C.) Lighting/Colour

Lighting and Colour in films is to create mood and feeling and to ensure understanding of the meaning of the shot is clear.

The overall lighting in the title sequence of “Sweeny Todd” is dark and gloomy, and this is a traditional effect for horror films. It fits the genre of horror films right back to the time of films such as Dracula made in 1931. Dracula is one of the earliest classic American horror films directed by Tod Browning. It incorporates eerie lighting with a moody dark shadowy atmosphere. We understand from the overall lighting effects that Sweeney Todd is going to be a horror film.

The dark lighting of the entire title sequence is interspersed with the bright red of the blood and because of that we recognise that the blood is going to be a central theme in the film. The use of the blood grows from droplets into large puddles spilling out through the opening sequence. This suggests the ever-increasing butchery and murder that Sweeney Todd commits in the film. The bright red and very realistic looking blood travelling through the opening sequence contributes to Tim Burton’s vision for the film.  I think that he wants to give us the uncomfortable feeling of being right in the middle of the action with all the blood and gore as it would be if we witnessed “real” murders.

 

The other contrast colour is the bright lighting on the white in the text titles. The stark white contrasts against the dark background and draws our eyes into the screen. We focus on the text and see the names against the images in the background. As Tim Burton only puts the names of the actors against the images they represent, for example, Alan Rickman’s name beside the barber’s chair – the place of his murder, the colour contrast ensures that we focus and understand the text is associated with the image behind.

The other intense lighting contrast in the title sequence is the lightning flash in the sky, which occurs at the same moment as the thunder and is also emphasised by the dramatic music. The combination of these happening all at the same time makes us understand that we are in the centre of the storm. Lightning and thunder only occur at the same time when the storm is overhead; otherwise there is a delay between the lightning and then thunder sounding. This heightens the drama and our fear but also suggests to us that the film is going be in the very centre of a “storm”. So during the film we are not going to be observing action from the sidelines but from the very centre of the action. This fits with Burton’s vision of making the film “realistic”.

The use of lighting accentuates the shadows of the Victorian buildings and the smokey atmosphere. The light in the clouds is from the full moon, with some of the raindrops coloured white catching light from the moon and the others red with blood. The clouds get progressively lighter as the camera pans down from top. From this we understand it is the middle of the night and that is when bad things can happen! We are brought up to fear dark alleyways and shadows at night, danger could be lurking.  Images of Jack the Ripper in Victorian England are shown in just such shots e.g. Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film “The Lodger”.

As the camera zooms into the window it is dark and eerie inside the house and this keeps the scary mood. A contrast is provided by the light reflecting from blood dripping and this makes it look more gruesome and suggests the overall horror of the film.  The contrast between the sombre dark colours and then the white and red draws our attention to the importance of colour throughout the film. Tim Burton uses colour to portray important ideas. Later on in the film bright colours and contrasting lighting is used to portray Todd’s earlier happy family life with his wife and child. The dark colours in the rest of the film reflect Todd’s dark actions.