1. INTRODUCTIONSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) is a film directed by Tim Burton. This film is an adaptation of a popular Broadway musical (1979), with music and the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and the script by Hugh Wheeler. The original story about Sweeney appeared much earlier; in 1846, Thomas Peckett Prests story The String of Pearls: A Romance appeared. About one hundred years later, Christopher Bond wrote a play, called Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1973), which was the basis for Sondheims musical and Burtons film. The main character of Sweeney Todd is played by famous contemporary actor Johnny Depp who received an Oscar nomination and the Golden Globe award for this role, and Helena Bonham Carter, as Mrs. Lovett, who received the Globe nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture. The film also won the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction. Sweeney Todd is not the first Tim Burtons collaboration with Depp and Bonham Carter. Other projects, such as, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), animated film Corpse Bride (2005), and Alice in Wonderland (2010) were also financially successful. The action of Sweeney Todd takes place in the 19th century London. The film tells the story of the successful barber Benjamin Barker, who is exiled from London under false charges by Judge Turpin. Fifteen years later he comes back to London, under the new identity of Sweeney Todd, and seeks revenge against the corrupted Judge, who is also to blame for the death of Sweeneys wife. Todd meets Mrs. Lovett, baker from Fleet Street, and eventually they start the meat pie business. Sweeney slices the throats of his clients, who come for a shave, while Mrs. Lovett uses the victims meat for her pies. The film is R-rated for the graphic violence and huge amount of blood used in the shots. It is especially visible in the scene of Turpins murder: Sweeney stabs the Judge in the neck five times; thick, bright red artificially-looking blood is squirting everywhere. Furthermore, the film contains some horror elements, which are especially apparent in the setting: London streets at night are visually depicted as dark and shadowy, which helps to create a gloomy atmosphere; the house of Mrs. Lovett, where the murders occur, could be treated as the mechanism of death. The murders which have an emotional effect on Sweeney are expressed as being more cruel and bloodier than those that are coldly committed as a part of the mechanism of death.The aim of this course paper is to analyze the representation of the Victorian London as a version of a horror city in Tim Burtons film Sweeney Todd. The main source of the visual analysis is Burtons film. In addition to that, the initial film script, as the main source for the quotation of the lyrics, is used. Furthermore, a variety of reviews of the film, interviews with the cast, together with the critical material, are used in order to prepare this thesis. Firstly, section 2, which is divided into two sub-sections, analyzes Burtons representation of Victorian London as a horror city. Sub-section 2.1 presents the genre of the film: part 2.1.1 discusses the genre of the musical; then, 2.1.2 generally describes a theater production as a contrast to a film representation; finally, in part 2.1.3 the thriller and the horror genres will be presented. Apart from that, sub-section 2.2 deals with the image of the nineteenth century London as a horror city through different setting elements: 2.2.1 discusses the opening scene and the scene of Sweeneys arrival to the harbour; then, 2.2.2 discusses the visual representation of the streets as part of the horror setting. Section 3 analyzes the image of house as the death machine in Sweeney Todd: firstly, sub-section 3.1 will discuss the attic; secondly, in 3.2 the shop area will be analyzed; finally, in sub-section 3.3 the cellar will be described. 2. VICTORIAN LONDON AS VERSION OF A HORROR CITY

The action of the film takes place in the nineteenth century London, which is depicted as a big, dark city with long and narrow streets, barely illuminated at night, covered in smog, which never clears. The setting is created in this way to accommodate the violence that is being committed there: Sweeney is a murderer, who kills people that come to him for a shave, while his associate Mrs. Lovett bakes the pies from the flesh of the victims, and sells them in her meat pies shop. Dark, almost Gothic-looking image of the city is the directors imagination and it could be characterized as a version of a horror city.This part of the paper deals with the visual representation of the nineteenth century London. First sub-section describes the genre of the film: at first, the genre of the musical; then a theater production as a contrast to a film production; finally the genre of the thriller and the horror is discussed. Sub-section 2.2 analyzes the opening scene and the scene of the arrival, as well as the visual representation of the streets, as part of the horror setting. Finally, sub-section 2.3 analyzes the image of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovetts house as the death mechanism, which consists of the attic, the area of the shop, and the cellar.

2.1 The Film Genre

It is difficult to define the genre of the film because, as Bernard Dick states, genres are not monolithic (Dick 113); that is, they are not strictly separated from each other but can be combined together. In a film, as he says, there is no hierarchy of genres; there are only types of movies that succeed and types that do no (Dick 113). For example, horror films, which can evoke ones fears, are more popular than musicals or sport films do because they let to feel extreme emotions that one would not feel in the reality. During two hundred years, the genre of Sweeney Todd has varied from the romance (1846) to the horror musical (1979). By most film critics Sweeney Todds version directed by Tim Burton is described as a horror musical or a musical thriller. Tim Burton, when asked about some visual aspects of the film, such as the use of black and white scenes, in contrast the scenes in colour, emphasizes the influence of the silent horror films to his visual interpretation of Sweeney Todd: Our inspiration for this was the old horror movies so we wanted to make the characters look like that. [] so you set the world in that (Burton). In order to create this kind of setting, Sweeney Todd was filmed in the low-key lighting, with the emphasis on the absence of colours: the scenes looked almost only black and white. As a faithful adaptation of Sondheims musical, the film keeps the main characteristics of this genre; that is, the story is told at the background of music which almost never hushes in the film-musical, and the characters sing and dance. Moreover, besides the characteristics of the horror film and the musical, some elements of the thriller, which also help to create fear and suspense, are apparent in the story as well. In order to analyze the genre of the film more precisely, some theory along with the film examples, will be given. This section is divided into three sub-sections: first sub-section deals with the genre of the musical; then, sub-section 2.2 discusses the theater in contrast to the film production; finally, sub-section 2.3 discusses the thriller and the horror genres, with the emphasis on the visualization of the setting.2.1.1 The Musical As Charles Ritter states, a musical embraces any presentation in which music, song, or dance are primary and which has narrative or thematic continuity throughout the performance (Ritter 80). In addition to that, musicals combine the full spectrum of other arts: words, singing, dancing, stage spectacle, providing audiences with something for just about every taste (Brown). In other words, the music, cooperated with the narrative, is the main element of this genre. It reinforces meaning. Better the musical is, more finely the songs and dances are integrated into the story: characters do does not burst into singing without any explanation in the plot. What is more, the musical is more theatrical than any other genre. It is also meant to be played and not to be read. The musical play does not have a narrative voice; that is, the voice over of the person telling the story; the story is expressed through music, dialogues, and dancing. The genre of the musical is favored by people who enjoy listening to the music and watching characters dance; the narrative usually generally inclines towards simplicity (Hayward 244) because music is of prime importance. Apart from that, singing and dancing could be also regarded as the distancing devices; that is, they remind the audience that they are spectators at a theatrical event (Ritter 91). The theatrical version of a musical has to be rearranged to fit the screen: certain musical numbers have to be cut out or rearranged; more action has to be included it not to be boring.Singing and dancing in the musicals equal monologues or dialogues in the play. In Sweeney Todd, all the characters are introduced to the story by singing. The main character that appear on screen more often, sing more frequently; that is, Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett who are the main characters in the film, also sing more often than others. Sweeney, for example, is introduced to the audience by singing in hatred and anger: Theres a hole in the worldLike a great black pitAnd the vermin of the worldInhabit itAnd its morals arent worthWhat a pig could spitAnd it goes by the name Of London. (Sondheim 6)

Sweeney appears as an experienced cynic, to whom life has not kind. He sings this song at the beginning of the film: after fifteen years of the false imprisonment he comes back to London in a ship. The lyrics show that when he sees the city, unlike his companion, he does not feel happy but is rather angry and seems to hate people who live there. The comparison of London to the hole in the world, or, in other words, the dark and uncomfortable place, which is inhabited by the vermin: hideous beings which live mostly in the ground and are rarely visible. In addition to singing, Sweeney does not dance, nor show any other gestures, which could suggest happiness, seeing the city after a long time. As a result, even before the character says anything, the song lyrics suggest that Sweeney is an angry person, who is not only unhappy to see his home after such a long time, but also hates it. Mrs. Lovett introduces herself to Sweeney and to the audience by singing about the worst pies in the city: These are probably the worst pies in London.I know why nobody cares to take them--I should know,I make them.But good? No,The worst pies in London--Even thats polite.The worst pies in London--If you doubt it, take a bite. (Sondheim 11)

The major message, given by the song, is that Mrs. Lovett, who owns the meat pies shop, makes terrible pies. Because of that, she has no clients as no one cares to take them, which let the viewers wonder why she has this kind of business and how she manages to survive. In addition, later when she starts making the meat pies from human flesh that become very popular, this introductory song sounds ironically: from the worst pies in London, her pies with the secret ingredient become the best pies.

Picture 2 Sweeney and Mrs. Lovetts last dance in the cellar (Sweeney Todd, 1.48.59)Picture 1 Todd and Lovett dancing in the shop (Sweeney Todd, 01.10.36)Although dancing is also an integral part of the genre of musical, it is rarely used in Sweeney Todd. There are only two moments in the film when someone is dancing, and in all cases it is Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett who waltzes. Dancing, like singing, is a way of expressing emotions in the musical. Sweeney and Lovett dance for the first time when they decide to start making pies with human flesh. Picture 1 shows Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett in the pie shop. Before that scene, Sweeney has just killed Pirelli and is considering the possibilities where to put the body; what is more, his attempt to kill the judge, after which he decided to start practicing killing on other peoples throats, was unsuccessful. He suggests burying the body, while Mrs. Lovett creates the plan of using human flesh for her meat pies. Both Sweeney and Lovett are immediately captivated by the idea, therefore the characters look cheerful while confirming the plan with a dance. On one hand, because of the dance, the characters look more horrible: they dance after deciding to kill people and bake them into pies. On the other hand, the physical contact during the dance also shows their parts in the deal. The male character that is leading in this waltz, is also the leader in their partnership: Mrs. Lovett would not make any meat pies until Sweeney kills someone; that is, she is under his power. Although Sweeney could not dance alone either; he might not kill if it were difficult to hide the bodies. The long shot in picture 2, where Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are depicted at some distance from the camera, show the characters to the large surroundings of the cellar. In comparison to the vast space of the cellar, Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett look small and vulnerable. This second dance by the main characters also symbolizes the end of their business, which was confirmed with their first dance. When Sweeney realizes Mrs. Lovett lied to him about the death of his wife Lucy, he becomes furious. Then he grabs Mrs. Lovett, and in the dance, leads her to the oven. Finally, he throws the unsuspecting partner to the fire, and closes the door of the oven. Because of music and dancing being of prime importance to this genre, the musical could be defined as a theatrical form that is diverted towards popular culture of entertainment. Nonetheless, it is also widely explored in the film, especially Hollywood, industry. Usually when a musical is made into a film, it becomes more popular: through cinema and television the musical can be seen by more people than in the theater. 2.1.2 Theater versus FilmSince the invention of television, popular and financially successful stage musicals, such as Sweeney Todd, were made into films. Tim Burton produced the film adaptation of the musical, which stands as a contrast to the previous theatrical productions of Sweeney Todd, made by Bond and Sondheim. This part of the sub-section discusses the film form as a contrast to the theater production, in regards to Burtons film and the genre of musical. Lithuanian director Dalia Ibelhauptaites [footnoteRef:2]theatrical version of Sweeney Todd will be considered as an example. [2: Dalia Ibelhauptaite is theater and opera director. Her production of Sweeney Todd was presented in Congress Palace of Vilnius in 2009.]

In the theater, it is the viewer is in the fixed position; that is sitting and watching actors acting on stage. In the film, however, the camera work let the audience identify with it: when camera moves, the audiences gaze also moves. In other words, the camera work provides the audience with the possibility for action, movement, and dynamisms. What is more, the setting in the theater stage is more static compared to cinema, where the location can be changed drastically between the scenes. As Ritter states that the scenery in the theater is the most difficult to construct, the hardest to move, and consumes the largest amount of storage space when not in use on stage and has often to be changed between the scenes (Ritter 141). Creating the setting for a film, on the other hand, set designers have more possibilities: they can create the setting of a city in a real location, or choose to edit it digitally in the post-production; while in the theater where the performance is live city location has to be created with set decorations. For example, in Burtons film Victorian London is visually represented as a huge inhospitable city which suffocates the person (see picture 11), with the shop that from the outside looks even nice (see picture 13). Burton does not seek to depict a realistic nineteenth century London but, as he said, the set emotionally realistic to his characters; his city is the imaginative London with the horror setting elements, such as night streets, misty harbour, and Lovetts shop-house as the mechanism of death. Although his city is constructed and not a natural one, it looks realistic: the camera which shows city panoramas or presents the streets in long shots present it like a big unit that fills the screen. In the theater production of Sweeney Todd by Dalia Ibelhauptaite the setting, like in most theatrical plays, is constructed very creatively; that is, very often small details (for example, the boxes on stage and the anchor show that the action is taking place in the harbour) stand for the whole set used in the film. It is physically impossible to use, for example, a ship on a small stage; thus very often it has to be Picture 3 Todd singing in the crowd (Sweeney Todd, 1.04.03)imaginative; while in the film, the set designers have more freedom as camera, for example, can film real locations. As Charles Ritter states, the conventions of motion pictures and television are conditioned by the fact that the actor and the audience do not, in fact, come together for the performance; that is, the camera in a film production serves as the audience (Ritter 9). In the theater, on the other hand, the performance is live, which naturally creates the sense of closeness between the audience and the actors on the stage, because a performer that may be described as playing for an audience, to an audience, before the audience, with the audience is responsive to the audiences reaction. The viewers can set the pace, the energy, and the mood of events that are taking place on the stage. They are, then, an essential contributing element of the performance, and are subject to artistic control (Ritter 90). The actors, who work on the film, can only predict the possible reaction of the audience when they see the film.The interaction in the theater, or the break of the fourth wall, which supposedly separates the audience from the actors, is the technique, used both in the musical and in the film version of Sweeney Todd. After his unsuccessful attempt to kill Judge Turpin, Sweeney is maddened by rage and hatred to the humanity. In his mind, Sweeney emerges to the street and addresses people (picture 4), to whom he is invisible: All right! You, sir, How about a shave?Come and visitYour good friend, Sweeney--!You, sir, too, sir--Welcome to the grave!I will have vengeance,I will have salvation! (Sondheim 61)

During this song, The Epiphany, Sweeney decides to practice his killing skills on other peoples throats instead of Turpins, until he has next opportunity to murder the Judge. In his imagination, Sweeney is in the street, beckoning to different people and inviting them to come to his attic for a shave. He calls himself their good friend saying that he is familiar with the high-class people. But no one answers or even looks at him. Picture 4 is depicted in a high-angled shot: the camera looks down at the character and shows him as small, vulnerable, or even frustrated (Dick 52); this also makes the viewer more powerful than Sweeney. In this scene all people are depicted wearing dark clothes thus no one is distinguished from the crowd, except Sweeney himself in white shirt. It also indicates Todds attitude towards them: to him they are only an impersonal grey mass of people that he seeks to kill in order to have his salvation. Finally, the crowd helps to strengthen the sense of alienation of the protagonist, who, although not alone, seems not to be heard by anyone. In the theatrical production of Sweeney Todd, the actor is also beckoning to the viewers in the audience, as if inviting them to come on stage and experience the shave. The affect would be created even stronger if the actor run from the stage to the audience. The break of the fourth wall makes the audience as part of the performance; they also become the actors.

Picture 5 Animated meat pies (Sweeney Todd, 0.56.34The most theatrical part in Tim Burtons Sweeney Todd, is the animated opening credits, which replace the chorus introduction that was used in the musical. Burton felt that it would add unnecessary theatricality to the story. Instead of the chorus he added the powerful introductory music score to the opening credits, which introduced the story visually. What is more, the credits were done in animation, which also worked as a distancing device, which reminded to the audience that they are spectators at the theatrical event, (Ritter) or in this case, the film. In Ibelhauptaites production the chorus is present. It introduces the story at the beginning, before the plot of the story begins, which adds more theatricality to the performance.Ibelhauptaite and Burtons Sweeney Todd also differ in the amount of blood there are presented: in the theater it is hardly spilled, while in the film it is spurting. What is more, the film production, which has the camera that can close-up on details of, for example, death machine managed to create the sense of horror more successfully.2.1.3 The Thriller and the Horror GenreGenerally speaking, the thrillers are films of suspense, which are supposed to instill terror into the audience (Hayward 440). The plot of the thriller involves characters which come into conflict with each other or with the outside forces; the danger is sometimes abstract or shadowy (Dirk). The genre of horror films has its origins in the late nineteenth-century Gothic novel (Hayward 187), the action of which is usually set in spooky old mansions, castles, or fog-shrouded, dark and shadowy locales (Dirks). Very often, the main characters of the horror films are supernatural monsters/creatures (Cherry 13) because many people are afraid of what they do not know or understand. Like the thrillers, the horror films are meant to frighten, also to cause the sense of dread and alarm, to invoke ones worst hidden fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while at the same time captivating and entertaining [the audience] in a cathartic experience (Dirks). Some films show horror in an explicit way; that is, with details; while others show very little of it, only a hint of horrible sight before cutting away (Cherry 13). Visual and audio elements, such as gloomy weather, shadowy locations and strange noises in the distance (Rodriguez) also help to evoke fear and tension of the audience, which seeks to escape the reality. Sweeney Todd combines both genres in the representation of the city. The genre of thriller dominates in the first part of the film: Sweeney comes back to London and wants to kill Turpin; he tries to lure the Judge to come for a shave. The background story of the barber, which is told in colour flashbacks, or in other words, memories give Sweeneys perspective to the story. Through his eyes, we see the Judge as the corrupted criminal, who deserves to be killed. The suspense of the story reaches its climax in the previously discussed The Epiphany. When Sweeney swears to kill all people who are not worth living, from the grieving husband and father who wanted to revenge upon the Judge, he becomes the serial killer. His madness, then, creates the horror of the story because it is something irrational, like fear and panic, and cannot be explained. When Sweeney starts killing people for the meat pies, on emotional level, the audience cannot understand how it could be happening; thus the sense of horror is created. While the thriller is about the suspense, rationalization, reason; Sweeney seeks to kill the Judge and the audience is left to wonder whether he will manage to do it.

2.2 Victorian London as a version of a Horror City

In the film nineteenth century London is recreated by Tim Burton to set the horror atmosphere for the events that are happening there. The opening credits of the film, which show the animated panorama of the city, which closes down to the death machine of the house, introduces the setting of the film. This part of the sub-section analyzes the image of Victorian London as a version of a horror setting. Firstly, the opening scene will be discussed; the Sweeneys arrival to the harbour will be analyzed.

2.2.1 The Analysis of the Opening Scene and Sweeneys Arrival to London

Picture 7 Drop of blood on the attic window (Sweeney Todd, 0.01.12)Picture 6 Bloody rain (Sweeney Todd, 0.00.53)The opening credits reveal the plot even before the action of the film begins, although its message can be understood only at the end of the film, when the business plan of making meat pies from human flesh is introduced. The film begins with a long shot of an image of a misty city panorama, which presents the location of the film. Only two seconds later, it starts raining, but the realistic rain becomes an animated, and a big red drop of blood appears on the screen (picture 6): the real world is overwhelmed by the horror world.

Picture 8 Ship appearing from the mist (Sweeney Todd, 0.03.27)Then the camera closes up to a long high-angled shot, which, through an attic window, shows a chair (picture 7). In a high-angle shot, the camera is positioned above, or sometimes high above, the subject (Dick 52). It is there where one bright red drop of blood begins its journey. The camera keeps following the drop, which travels through different mechanisms, and then finally pours into bloody letters of the title of the film. Then the camera keeps showing huge machines, blood, fire, and then the pies. Finally, the action moves to the dark cellar, with huge rats and literally, a stream of blood, which eventually runs into the river Thames. To be more precise, the opening credits introduce a mechanism of death, which is later going to be used by Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett: the blood flows from the attic, where the demon barber kills his victims, through his chair, which is actually the death machine because everyone who sits there die, to the cellar, where Mrs. Lovett the meat pies from the human flesh. The introductory part does not show any violence; the colourful images attract ones attention. But they evoke horror and terror to those viewers who already know the story. The colourful opening part, which represents the theatricality of the film, also works in a contrast to the following scene of Sweeneys arrival to the harbour: the city appears dark, misty, and inhospitable; that is, much more scarier than the opening scene. Some visual aspects of the horror genre, such as gloomy weather, dark background, and the shadowy location, are used in the first scene of the film. Fast, loud and expressive introduction of the film suddenly ends when the animated red blood mixes with the dark river water. Music hushes, and for the first few second of the scene, the screen is covered with thick fog. Only very silent horn music is heard in the background. The suspense is finally broken when, suddenly, a ship appears out of the foggy background, firstly the fore and then the rest of it, and is moving straight to the camera. As is seen in picture 8, the ship is the only figure visible in the long shot. As revealed seconds later, it brings Sweeney Todd back to London. What is more, the low-angled camera shot makes the object appear bigger than it is, overwhelming the screen, and because of its size, more frightening. The ship itself, without any light on board, looks unoccupied by any mortal. When the harbour becomes visible, the long shot closes up so that the view could be seen in more details. If the scene depicted in picture 8 could be seen by someone who is standing ashore, then in picture 9, it is the ship which, after a very long sea journey, is finally overlooking the harbour; that is, the camera position changes at a 180 angle. The night sky, as it is seen in the shot, is dark and cloudy, so it is difficult to determine the hour when the action is taking place. The harbour looks empty and distant, without any living being to be seen. To be more specific, the place looks cold and inhospitable, as if no one was waiting for the ship with its passengers to put in. On the other hand, this scene is seen through the eyes of Sweeney Todd, who has been exiled from the city for fifteen years. London for him is a hostile place: Theres a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it; and its morals arent worth what a pig could spit and it goes by the name of London. (Sondheim 6). The protagonist was the victim of the injustice that was done to him: he was exiled from his home for fifteen years, while his family was destroyed; thus he sees the city from his own perspective, that is, what a horrible place it is. His choice of words (hole, great black pit, vermin, pig, spit), which hold negative connotation, are somehow related with nastiness and impurity, or mould, and also illustrates his attitude towards the city, his inner feelings towards the place, which was a horror place for his family.

Picture 9 The Harbour (Sweeney Todd, 0.03.43)As a contrast, as the ship gets closer to the harbour, the music in the background becomes more audible, and the soft sound of the flute can be heard. As the camera moves to a person standing in the ship, Anthonys, a young man who has saved Sweeneys life and has been his companion in the ship ever since, astonished face appears on the screen. As a young enthusiast he sees London differently, that is, as a wonderful place: I have sailed the world, beheld its wonders/ from the Dardanelles, to the mountains of Peru, but theres no place like London! (Sondheim 5). His voice sounds lively and joyful, because he is happy to see the city for the first time. For him, London is a wonder, the unique place in the world. Unlike Sweeney, Anthony has not experienced anything terrible there, so his perspective of the city is lighter, less misty, and less intimidating. Even few people can be finally seen in the harbour who might be waiting for the ship, so for Anthony, London is not a horror place. 2.2.2 The StreetsAt least half of Sweeney Todd takes place at London streets, especially at night. Often they are depicted as dark, uninhabited. There action in the streets takes place at the beginning of the film; towards the end, when Sweeney starts killing his victims, the action takes place in the house. This sub-section will discuss London streets as a part of a horror city setting. Several examples will be analyzed.One of the most impressive street scenes, take place directly after the harbour scene, when Sweeney is walking back home. Quick camera movement creates the illusion that the streets are focalized; that is, viewed, through the eyes of the main character that is already familiar with them. He does not care about the city or about the streets; he does not stop nor wonders around the city but goes to his destination. The action changes very quickly because Sweeney knows where he is walking.

Picture 11 Anthony in the streets at night(Sweeney Todd, 01.13.48)Picture 10 London at night (Sweeney Todd, 01.13.41)In the film, the night London is depicted as a dark, cold, quiet and empty place, which is hiding some secrets from its inhabitants. As contrast to Sweeney, who is confident in his own city, the young sailor Anthony is mostly depicted as wondering through the city. In picture 10, the character is almost invisible; only a tiny spot of him can be traced in the background. The extreme long camera shot shows that surroundings are of greater importance in this scene than the character; that is, the main character in this shot is the street, with the buildings at both sides of the long narrowing street, and not Anthony. Dark smoggy sky covers the city from above and creates the illusion that the character is consumed by the city. What is more, the darkness and low-lightning make the character even less visible and less important to the scene. The street which looks endless in the picture is abandoned by anyone except for Anthony who, accompanied only by his own shadow, looks lost and lonely.

Picture 12 Lovett and Todd in the market (Sweeney Todd, 0.30.27)Sweeney, as mentioned before, focalizes the streets while walking them, and sees them in detail. Anthony, on the other hand, is seen by someone. Through the repetitive representation the character is seen as a part of the city, as a wonderer. Sweeney, unlike other serial killers, does not look for the victims in the street at night. He visits the city during day time, which makes him appear less dangerous, while Mrs. Lovett is never depicted as walking the streets alone because the audience sees Sweeneys story, not Lovetts. Picture 12 shows both characters walking to the market. It is daytime, and they are both clearly seen. Their concentrated faces, especially Sweeneys, and, compared to other people, conspicuous clothes, make them look dangerous. Sweeney looks determined because he knows where he is going; he does not even look around; while Mrs. Lovett looks more distant from the environment, she is concentrated only on Sweeney. That is, during day time the streets visually are not depicted as a dangerous place, but Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett make it appear like it is not safe around there.

3. tHE HOUSE AS THE MECHANISM OF DEATH London could be divided into two parts of the setting: the inside and the outside. The outside part, or the city, is represented as a dark, gloomy place, while the house itself is depicted as an ordinary one, and not as a place of horror.The house where Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett live is an important element of the city setting, because most of the action in the film takes place there. It is depicted as a complicated mechanism of death which is included in the process of killing people and baking them into pies.This sub-section of the thesis will analyse the image of the house as part of the horror city setting. Firstly, the house as the unit is going to be described; then it will be divided into three parts, according to their function for the plot; finally these parts, the shop, the cellar, and the attic, are going to be analysed. The location of Sweeneys house is already revealed in the title of the film: the barber of Fleet Street. It is also the place, where the biggest part of the action is taking place. Sweeney had lost his home before he was exiled from London fifteen years ago. When the barber comes back to the harbour of London in a big ship, Anthony, the person who saved Sweeneys life, asks him if they would ever meet again, and Sweeney answers: You might find me if you like... Around Fleet Street I wouldnt wonder Picture 13Mrs. Lovetts Meat Pies (Sweeney Todd, 0.08.42)(Sondheim 8). Sweeney comes back to Fleet Street seeking for information, food, shelter, and to find his revenge. However, Sweeneys house is not his property anymore, but a shop, owned by Mrs. Lovett. This is the place, where the two main characters meet.From the first look, the house does not look different than others. Even when Sweeney starts killing and people started disappearing, no one could become suspicious that they were forever trapped in this house. The form of the building where the shop is located is disproportionate to other buildings of the street. It is small, with an angled roof, and has a big chimney. What is more, it has an attic with a large window; that is, it does not look much different exceptional. On the other hand, the big white-curtained windows, which open on the street, and a dark-wood facade, make the house look homely, cosy, and more inviting than the surrounding buildings. Being a shop, or a public place, it has to be attractive for customers, while as a murder place, it has to be unsuspicious. The inside of the house hides the mechanism of death. Although from the outside the house appear to small, the inside part of the house seem to be more spacious.The house could be also viewed as a complex unit. According to the philosopher Gaston Bachelard, a house could be imagined as a concentrated being, which appeals to our consciousness of centrality (Bachelard 17), or as one of the appeals of our consciousness of verticality it should be imagined as a vertical being, which rises upward and differentiates itself in terms of its verticality (Bachelard 17). In other words, the house could be viewed as a metaphor to human body; its centrality, like the spine of humans body, keeps the house from breaking down. What is more, the house is a vertical structure, like the human body, with the basis on the ground and with the top stretching to the sky. Bachelard suggests that this central verticality is ensured by the polarity of cellar and attic (Bachelard 17). The attic, or the top of the house, is like humans head; it represents logic and reason. The cellar, as a contrast, being the basis of the house, or under the house, represents practicality or earthly part of humans nature. Thus, the person that is down-to-earth, is the contrast to the one, who has his or her head in the clouds, and is impractical. The verticality of the house also suggests its similarities to the hierarchical structure of the society. The higher classes are on the top floor; that is, farer away from the dirt and everyday life. The lowest classes, on the other hand, are on the ground, which also includes dirt and crowds of people. Lower the social class is, more representatives it has. Nevertheless, the higher classes strongly depend on the solid and practical base: without them, the structure would collapse.Furthermore, the virtual structure of the house can be also viewed from the perspective of the gender studies. Gender stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups (Gender Stereotypes). What is more, gender stereotypes, either positive or negative, are rarely accurate. Stereotypically, the woman is supposed to marry and have children. In addition to that, she also has to be loving, compassionate, caring, nurturing, and sympathetic (Gender Stereotypes), while the stereotypical male is supposed to be the provider of the family. What is more, he has also to be assertive, competitive, independent, courageous, and career-focused; hold his emotions in check (Gender Stereotypes). In other words, the woman has to be governed by feelings, while the man is supposed to be the reason. Accordingly, men are at the top of the vertical structure; while women, who are more down to earth, are at the base of the structure. In Burtons film, Sweeney occupies the attic, while Mrs. Lovett stays in the shop and in the cellar. These zones are strictly marked and they rarely cross; that is, they are strictly ordered. For example, while Sweeney is in the attic killing his customer, Mrs. Lovett is in her zone baking: they do not act together. Sweeney wants to maintain as little physical contact as possible; although Mrs. Lovett is always around.According to the suggestions made by Bachelard, Sweeney Todds house as a vertical unit could be divided into three parts: the attic, the shop area, and the cellar, which are analysed accordingly. 3.1 The Attic An attic is a room, located at the top of a building just below the roof, and it often functions as storage. Bachelard states that up near the roof all our thoughts are clear (Bachelard, p.18) because it is above the earthly problems. In the film, the attic is Sweeney Todds zone. It functions as the barbers work place, and it is where later on the murders occur. If the house is seen as a vertical unit or a body, then the attic could be perceived as the head (Bachelard 19); accordingly, Sweeney can be considered to be the brain of the house and later, of the meat pie business. As a contrast, Mrs. Lovett who dominates the cellar can be seen as the practical and the creative part of the house and the business. According to gender roles, Todd can be also Picture 14 Todd constructing the death machine (Sweeney Todd, 1.13.07)viewed as the provider of the family, and also superior to Mrs. Lovett. Bachelard also states that in the attic, fears are easily rationalized (Bachelard 19); that is, they are justified, explained and considered. The panoramic view that can be seen through the attic window allow to have more general knowledge of what is happening down there in the city, to make rationalized decisions based on what he see accordingly. For example, Picture 15 The attic in Lovetts flashbacks (Sweeney Todd, 0.13.02)he gets ready when he sees Turpin coming; has some time to consider his actions and reactions to him. The death machine, or the barbers chair which upends the dead victim to the hole in the floor, is constructed in the attic. The idea to project the mechanical chair came to Sweeney when he decided to become the provider of the meat pie business by killing people whose flesh would fill in the pies. As a reasonable person he did not want to bring the body downstairs anytime he kills someone; that would require a lot of physical and time effort. Besides, it would slow the mechanism of death, which begins with Sweeney and his chair and ends in Mrs. Lovetts cellar.During almost two hours of the film, at least half of the time Sweeney was depicted as being in the attic. At the beginning of the film, while he was not yet overwhelmed by madness, he was also portrayed being outside the house. At the second part, since he starts killing people, he was never showed leaving the house. On the one hand, unlike other killer, he did not have to look for victims outside the house because they came to him themselves; that is, it was not necessary for him to leave the house. What is more, their meat pie and shaving businesses became so successful that the mechanism of death, like a conveyer, could never stop; if people were coming to his attic, there would be pies to serve. During the first part of the film, Sweeney is more often showed being in the attic at daytime, while towards the end the room was Picture 16 Present-day attic (Sweeney Todd, 0.16.56)depicted darker and darker. All of his murders, except Pirellis which he did not plan, are committed in the dark or at nightfall. These changes also suggest the comparison to Sweeneys nature or soul: at first, he was just a sad, angry, but honor person wronged by bad people, who had the right to want revenge; towards the end though, his primary motive for killing was lost, and he became the serial killer, or dark-natured. The present-day attic could be also compared to the flashback-attic, shown in Mrs. Lovetts memories when she tells the barber about his wifes ill fate. As seen in picture 18, the room used to be a beautiful spacious area, illuminated by daylight and decorated with flowers; when Sweeney return to the same room fifteen years later, the same room looks grey, empty and unattractive (picture 19). It serves as a comparison to Sweeneys life which was also nice and light, and now the protagonist is left alone in this ugly room, without his family and home. The audience identifies with Sweeney more easily and might understand his need for revenge better. As previously mentioned, the attic is associated with reason and Sweeney. While in the first part of the film the reason the intelligence is more apparent in his acts, towards the ends there is little reason left in the character. One of the main causes is his closer companionship with Mrs. Lovett who can be associated with practicality and irrational emotions. That is, Sweeney is negatively affected by her sphere. She suggests the killing idea for Sweeney because she expects him to be dependent on her and affectionate towards her. However, her love leads Sweeney to destruction and madness, and herself to the death. Sweeneys death in the cellar also symbolizes his fall from rationality to madness.3.2 The Shop If the attic can be identified with reason and everything that is of higher-level, and the cellar with darkness and secrets, the main floor of the house could be treated as transitional zone. In the film, of the three areas, the main floor of the shop is the most public. Firstly, it has big windows that allow the room be visible from the outside. What is more, the shop is open to everyone who wants to eat a pie. But a lot people and lower-lever in the house structure also means dirt and disorder. On the other hand, as seen in picture 17, the publicity Picture 17 Todd and Lovett considering victims (Sweeney Todd, 0.10.51)is from both sides: people can be watched from the inside either. Sweeney and Lovett are looking at the street and are considering the taste of each person:Lovett: Its priest,Have a little priest.Todd: Is it really good? Lovett: Sir, its too good, at least.Then again, they dont commit sins of the flesh,So its pretty fresh. (Sondheim 48)

Picture 18 Meat pie shop full of customers (Sweeney Todd, 1.20.16Because of the double meaning of the lyrics, the scene is not scary but rather amusing; on the other hand, the faces of the characters that are seen in the window show them more dangerous than their words tell: they are grinning because their love the idea of killing. What is more, Sweeney is holding a big knife in his hands, which shows him strong and masculine, the one who will provide the meat. Mrs. Lovett, who is holding a pin looks less dangerous but rather feminine; although her part in this plan is even more significant than Sweeneys because she has prepare the product. As picture 18 shows their plan is very successful: the pies become very popular. The hard secretive work is done in the attic, where Sweeney kills, and in the cellar, where Lovett bakes, on the main floor the pies are represented to the publicity like a standard, or nothing illegal. All three zones are strictly demarcated; that is, they do not cross over. For example, Sweeney never, except the end of the film (he is looking for a boy Toby who became suspicious and need to be killed), goes to the cellar. He is also rarely depicted being on the main floor either. Firstly, as a tenant he cannot wander around the house as he pleases; secondly, there is no need for him to go to other areas: when there is a need, Mrs. Lovett comes to find him in the attic. When he finally goes downstairs it also leads to his destruction. 3.3 The Cellar

Picture 19 Lovett going to the cellar (Sweeney Todd, 01.15.38)In Sweeney Todd the cellar can be associated with the death and the underworld. The bodies thrown from the attic are hidden there, until Mrs. Lovett bakes the meat-pies and bring them to the shop, in a socially acceptable form.According to Gaston Bachelard, the cellar is first and foremost the dark entity of the house, the one that partakes of subterranean forces (Bachelard 18); that is, hidden emotions, which implies negative emotions. What is more, it is always dark in this room as the daylight never reaches the window-less space. Being under the ground it is the most secretive place in the house, which means it can hide something from the world that exists above the cellar.

Picture 21 Toby find a human finger in the pie (Sweeney Todd, 1.38.15)Picture 20 Lovett coming back from the cellar with pies (Sweeney Todd, 01.17.20)In Sweeney Todd the cellar is a dark musty place, whose silence is disturbed only by rats. The oven and other equipment needed to process the meat to the pies are huge and take the biggest part of the space. Mrs. Lovett, the baker who prepares the human flesh and later fills in the pies, spends most of her time there. Although the murders which Sweeney commits are shown explicitly, what Mrs. Lovett actually does in the cellar is not shown as openly. All things considered, the unknown frightens most; and fear, like other strong emotions that cannot be controlled, is associated with irrationality of mind.

Picture 22 Toby find a human finger in the pie (Sweeney Todd, 1.38.15)Picture 24 Human body parts in the cellar (Sweeney Todd, 1.38.39)Picture 19 and picture 20 depict Mrs. Lovett going to the cellar and coming back. What happens in the cellar during two minutes is not shown on screen. This kind of technique of omission is called ellipsis. Those minutes holds the most violent horror of the story. The pies which Lovett carries from the cellar are the result of the processes that happen there. The cellar hides the part which should not be known to the public, while in pies, or food, the violence become more acceptable because unknown. The pies would be horrible and unacceptable only if the content of them were known. For example, picture 21shows the moment when Toby found a human finger in his pie. When Mrs. Lovett locked him in the cellar planning to kill the boy later, Toby did not suspect anything wrong. Although the atmosphere in the cellar, because of the darkness and big spaces, was Picture 22 Meat mincer in the cellar (Sweeney Todd, 0.01.55)unpleasant, Toby was scared only when he realized what he was eating.

Picture 23 Human body parts in the cellar (Sweeney Todd, 1.38.39)The animated credits which opened the film, shows the omitted part of the story. As previously discussed, animation is the distancing device which does not let the audience to emphasize with the images on the screen. Firstly, the credits showed the city because victims who are killed come from there. Secondly, the camera started following the drop of blood from the chair to the cellar: the exact way the body is thrown to. Finally, the credits show what is happening in the cellar: it shows the meat mincer (picture 22), the oven and already baked pies (see picture 6) in it; while at the end of the credits the blood spills through dreinage system to the river. The attic and the cellar form a binary opposition in Lovetts house. Similarly, the binary opposition is formed between Sweeney, who is controlled by reason, to Mrs. Lovett that can be associated with the practicality. The events that are happening in the attic; that is, the preparation of the meat which is stuffed into pies, could not be rationally explained. It is something that cannot be demonstrated in public, thus the dark and mysterious cellar serves as a protection. The meat pies business is profitable because the ingredient is kept in secret. When the outsider Toby (picture 21) perceives what is happening in there, and through his ideas the audience sees the body parts (picture 23) that are hidden in the cellar, the secret is revealed; the business fails.

4. CONCLUSIONTo sum up, Tim Burton has created a visual horror city to accommodate the violent events that are showed happening there. Dark and hostile London is seen through Sweeneys, who has lost his family and the joy of life there, eyes. What is more, the horror elements, such as the night streets, the harbour during Sweeneys arrival to London, the opening credits which show the animated city, and the house, creates an atmosphere for the horror events that are taking place the house.

Appendix A: The Plot Summary of Sweeney ToddThe story is about Benjamin Barker, the successful barber, who lives happily with his lovely wife Lucy and their little daughter Johanna. Unfortunately, their happiness is destroyed by Judge Turpin, who sees Barkers wife and, attracted by her beauty, decides to have her. Consequently, Turpin exiles the barber from London. Fifteen years later, the prisoner escapes and, found by a young sailor Anthony, who takes him onto the ship, comes back to London. Now Barker takes the new identity of Sweeney Todd. After telling a brief version of his story to Anthony, Sweeney goes to the house in Fleet Street; that is, the place where he used to live. It is here that he meets a widow Mrs. Lovett, who is the owner of a pie shop. Before realizing she is speaking to Benjamin Barker, Lovett tells him what happened to Lucy. After Judge Turpin sent Mr. Barker to imprisonment, he attempted to seduce Lucy. She would have none of it, so he staged an apology, but instead of apologizing he raped her. Mrs. Lovett informs Sweeney that after this, Lucy poisoned herself with arsenic, and though she tried to stop her, Lucy would not listen. Sweeney is devastated to hear this, but then he is told by Mrs. Lovett that his daughter Johanna is Turpins ward. This infuriates him and he swears he will take revenge for his destroyed world. Then Mrs. Lovett leads Sweeney upstairs to a room in the attic that is also Sweeneys former home. The only things that remain of the room are Johannas baby crib and Sweeneys razors.Soon after this, Anthony, looking at his map, is seen. He hears Johanna singing behind her window and, fascinated by her beauty, he swears he will steal her away so that he can marry her. Judge Turpin notices him watching his ward, and as he intends to marry Johanna himself, he becomes angry and tells Anthony not to come near his home again. Turpins henchman, Beadle Bamford, throws him out of the house, and beats him with his walking stick. This only makes Anthony more determined to have Johanna for his own. Further on, Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney goes to the city market, where they get acquainted with Adolfo Pirelli, an arrogant and cruel barber who pretends to be Italian and is attempting to sell an elixir that is supposed to make ones hair grow in more quickly. His apprentice, Toby, is advertising the elixir and passing out samples to the crowd. Sweeney recognizes its smell and look as that of piss and announces it to the crowd. Pirelli gets angry and demands to know who is saying such things of his elixir. Sweeney admits it was him and challenges Pirelli to a shaving contest in an attempt to promote business for his own barber shop, which he has put above Mrs. Lovetts pie shop. He is successful, as he wins the contest he challenged Pirelli to and many customers show an interest, including Beadle Bamford himself. Later on, Anthony arrives at the barber shop and tells Sweeney of Johanna and how beautiful she is. He asks Sweeney if he may keep Johanna for a time in his shop when he takes her away. Mrs. Lovett immediately says he may, and Sweeney agrees. Soon after this, Pirelli appears at Sweeneys barber shop. Sweeney tells Mrs. Lovett to keep Toby downstairs, and Pirelli confronts Sweeney. He tells him that he recognizes him as Benjamin Barker, as he was once one of Barkers workers. He tells Sweeney he wants his money back from the contest and that he will take half of Sweeneys profits; otherwise, he will tell the Beadle who Sweeney Todd really is. Sweeney, angered by this, beats Pirelli on the head with a hot kettle. Afterwards, he slits his throat with a razor and stashes his body in a trunk. Mrs. Lovett is at first shocked by Pirellis murder, but after she is told it was because he was blackmailing Sweeney, she fully accepts it, takes his money, and asks what they should do about Toby. Sweeney implies he will kill Toby as well, but Mrs. Lovett has a soft spot for the mistreated boy, and convinces Sweeney to let Toby stay and help her with the pie shop. Just after this, Judge Turpin arrives in the shop. It is the moment Sweeney has been awaiting since he arrived in London. He acts as though he does not know anything about the Judge and asks him questions about his bride to be to make him feel more comfortable. Just before Sweeney closes in to kill the Judge, Anthony bursts in the door and exclaims that he has seen Johanna and she promised to elope with him that very evening. The Judge is angered by this, and tells Anthony that he, nor any other man, will ever see Johanna again. He also tells Sweeney that he will not be returning to his shop because of the sort of people he deals with. Naturally, after plotting so much, Sweeney is devastated and angered by this turn of events. He will not be able to see Johanna, nor will he be able to murder Judge Turpin and get his revenge as planned. Nevertheless, Sweeney promises he will practice on less honorable throats until he can get revenge on Judge Turpin somehow.Pirellis body, still hidden in the chest, was the problem. Mrs. Lovett asks Sweeney, what is to be done with it. He suggests they bury it secretly in the evening, but she seems dissatisfied with that answer. She comes up with the idea of putting the bodies into her pies. This way she saves money on meat, and his bodies are disposed of with little evidence. Sweeney is near overjoyed at this brilliant idea and for a time the plan is successful, and business in Mrs. Lovetts pie shop is booming.Mrs. Lovett has been smitten with Sweeney since he arrived in her shop, but he still, after all this time, does not return the feeling. Instead he is still intent on having his revenge, so when Anthony shows up and asks for help getting Johanna out of the asylum shes been exiled to, Sweeney is glad to help and comes up with a plan. He will send a note to the Judge saying that the sailor is kidnapping Johanna, and then he will kill the Judge and have his revenge. However, Toby begins to suspect Sweeney of foul play, and informs Mrs. Lovett of his feelings. Mrs. Lovett still feels the need to protect Sweeney because she loves him, and she leads Toby into the cellar where the pies are baked. As this is going on, Johanna and Anthony have made it to Sweeneys shop. After Anthony leaves for a carriage, a beggar woman, who has been seen wandering about at various points in the film, walks into the shop and her presence frightens Johanna, dressed in boys clothing, into hiding in the chest that once held Pirellis corpse. Sweeney arrives in the shop after searching for Toby, who has gone missing since he was locked in the cellar. He sees the intruder in his shop and hears the Judge call his name, so he kills the woman and brings Judge Turpin into his shop. After revealing his true identity to the Judge, he violently murders him and then discovers Johanna hiding in the trunk. Because of all that she has seen and heard, he raises his razor to kill her but hears Mrs. Lovett scream. He instead dashes to the cellar to see what is happening. After arriving in the cellar, he learns that the Judge had been barely alive and grabbed onto Mrs. Lovetts skirts, but he is completely dead now. He is relieved at this, but then, as he tries to move the beggar womans body, the light from the bake oven falls upon her face and he recognizes that she is his wife Lucy, whom Mrs. Lovett had implied was dead. He accuses Mrs. Lovett of lying to him and they dance about the cellar as she tries to convince him she had good intentions. All of this is to no avail, though; Sweeney throws her into the bake oven and then walks over to his now dead wifes body. He cradles her in his lap, reminiscing, and Toby emerges from a sewer grate. He picks up a razor that Sweeney has dropped and slits Sweeneys throat with it before disappearing into the darkness. The scene fades out as Sweeneys blood spreads across the cellar floor. (Sweeney Todd Plot Summary)

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Sondheim, Stephen. Sweeney Todd. In BroadwayWorld. 18 December, 2006. Accessed 15 November, 2009.< http://broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=953320>

Sweeney Todd Plot Summary. In Sweeney Todd Page. Accessed 20 April, 2010.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. DVD. Directed by Tim Burton. 2007. London: Warner Bros. Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, 2008.

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