, colour, contrast and camera angles. These techniques are used to progress the narrative through giving an understanding of the characters’ personality as well as how they fit into their surroundings. Examples such as Alice in Wonderland using contrasting environments to establish that there are two sides at war with each other. In Batman, the Joker wears a purple suit, has a white face and green hair, this contrasts him to the surrounding world as it only consists of darker tones of grey and black. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also use contrast similar to the Joker to show an outsider in the role of Willy Wonka. These commonly used

Tim Burton uses this in a similar way to that of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as it is used to show the turning points in the narrative. The scene when the Joker reveals himself to the mob boss ‘Carl Grissom’ then murders him; this scene shows these techniques being used very effectively. The scene starts out with the Joker as a silhouette standing in the doorway of his bosses office, this visual technique reveals to the audience that the Joker (Jack Napier) is following a darker path and does not take orders from anyone. As the audience sees the Joker for the first time since he fell into a batch of chemicals, his pale white face, green hair and bright red lips reveal the turning point in his life and that of the narrative. Along with his facial features the Joker is also dressed in a bright purple suit, these bright colours show the Jokers new outward look on life, which is a joke, it also shows that he has lost all sanity and madness remains. The Joker is heavily juxtaposed throughout the movie as he is the only person wearing colour, this causes him to stand out in each scene as he is surrounded by darker

This scene features all of the main characters as they are introduced to Willy Wonka’s land of candy and wander through it, this scene reveals all of the characters personalities whilst they interact with each other. The children’s actions as well as appearance tell the audience of their personality, which leads to developing the narrative as Willy Wonka reacts to the individuals. A technique used heavily through this scene which is related to ‘Batman’ is the use of contrast through colours, as Willy Wonka and his environment consist of bright colours which force them to stand out in comparison to the other