Shedding Light on Beetlejuice
With a lack of enthusiasm towards Tim Burton, it’s hard to believe that I’m yet again writing about that clown. However, Halloween does hold a place in my heart, therefore, now that it’s October, I have to write about Beetlejuice. Despite seeing the movie several times, I never sat down and focused on the lighting of the movie until I saw a collection of screenshots celebrating the use of colored lights to set the atmosphere. What I noticed, while watching was the lighting was used in two specific ways to move along the story. One, to represent knowledge, and the other is to show comparison between the natural and supernatural.
When Beetlejuice begins, the lighting throughout the Maitland home is bright and airy. There’s nothing menacing about the place, but as soon as Barbara and Adam are a part of the afterlife, the light sources begin to give off shadows and create an eerie vibe throughout the once quaint home. The couple are no longer seen directly in light, and there is always some sort of darkness obscuring their face. Despite the two being shadowed, the Deetz family is seen without shadow even though it is the same time and day. Sometimes it is even the same scene.
Tumblr Gif Credit - Geffen Company
As time goes on, it becomes very obvious that the shadows not only show the difference between the alive and undead, but also how much knowledge is known about each character’s predicament. When Lydia first meets Adam and Barbara, she is seen walking up the staircase, through smoke. As the smoke parts, Lydia looks through a keyhole, smoke instantly clearing. In seconds, Lydia learns about who has been causing trouble in her house. The keyhole itself allows a green light to shine through and illuminate Lydia right in the face. In a literal sense, the situation comes to light. Not only has the fog of confusion cleared, but the damn situation is being spotlighted! Once she opens the door and confirms what she witnessed, neither Lydia nor the Maitlands are shrouded in shadows for the rest of the scene.
Even Betelgeuse himself uses light during the movie. In order to signal to Barbra and Adam that he’s ready and willing, Betelgeuse erects a whorehouse in their once pristine miniature town. The bright light forces both the dead couple and Lydia to acknowledge that the ghost with the most is ready to pick up the slack. Once Betelgeuse enters the ring, light is used once again to exaggerate emotions and create the illusion of larger than life. In the seance scene, Adam and Barbra look worse off due to the darkness. Shadows that once made them look creepy and powerful now make them frail and pathetic.
As the movie wraps up, we are greeted with the bright and natural light that we once saw at the beginning of the movie. Everything that we need to know is out. The Deetz are aware of the Maitlands and the Maitlands are living in harmony with the Deetz. Both families are raising Lydia, and an equilibrium has been created. Overall, light throughout Beetlejuice enhances the story, moves along the plot, and gives the viewer an unconscious notion of how much a characters knows. I’ll say it once, I’ll say it twice, but I won’t say it a third: The lighting in Beetlejuice is more than meets the eye.
P.S.: I'm sorry I didn't update in a month. Shit happens.
