Tim Burton's Short Film 'Vincent'

Darkness, fear, monstrosity, and loneliness; these are all conveyed within the mind and through the movies of Tim Burton. Tim Burton has had a gloomy mind ever since he was a child, living by a cemetery and being alone fed his grim thoughts. This later led him to create a short film named “Vincent” and other movies that put his grim thoughts on showcase. Tim Burton utilizes color and top lighting techniques in order to embody a feeling of malevolence and the macabre in his viewers; this is important because even though something or someone may look dark on the outside it may be different than you think on the inside. In many of his films, Burton uses color and complexion in order to show a feeling of darkness along with sadness in the characters

These scenes give off a dark and gloomy feeling, which implies something is unhappy and unjust about the world. Additionally a scene is displayed of Charlie’s house which includes only the colors black, brown, and other dark colors which reflects upon the fact that Charlie’s family is forlorn. This is due to the fact that his family lives in poor conditions and can’t afford many things. Burton uses dark colors in Charlie’s house and the factory to symbolize sadness and darkness in the film. Another instance of this occurs in the movie “Edward Scissorhands” when it displays Edward’s clothes and his mansion with dark colors like black and grey. Burton uses these colors to illustrate Edward’s sadness and loneliness in his life. Nobody accepts him; they view him as a vile beast who is a danger to everyone. This contributes to his sadness. Additionally, Edward was left alone after his master died and he was up in the dark mansion which gives him a tragic past for Tim Burton to elaborate on with colors. Corpse Bride, another masterful film of Tim Burton shows aspects of using color representing feelings of darkness along with sorrow just as in many of his other

He uses top lighting in order to show importance to an aspect he wants someone to notice. For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there is a scene where there is a guy in a dark trenchcoat and hat handing over a secret recipe in a dark alley. The only main lightsource is top lighting from a street lamp shining down on the man. Burton is trying to highlight the importance of the man in the scene and the scene itself as it is contributes to the story of the film. The top lighting along with other aspects in the film give the scene a sinister feeling which indicates something bad is occurring. In addition to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton uses top lighting in Edward Scissorhands as well. In the scene where Peg first finds Edward in the attic, the main lighting is top lighting from a hole in the roof. This can be interpreted as Tim Burton trying to highlight and showcase an important scene but it also makes Edward’s introduction more dramatic as it only partially lights his face. This causes Edward to look creepy which is key in Burton’s films and as a result of the the lighting, Peg is scared when he appears from the darkness. In another film of Burton’s called Corpse Bride, there are many instances of top lighting. One of the most paramount moments was when the skeleton in the land of the dead is playing the piano. In the scene, Burton not only uses top lighting when the skeleton’s