Tim Burton

Fanni Hajdu

	BAN 4007 Advanced Writing Skills

Prescott-Pickup Francis Julian

08 December 2016

Characteristic features in Tim Burton’s movies

For almost forty years Tim Burton has gone against the norm and created something peculiar that shaped the film industry. He started his career at Walt Disney Studio as an animator but his ideas were too extreme to appear on screen. Despite the initial failures he became an award winning director and producer.  Some of his best-known films are Frankenweenie, Batman, Nigtmare Before Christmas, and Edward Scissorhands.  ”Burtonesque” is the term used for the unique atmosphere created by Tim Burton in his movies. In this essay I am going to write about the features that make his movies memorable and out-standing. 

Tim Burton grew up in the suburban area of Burbank and spent most of his time drawing and watching movies.  He fed his imagination with B-grade horror and science fiction movies, Japanese monster movies, and with Dr. Seuss’s books. He was fascinated by the British Hammer Horror movies that he watched on Saturday afternoons on television, which later became the main sources of his films.  His favourite actor was Vincent Price. Tim Burton pays homage to the genre of Hammer Horror in the film Sleepy Hollow. Furthermore, the façade and alienation of the suburban area, which appear in Edward Scissorhand, also influenced him. He said in an interview that he always has been aware of people playing a role in the suburban area:  “... I remember having that from very early on. It goes back to childhood: I just remember that feeling that what people call ‘normal’ is not normal and what people call ‘abnormal’ isn’t abnormal.”(Salisbury 253)

As a child Tim Burton spent much of his time drawing and some of these childhood drawings gave inspiration to many famous characters of his, for example Edward Scissorhands or Jack Skellington. His characters are usually outsiders and struggle to fit into society because of a trait that makes it hard for them.  However, some troubled loners such as Batman like to be isolated from the mainstream people of the world. (Nofilmschool.com) A manifestation of isolation is when Edward cannot touch people directly without injuring them.   The cause of isolation can be an unstable emotional background or a childhood trauma. Tim Burton’s heroes look nightmarish, but they possess elements of childlike innocence and wonder and it makes them into the light in the dark world of Burton’s movies. They evoke pity and sympathy in the viewers rather than fear.  He identifies with his characters because as a child and as an adolescent he was a loner too.  (Tim Burton-His Influence from Gothic Style and Expressionist Art) 

The appearance of the characters in a Tim Burton movie is often Gothic. They often wear costumes inspired by the 19^th century Victorian era.  Burton often mixes the Victorian and modern styles creating a striking effect.  In addition, they often wear black and white clothes.  Tim Burton is fond of black-and-white stripes so the pattern often appears as a detail on a costume. (Analysis of Art & Design in the Film of Tim Burton)

Tim Burton was heavily influenced by German Expressionism, hence the dark and gothic atmosphere in his movies.  It is an artistic movement started in Germany after World War I to help express people’s disillusionment and displacement caused by the war. It is characterised by chiaroscuro lighting, which is a technique to create dramatic effects by playing with the harsh contrast between light and dark. Another common feature is the unrealistic depiction of figures, landscapes and buildings. (Tim Burton-His Influence from Gothic Style and Expressionist Art)  In Edward Scissorhands the Gothic castle above the pastel-coloured suburbia creates contrast.  Another example is the dark hues of Halloween Town juxtaposing with the vivid and harsh colours of Christmas Town in Nightmare Before Christmas. Moreover, Expressionists wanted to make an impact on people’s emotion.  The dark, Gothic elements of Tim Burton’s film evoke fear and the feeling of terror even though we usually do not see something horrific.  

In conclusion, Tim Burton’s unconventional, distinctive and therefore, easily recognizable style made him an auteur.  His oeuvre is nothing if not divisive; you love him or loath him, but either way it makes an impact on the cinema-goers and on the industry as well.

Works Cited

“Analysis of Art & Design in the Film of Tim Burton” Illusion Magazine, 2015. http://illusion.scene360.com/art/75828/tim-burton-film-analysis/    Accessed: 9 Dec. 2016

” 'Burtonesque': Breaking Down the Gothic Cinematic Style of Tim Burton” No Film School, 2016.  http://nofilmschool.com/2016/09/burtonesque-breaking-down-gothic-cinematic-style-tim-burton  Accessed: 9 Dec. 2016

Salisbury, Mark (ed.), Burton on Burton, Faber & Faber, London, 1995

Magliozzi, Ronald S; He, Jenny, Tim Burton. Museums of Modern Art, United States, 2009.

“Tim Burton-His Influence from Gothic Style and Expressionist Art” jordanfoger, 2012. https://jordanfogerson.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/tim-burton-his-influence-from-gothic-style-and-expressionist-art/ Accessed 9 Dec. 2016