Color in a Colorless World Color is a powerful tool in film making. What once was only black and white is now a full spectrum of vibrancy. But monochromatism is still an integral artistic choice in film. Blacks and whites in movies and television tend to represent the dark nature of scenes: death, evil, sadness, the macabre. Deep blacks, rich grays, and harsh whites tend to illustrate the Gothic influence of the piece as well as its tone. Adam Barkman, a writer famous for his analysis of films, explains the impact of color in film in his book A Critical Companion to Tim Burton “When we see a particular color, we immediately attach a particular set of meanings to it that is triggered by either our instincts or our memories” (Barkman …show more content…
Jack Skellington or the Pumpkin King is the protagonist in Burton’s Nightmare before Christmas. He lives in Halloween Town where he is the star, the local celebrity. This town is a world that is purely dark in emotion with a murky color palette. (Chambers 18) It is an environment where monstrosities, cruelty, and fear are celebrated. This is evident in the introduction song This is Halloween where we are introduced to some of Halloween land’s terrifying inhabitants,“ I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red/I am the one hiding under your stairs. Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair”. (Thompson) Jack has played the role of the pumpkin king for what seems like forever and he has grown bored at his lack of progress, with living the same way for all of eternity. This stagnation pushes Jack into a state of despair. The colors of his clothes and environment symbolize the emotional struggle of the pumpkin king. When he faces the vivid color schemes they motivate him to take action and take back his life, because to Jack vibrant colors represent warmth and contentment. (McMahon …show more content…
However, they have also put him in an artistic cage according to his viewers. They hear his name and they immediately associate his work with only the Gothic, only the creepy and dark. They see his twisted figures, his gloomy color schemes, his emphasis on death and then label him as an artist only able of applying the Gothic. In a way they are correct; he does employ dark and creepy details, however, he is a multifaceted artist capable of much more than the macabre. As he stresses the Gothic characteristics, he likewise applies modernistic techniques and an array of vivid colors. All of which contrasts sharply with features of the Gothic genre. Burton’s iconic dark palettes and color schemes allow him to give color meaning. In the Nightmare before Christmas he does this by creating a juxtaposition between the kaleidoscope colors of Christmas land and the Grayscale Halloween land. Both holiday realms, containing a leader and their own niche, embrace their own color palette. These contrasting hues coincide with the beliefs and tone of the holiday. Bright reds and greens highlight the joy of gift giving and being around those you love. In contrast murky blacks, cold dark colors, and the occasional orange emphasize the rapturous glee of fear and
Not a single individual is able to watch a Burton film without noticing the lighting effects and how it significantly contributes to the tone and mood of the entire film. In the movie Edward Scissorhands, one might be overwhelmed with the burst of extravagant colors in the scenery. Indeed this cinematic technique, high key, wholly influences the viewers perception and impression of the town. One can conclude that even though flamboyancy pervades the town, iniquity lurks in all directions and hypocrisy governs the minds of its inhabitants. Irony is harnessed in this film. How can an effulgent town harbor wickedness and Edward with a chilling and gothic complexion radiate innocence and righteousness? Burton uses these opposing conceptions brought about by the contrast of lighting to convey the message that materialism has been ingrained in the mentality of society (at least in the neighborhood in which Burton lived in the past), thus yearning for th...
Tim Burton is a creative director when he directs gothic movies. This essay talks about the cinematic techniques that Burton uses in the movies, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton uses shots and framing, sound, and lighting, to make a dark and gothic movies. He tries to make you feel a special way, in a certain scene, in his movies, by his different techniques.
Although it may been seen partly as a historical accident forced by budgetary constraints, part of the mystique of the film is in how different it was to the horror audience of the day. Romero and the Image Ten team, working with black-and-white in a day in which most mainstream films were released in color, were able to use the black-and-white film to lend a certain documentary feel that evoked feelings of newsreels of the day, which were still shot in black-and-white (Hervey 26). This certain credibility evoked is one that is likely lost on contemporary audiences that grew up in a time in which the news and documentaries are delivered in color, but modern audiences should see parallels in the way The Blair Witch Project co-opted the use of VHS cameras to produce a low-cost horror film with a realistic feel to it.
The play “A Christmas Carol – A ghost story of Christmas” by Charles Dickson, directed by James Black in Houston, TX was performed in a similar way in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickson, directed by Michael Wilson in Washington, D.C. The both plays had similarities and differences throughout the play in which demonstrated different creativity from the different directors. The rating that was given by the reviewer of the play in Washington gave a 5 out of 5 star rating. For the play that I went to watch the rating I would give it would be a 5 star rating.
A morality play, not unlike some of the popular plays I have seen. I think we all have seen this familiar theme many times over the years. As we head into the Christmas season, where reflective thinking becomes this very theme. I can compare this play with some of these seasonal plays. The play that comes to my mind immediately is, "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966&2000) explains not only the life of the Grinch but the Whos as well. Through the theorists of Karen Horney and Erik Erikson, viewers can learn why the Grinch’s personality is formed. Not only had it formed, but through the years it transformed.
“I recall being one of those kids where every day was a science fair… It's like well, 'here, let's mix this up and see if it blows up'.” Tim Burton was always quirky as a child, but he was okay with his differences and embraced them through his art. Influenced by the “B” horror films from his childhood, Tim Burton brought the iconic dark mood into his movies, giving a modern twist to the idea of monsters and obscurity. The characters portrayed in his films had the obscure qualities that he saw in himself. In the films Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare before Christmas, Tim Burton utilized the cinematic element of symbolism to convey the reoccurring theme of individuality.
To begin, Tim Burton uses lighting to send the mixed emotions of child like with darkness. Examples of lighting come from the two movies Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the movie Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton uses a mix of lighting on Edward. At happier times,when Edward is performing haircuts, the lighting is high key and has a front lighting the face of Edward. This portrays Edward is good although Tim Burton contradicted this decision later showing that Edward is somewhat of an criminal. For example, low key and bottom lighting were used when Edward is walking towards the police as if to seem that he is a criminal. This shows how Tim Burton uses his mixed emotions to make the audience not know what to think of Edward. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the outside
On August 25, 1958, Timothy Walter Burton was born (“Biography”). Burton had a painful childhood in which the relationship with his parents and brother was nonexistent (Morgenstern). Through his intense feeling of isolation, his visual talent began to develop. The comfort found in hobbies such as writing and drawing led him to attend the California Institute of the Arts which led him to his first job in any artistic field at the Disney Animation Studios (“Biography”). Burton has since been referred to as one of the most visually gifted writers, artists, and filmmakers that America has seen (Hanke). His short stories, poems, and film scripts are centered on an inner darkness which he has been slowly acquiring since his childhood. He throws himself into everything he writes and makes even the simplest characters have a deep, complex meaning. His famous darkness and symbolism is shown in his book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. The book contains a collection of his short stories, poems, and illustrations about a variety of fictional characters that can be compared to Burton and his life. Tim Burton’s home life and previous hardships have made a significant impact on his work. In my paper, I will draw parallels to his life and work as well as prove that there is reasoning and beauty in the way he is.
In this essay I will be talking about how Dickens presents Scrooge’s fear in A Christmas Carol. It is about how Scrooge’s change throughout the novel through various techniques Dickens uses to convey this.
In the fictional play, A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, by Israel Horovitz, Scrooge’s first impression is not very good. He refuses to donate to the poor, he dismisses family who want a relationship, and he is miserable and tries to make others the same way. When two men come to see Scrooge, they were asking for donations for the poor. Scrooge, being one of the wealthiest people in the community, is very dismissive, wrongfully so, and asks the two men to leave empty handed. When Scrooge asks if there are workhouses for the poor to go to, the men explain that most people would rather die than to go there. In response Scrooge states, “If they would rather die, than they had better do it and decrease the surplus in population.” (649) When
The cinematography enforced the mood, drama, and plot. The use of color in the film was telltale of the mood. The colors were drab, lifeless, mellow colors. These colors were telltale signs of the setting and mood of the play. The setting was in a sorrowful, dirty, suffering country; the mood was sorrowful and suffering as well.
Tim Burton said in an interview that when he was a kid he would watch all kind of monster movies. “My parents said I started watching those movies before I could even walk.”As a kid he loved horror movies and he liked drawing pictures. He said he did not care what people thought of his drawings and just drew them his own way. His drawings also show his love for horror because they are all unique and creepy looking. Some of his pictures are based on the movies he directed. He started directing at twenty years old. He was very interested in animation. One of his first films was Batman. Most of the films he directed have a gothic horror aspect. I believe since his childhood was all about horror movies, he gained an appreciation for those films and applied his passion in the films he directed. "Vincent Price, Edgar Allan Poe, those monster movies, those spoke to me. You see somebody going through that anguish and that torture –things you identify with –and it acts as a kind of therapy, a release. (Tim Burton 17).”Besides the fact that he watched horror movies, the place where he lived influenced him as well. The dark and light aspects of life have always fascinated Tim Burton, consistently arguing that one cannot exist without the other: ‘life is an incredible jumble of being funny and sad and dramatic and melodramatic and goofy and everything’. During his childhood in suburban Burbank, Burton found the
The Stranger, by Albert Camus, depicts a man who is going through life with an existential viewpoint on things that he does. The protagonist, Meursault, insists on going through life as if nothing in his life matters at all, and the point of his existence continues to escape him on many different levels. Through the death of his mother; the relationship with Maria, and the killing of an Arab; Meursault still finds that the meaning of his life escapes him. While many people believe that Camus uses symbolism with the weather and various other devices, I believe he uses a different approach. In The Stranger, Camus shows through symbolism that the true meaning of life is found when facing one’s own death.
In "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge undergoes a transformation as a result of his encounters with three ghosts and becomes a kind, happy, and generous man. His greedy, cruel, and grumpy demeanor is replaced seemingly overnight, but he doesn’t just wake up and decide to be nice. It takes three Spirits to change his outlook on life - The Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future. The Ghost of Christmas Past makes Scrooge begin to regret his selfishness, and the Ghost of Christmas Present begins to teach him about others. This second Ghost helps to make him realize that money doesn't buy happiness. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, however, teaches the most profound lesson of all: unless he changes, no one will care if Scrooge dies. Because of the Ghosts, by Christmas morning Ebenezer Scrooge is a completely different person from the man who went to bed on Christmas Eve.