TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

A study of Sweeney Todd & Sherlock Holmes, an in-depth focus on authorship through the use of micro-elements

In this essay I will be studying how Tim Burton and Guy Richie use authorship in their films to create a distinctive visual aesthetic and show common themes.

Sweeney Todd is a bleak musical horror film about the infamous factual story of Benjamin Barker, also known as the notorious Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, who sets up a barbershop down in 18th Century Victorian London. This film was directed by Tim Burton and released in 2007. Tim Burton is famous for his dark palette of colours, high contrasted lighting and use of vivid reds. He also deals with characters who are outcasts from society and complex protagonists. Burton set Sweeney Todd in London but there are no signs of distinctive landmarks, moreover, Burton creates a sense of atmosphere through his use of mise-en-scene, a stereotypical representation of Victorian London and Victorian production design and scenes that are set in an internal location and use of tight cinematography,

Next is the film based on a reimagining of a classic literary character Sherlock Holmes. The authorship of the director Guy Richie is the reinvention of Victorian London and the development of the character Sherlock Holmes. In the film, Sherlock Holmes is cocky perceptive and a resourceful action hero. Guy Richie contrasts Holmes’s character with that of the antagonistic character of Lord Blackwood who is a sinister and authoritarian figure. This highlights a theme throughout Sherlock Holmes, which is the shift of power and authority from the antagonist to the protagonist. Richie’s authorship is also reinforces by his own reimagining of Victorian London, he uses iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and London Bridge and tints the image with regal gold filter and emerald green. The dominant reading of which is that Victorian London was a glamorous place.

Tim Burton’s authorship is evident through his use of his dark and gloomy palette of colours. This is evident where Todd first encounters Pirelli, the authoritarian antagonist. Burton uses an Extreme Close-up shot of Sweeney's bloodshot eyes, in interior scene in Todd’s Barbershop. The colour of Sweeney’s highly red saturated eye and pale face is contrasts with Burton’s dark representation of London.

In the scene where Holmes has been tied up as a response to his womanizing of Irene Adler, there is evidence of Richie’s representation of London. Richie uses a long shot in a rich golden interior of an extravagant bedroom and uses golden furniture such as the bed that Holmes is tied to, golden leaf wallpaper trimming and emerald green wallpaper. This presents Victorian London as traditionally affluent and wealthy. This reinforces the dominant reading of how Richie represents Victorian London.

Burton uses cinematography to portray shows position and status in the film. This is evident where there is a high angled mid shot from behind of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett looking out of the window a Pirelli as he walks towards their shop.

The use of this shot suggests a shift of status and shows Pirelli as inferior and vulnerable in comparison to Sweeney Todd. This reinforces the theme of the outcast becoming a powerful character. The dominant interpretation of this shot is that Sweeney Todd looks more superior to Pirelli as he pitifully looks down at him. This shot can also be read by the audience as a “predator” watching it's “prey”.

Where Richie deals with theme of the shift of power between the protagonist and antagonist is the prison scene. This is illustrated where Sherlock Holmes goes to the Lord Blackwood to interrogate him. This is evident from where there is a close up shot of Sherlock Holmes as he talks to Lord Blackwood in the jail cell. Sherlock’s face is in the rule of thirds and the face is in shallow focus, the dominant reading from this is that Holmes is more important than Blackwood, as a first significant point in the narrative where Holmes has authority over Blackwood. In the narrative, the power between the protagonist and the antagonist shifts backwards and forwards in the narrative this is a key feature of Richie’s authorship.

The power however shifts back to Lord Blackwood in the scene where he traps the politicians of London in the Houses of Parliament. This is evident through the use of parallel action in this sequence as Sherlock Holmes is gradually fighting his way up in the basement of the Houses of Parliament to confront Lord Blackwood. On the other hand, Lord Blackwood is simultaneously giving a speech to the captive members of parliament. Power and authority is communicated through the use of cinematography as Blackwood’s arrival is announced, the camera cranes out to reveal the members of parliament as vulnerable and powerless. The reverse shot of Blackwood is a low angled- mid shot where he is framed in the rule-of-thirds and is side lit with high contrasted lighting. The dominant reading of which is that Blackwood is charismatic and sinister. This is reinforced repeatedly through the use of shot reverse shot and diegetic dialogue as Blackwood announces that he has “returned from beyond the grave”, Richie cuts to a reverse high-angled long shot looking up at him.

Guy Richie modernizes the representation of the character Sherlock Holmes. Evidence of this is where Holmes is at an extravagant dinner surrounded by upper class aristocrats, and is introduced to the character of Marie Morten The use of mise-en-scene illustrates Holmes’s Character as sharp and dapper. His costume consists of a velvet dinner jacket, a slick cravat, and a clean white shirt with matching pocket a matching pockets square, his makeup is full and defined and his hair is neatly trimmed, his posture is formal and he speaks with clarity with a traditional upper middle class accent. The dominant reading of this representation of Holmes is that he is a suave and sophisticated action hero.

In contrast to this, Burton represents his protagonist Sweeney Todd as a dark and outcast character. This is evident in the scene just after he murdered Pirelli and is now confronted by Mrs. Lovett. Burton uses mise-en-scene to illustrate his sinister nature, with dark murderous tendencies. Todd’s costume consists of a dark velvet waste-coat withy a scruffy dark patterned necktie and a dirty white under shirt, this also has a bloodstain on it, which signifies his recent murder. The lighting on Todd is low-key and is side lit so much so the audience can only make out half of his face. Todd’s surrounding is evident as the back wall is back lit in a very low-key lighting to show a cracked wooden blue wall of his barber shop, Todd’s posture contradicts his murderous nature as he seems to be in remorse looking down at his prop and cleaning his barber knife. However, his murderous nature is reinforces through dialogue with Mrs. Lovett why he murdered Pirelli.  

In this textual analysis, my focus has been on the authorship of the two directors Tim Burton and Guy Richie. Form deconstructing Sherlock Holmes (Richie: 2009) and Sweeney Todd (Burton: 2007) I have come to the following conclusion about their authorship.

Throughout the majority of Sweeney Todd (Burton: 2007) Burton’s visual aesthetic remains in keeping with his traditional authorship, his use of dark costume and low-key lighting creates a highly contrasted colouring to most of his scenes. There is evidence of a wide range of dark palettes, lots of shadows caused by low-key lighting and this is supported through a lot of the mise-en-scene, for example, many of the characters’ costumes are dark predominantly dark colours and many of the interior scenes the backdrops are low lit.

His use of mise-en-scene and dark colour palette supports his representation of a dark and murky Victorian London, many of the scenes in Sweeney Todd are shot inside low lit, un-disclosed locations that are historical fiction and so exterior shots are framed tightly, lit darkly to focus on the character and the narrative and les focus on the locations themselves. Victorian London is created through atmosphere as opposed to use of landmarks. Finally, the character of Sweeney Todd himself relates to Tim Burton’s tradtio9nal style of protagonists as to one who is represented as an outcast from the rest of society and who has a sinister nature, this can be read through mise-en-scene.

In Sherlock Holmes (Richie: 2009), Richie offers an alternative representation of London to the audience; he includes long-shots of traditional landmarks such the House of Parliament and the river Thames but in a nostalgic and regal manor. He does this through the use of a golden tint and computer-generated graphics, which the can be read by the audience as London being a glamorous place in Victorian times.

A key aspect of Richie’s authorship is the shift of power between the protagonist and antagonist throughout the story; this is due to the genre of Sherlock Holmes (Richie: 2009) as it is an “action blockbuster”. This constant shift drives the narrative in a traditional Hollywood sense. Therefore, the representation of Sherlock Holmes is a suave, intelligent action hero. This is represented through `Richie’s use of mise-en-scene. Richie’s illustration of the antagonist is one which is fairly traditional to action films, as Lord Blackwood is represented as a power-hungry, sinister villain. Both directors’ authorship is therefore the result of their technical use of the micro elements.