CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - Analysis

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (2005)

·               It is the second adaptation of the 1964 book by Roald Dahl by Tim Burton.

·               STARRING – Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, Christopher Lee

·               PRODUCED BY – Brad Grey, Richard D. Zanuck, Michael Siegel

·               STUDIO – Village Roadshow Pictures, The Zanuck Company, Plan B Entertainment, Theobald Film Productions, Tim Burton Productions, Pinewood Studios

·               DISTRIBUTED BY – Warner Bros. Pictures and Roadshow Entertainment

·               RELEASE – July 15th 2005 (US), July 29th 2005 (UK)

·               BUDGET - $150million

·               BOX OFFICE - $474,968,763

The opening is around 4 minutes and 3 seconds long. This is much longer than the time we are supposed to create out opening sequence. This means I shall have to condense any ideas I have gained.

 The opening credits consist of an animated but also non animated sequence of the production of the Wonka Chocolate Bars. The sequence’s colour scheme is the first thing that struck me as the mise en scene props were for the majority black and white with the exception of the chocolate, the golden tickets, Willy Wonka’s gloves and the vans to drive the chocolate away. I believe this was done to make these elements stand out as clues as to where the storyline is going. All of these items (with the exclusion of the vans) are very key elements to the storyline of the film. Burton has chosen to involve these early on to make them stand out. I will be doing this when creating my own opening, including obvious hints to where the storyline is going.

The gold tickets connote through colour something that is rare and special, Burton has drawn special attention to them by placing them in such a low key lighted frame. Willy Wonka also taps the last golden ticket which connotes that there is something special about this ticket, making the audience wonder who will find it.

The on screen credits were also in gold which helped them to stand out, this metallic looking material looks like a gateway, this could connote the locked up and hidden away Wonka Factory which exists in the film. An alternative reading may be that is signifies the “gateway” into the film.

The non-diegetic soundtrack starts with just one instrument which then layers up to form a very high and” twangy” piece. It sounds sinister and tense. This is very common within Burton’s style as it helps to draw the audience in as it seems there is more to the movie that originally meets the eye. The diegetic sound has the purpose of making the audience believe they are in an actual chocolate factory; adding to the realism of the sequence.

The order of people within the opening sequence is very key, first the director who is a well-known director, then the name of a huge Hollywood star ‘Johnny Depp’ his name grabs the audience’s attention as he is seen as an amazing actor.

The sequence uses lots of shots which give a sense of journey, for example near the beginning we go down a pipe into a pool of swirling chocolate which makes the audience feel more involved. We may experiment with this idea as it makes the audience feel part of the sequence as if they are being let in on a secret, behind the scenes of the Wonka Factory.

The use of lighting is low key and therefore appears more gothic looking and adds to the eerie feel of the opening sequence; we shall be using low key lighting to achieve a similar purpose to make our sequence look more eerie. This sense of eerie makes it all seem very dreamlike, there is one scene with balloons floating down which makes it look very calming which contrasts with the tense music and gothic look of the sequence. The usage of snow outside of the factory makes it look fantasy and dream-like adding to the idea that this world is somewhere from a fantasy. This is something we will be using within our own opening sequence.