Genre / Atmophere

Tone

The overall tone of this film and opening is that of something disturbing. The director, Tim Burton, achieves this by using symbols such as blood to reflect the horror genre and Sweeney's revenge. This also means that everything has a second or hidden meaning, making it even more sinister. For example the blood starts off with just little drops of blood amongst the rain which shows the way Todd builds up through the course of his revenge. From there the camera cuts to silhouette pictures of Sweeney Todd and his wife which are dripping blood, this symbolizes the way Todd's happiness with his wife is destroyed by the judge sending him to prison. The camera then follows a drop of blood running down Todd's barber chair on to cogs, then runs down the floorboards to form the title and then into the sewers. The amount of blood increases until the sewers are full of it and it runs out to sea. This symbolizes the way Todd gets more and more blood thirsty during the course of his revenge until he is killed.


Mood

The mood of the opening is that of anger and sadness which can be seen in the music and lighting. For example the use of the solo organ introduction gives the feeling of anger as it is loud and in a minor key. From there the sense of sadness is heard with the high innocent flute line This shows the overall sadness in Todd's life from being separated from his wife and daughter. It is also used to tie the opening sequence with the rest of the film as it is a reference of the plot. The use of lighting in the opening is dark, dull colours, even the blood which still stands out more compared to the others. This makes the mood more sad which increases the feeling of sadness.