Tim Burton

As part of my set of tasks I have been asked to complete a piece on a director and my chosen director is Tim Burton. I hope you find this read interesting and learn some new things!

Do they tend to direct a specific genre of film? Are the storylines/themes of the films similar?

Yes, they do. Tim Burton tends to direct fantasies, usually dark, weird ones. For example, The Corpse Bride is a dark fantasy as it is about a dead bride falling for a human. Another is his own take on Alice in Wonderland, a weird fantasy as he made most of the characters look rather abnormal. A recurring theme in most of his films though is romance among the disadvantaged. For example, Edward Scissorhands; a young man with scissors for hands falls in love with a normal girl, he has to overcome obstacles but in the end they end up together. Another example is The Nightmare Before Christmas (although he only produced this); Jack Skellington (a skeleton) is evil and wants to ruin Christmas for everybody, however in the end he falls in love with the broken doll Sally, changing his heart for the better. Tim Burton seems to hold a message within his movies: even the worst of people can find hope.

Is the lighting/colour used in a similar way in their films?

Yes, the lighting and colour is very similar in almost all of his films. Mentioned in the above paragraph, his films are very dark usually with little colour or completely monotone. He seems to enjoy putting dark twists on his films by the use of his colour. Many of his animated films are very dark, for example The Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, which is monotone the whole way through. Although many of his films are dark, they seem to contrast with the messages of the films, which was mentioned above. In my personal opinion, I believe that Tim sometimes likes to put a little horror in his films, which is why he uses the dark lighting.

Are the films edited in a similar way?

In a way, yes, Burton's films are edited in the same way, in the context of sequence of scenes. The majority of his films start happy and content, but still dark. Next a tragedy usually happens, most of the time it has something to do with death. The film is darker for a while, depressing and quiet. Then something unexpected (or expected) happens like the protagonist falls in love, or he comes up with an idea. Like mentioned before, the film usually ends with the protagonist leading a happy life.

Also, the art is very much the same. All of Tim Burton's animated movies are used with stop motion animation and his characters are presented in dark, quirky ways, usually with large heads, skinny bodies, slim noses and his trademark look, the big rounded darkened eyes.

Does your director tend to use the same actors?

Burton is well known for how many movies he includes Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Helena Bonham Carter in. Ever since Edward Scissorhands, Depp had grown on Burton and they had become very close, Depp acting particularly well in Burton's movies. Some of Depp's biggest roles come from Burton: The Mad Hatter, Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka and Sweeney Todd. Likewise, Helena Bonham Carter has also gained some recognisable roles: The Queen of Hearts, Corpse Bride and Mrs Lovett. Another actor Burton has used is Michael Keaton, who starred in Beetlejuice, Batman and Batman Returns.

Which production company distributes their films?

Tim Burton actually has his own production company 'Tim Burton Productions' which distributes many of his films. This suggests that Burton wants his films to be his own and wants to get the credit for everything he does, which is different to most directors nowadays as their films are usually distributed by production companies like Twentieth Century Fox or E One.