Case study of Gothic Fairy Tale

I have compared two films: 1.Sweeny Todd; 2. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Both of these two films are apparently Gothic style. This journal is to analyse how and why visual effects makes these films Gothic.

 Lemony

Lemony

Todd

If you watching the video above, you can easily understand the method  of the visual effects making. That should be 3D modeling, CG compositing, and environment changing. The most impressive portion is that the camera get through the street rapidly,while changing the angle precisely. It looks like the camera fly through the street. But the actual shooting is before the green background, only the human been are real, the buildings are all post-production compositing.

The elements make the film Gothic that should be the dark and cloudy sky.

Lemony Snicket

Todd

Like the two pictures above are the beginning of each film. The dark cloudy restricts the light in the scene, it presents the gloomy story is happening, because all the things with gothic features such as evil and empire is appeared in the night.

Secondly, the shadows should be clear and obvious contrast as the pictures below. The contrast makes the frame looks abnormal, it is hard to create in real light effects. The gothic fairy tale is in a word darkness.

Lemony

 

Todd