Burton’s Design
“I am not a dark person and I don’t consider myself dark.”
Tim Burton
From previous study I had come to the conclusion that Burton isolates his main characters using the camera to create a more distant feeling. Burton shows the main character often by themselves using a one shot and does not include other characters into that space. I used three films from different parts of his career to collect this data, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hallow and more recent film , Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. With each film I used three different scenes to analyze.
I created pie charts to show percent of individual shots of the main character, individual shots of the secondary character and two shots that include both the main and secondary character. Each film proved that the main character is shown by themselves more than 50% of the time.
The Nightmare Before Christmas:
Jack Skellington 58%
Sally 24%
Two 18%
Sleepy Hallow:
Ichabod 57%
Katrina 21%
Two 22%
Sweeney Todd:
Sweeney 51 %
Mrs. Lovett 34 %
Two 15 %
Burton Sleeping With Johnny Again?
“I would do anything Tim wanted me to. You know – have sex with an aardvark… I would do it.”
Johnny Depp
Depp has signed on yet another film with Burton called Dark Shadows. If you are a Tim Burton fan you certainly must be a Johnny Depp fan because he’s in almost every Burton film as of late. Though he is not the only actor that has been used again and again. Wikipedia created a chart of how many times each actor has been in his films and Helena Bonham Carter is gathering up points as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton
I am not sure of why Burton reuses actors but I will give him, Depp and Bonham Carter credit for creating new characters for each film. When Depp first came on the scene it was as Edward Scissorhands, a softspoken man with scissors for hands, then forward through time a bit to the fainthearted Icabod Crane who curiosity in Sleepy Hallow almost gets him beheaded, then to Sweeney Todd, the hard hearted man who will stop at nothing to cut the throat of the man who ruined his life, to our most recent the Mad Hatter who is obviously different in appearance with red hair, green eyes and gapped teeth, and of course, well mad. Each character provides a new voice, accent, tone, posture, NEW CHARACTER.
Both men are brilliant but let us not forget Miss. Bonham Carter, the women with say in Burton’s world. Not only in appearance starting out with Burton in a full ape costume in Planet of the Apes but presence as well. Gentle and welcoming mother in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory to the demanding and frightening Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. There is no stopping this women, she was an ape, then a big headed queen, she will transform herself into her character.
I assume it is easy for Burton to work with the same actors because they are comfortable with each other and know how they work, know what to expect and know that it will be brilliant.
Burton at the MOMA
“I’m a happy-go-lucky manic depressive.”
Tim Burton
Scissors for Hands
“Movies are like an expensive form of therapy for me.”
Tim Burton
Back to the good days, Tim Burton and an original script! A man who has scissors for hands, original enough for that alone. A man who Burton was in touch with which is discussed in a wonderful book called Tim Burton Interviews edited by Kristian Fraga. In one of the interviews Burton says, “the film is about not being able to touch, to communicate. It’s about being at odds with your own body, doomed to misrepresent yourself and, in turn, to be miserably misperceived.” Edward is someone Burton completely understood. Burton is Edward Scissorhands, so to tell his story is like telling his own.
A book called Suburbia and Burton’s own childhood neighborhood inspired the look of the movie. In the Suburbia book “people pose in front of their garages or in paneled rooms and explain their lifestyles.” Burton says, “There’s one comment I love. “I find a sense of freedom in the suburbs. You assume the mask of suburbia for outward appearances, and yet no one knows what you really do.” He goes on to say, “That’s what so incredible about it. Because you’re so close to people and yet, you have no idea what they’re really about. This is the way I grew up feeling. And it can change at any moment. You’re never so close and distant from people at the same time.”
The designer of the film, Bo Welch states that he shrunk the windows of the houses “to be a little less friendly, a little more mask-like and to heighten the hiding-in-suburbia feeling.” Welch and Burton agreed on four-color scheme for the houses that included, “sea-foam green, dirty flesh, butter and dirty blue.” Sounds delightful and uninviting to me 
Burton himself describes his film as something less than crisp, “The camera moves a little more but don’t worry, it’s still clunky. There’s still a few shaky camera moves. It’s still got that same depressed..” and then trails off without finishing. The author of the article David Edelstein finished by saying, “He has a way of bringing down the room, our boy.”
This is classic Tim Burton, the Burton we all fell in love with, when he knew his characters and shared they’re pain of being the odd man in.
Has Tim Burton Lost His Edge?
“I treat every movie like it’s my next-and-last.”
Tim Burton
Some would say yes with the release of his more recent films, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland. As a die-hard Burton fan I feel he can do no wrong, besides agree to “some” CGI usage to cut cost. Some may say his films are slowly losing their “Burtonesque touch” and I would sadly have to agree after watching Alice in Wonderland. I would like to say it is because of the over usage of CGI, which makes everything look crisp or too clean. He did create a wonderful Chocolate factory and Wonderland but they seem to have the influence of “Disney” artist, compared to his films such as Edward Scissorhands and even his more recent Corpse Bride. Though I can not convince myself that I am disappointed with this man as I sit in bed and push play to enter his film world.
Maybe this is just the evolution of Tim Burton
Off With Their Heads!
“With other people she can play humans. With me, it’s completely non-human characters.”
Tim Burton
I feel the best part about Alice in Wonderland was Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen. Her character is visually loud and demands attention when she walks onto the screen. This is where the CGI does pays off because they make her head much larger than life and shows how “big-headed” she is.
Bonham Carter was very successful in making the Red Queen real. I would not cross her. As she demands to know who ate her tarts, even those she asks who are innocent are frightened. She makes her way down the line to the thief, lowers her voice and asks, “Did you steal my tarts?” Wipes the tart off his mouth and gives him no time to explain before yelling, “Off with his head!”
Burton and Bonham Carter have been very successful as he is with Depp, in creating wonderful and new characters with each new film. Sadly Anne Hathaway’s White Queen was not as impressive. I felt she was too stiff or too forceful with her body language which did not match her gentle voice. From an online interview she stated that she took influence from Blondie’s Debbie Harry as a gentle-looking but powerful women. She was not convincing enough for me. She did not seem to fit into a Tim Burton film. Helena Bonham Carter’s queen overshadows Anne Hathaway’s White Queen in every way, performance and visually.
Is He Mad?
“We did research on orange-haired characters, from Bozo to Carrot Top and everything in between. It was quite disturbing.”
Tim Burton
Once again Tim Burton and Johnny Depp combined forces to create the wonderful and clever Mad Hatter in Burton’s newest film, Alice in Wonderland. Depp made a most convincing Mad Hatter, in fact he almost went too mad a few times. The Hatter asks, “Have I gone mad?” To which Alice replies, “I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
From the outfit to the laugh the Mad Hatter is an exciting new character that has come from the glorious minds of Depp and Burton. He may look a bit much from the posters with the heavy makeup but I assure you, he is a very enjoyable character. The Mad Hatter has a kind of loneliness about him that can relate him to previous characters from Burton, such as Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington and even Beetlejuice. They are all one of a kind as is Burton himself.
Wonderland
“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality”
Tim Burton
Watching Alice in Wonderland made me thankful that Tim Burton still makes film, though the much used CGI muffled down the Tim Burton feel. It was too crisp to be a Tim Burton film, that’s because it is also a Disney film. Though if anyone should have made this film, it is Tim Burton, who can make a true Wonderland.
With a PG rating Burton had to keep a minimal to any gore. Disney gave him enough room to create the Red Queen’s bloody moat which is filled with the head’s of her victims. At one point Alice has shrunken and must cross the moat by using the heads as stepping-stones.
The color palette used was a bit more brighter than our usual Burton films. This can be noticed in his Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in which they also used a lot of CGI. I’m not sure if it was Disney that demanded a brighter film or if the artist involved in the CGI but we are far from Edward Scissorhand’s house and Halloweentown.
Overall I would suggest anyone who is a Tim Burton fan to go and watch this film, because no matter if it’s “not the same” because of Disney or Burton creating a more friendly vibe because he now has children himself, it is still a Tim Burton film.
Burton’s Nightmare
“There’s a painful quality when you grow up and you’re not perceived correctly”
Tim Burton
Tim Burton and Danny Elfman have proven to compliment each other with the beautiful films they have created that is pleasant to our eyes and ears.
I feel the music and lyrics by Danny Elfman add to the “friendliness” in The Nightmare Before Christmas. The songs Elfman wrote help to provide a more inviting feeling that sits on top of the dark settings and ghoulish creates. The monsters sing their HEARTS out.
If you watch this film without sound as a parent there may be a feeling of uneasiness as they prepare for Christmas and make a dead rat a hat, and as the toys chase after the children. They have the best intentions of “improving” Christmas as they sing, “Making Christmas. Time to give them something fun, they’ll talk about for years to come.”
It’s funny how right they were and 17 years later we still talk about The Nightmare Before Christmas. The music and songs are a major part of why this film has become a classic that we still enjoy today.
Misunderstood Monsters
“I found that most monsters were completely misunderstood. They usually had more sensitive souls than the human characters around them.”
Tim Burton
Tim Burton did not direct The Nightmare Before Christmas though he produce it. The director Henry Selick does credit Burton with the story concept, character design, look and tone of the film. In this post I would like to discuss the concept of misunderstood monsters as well as the message given in the film.
When you explain The Nightmare Before Christmas to someone they may feel that it sounds too morbid and or scary for children. Selick states in the bonus features of The Nightmare Before Christmas. that , “As gruesome as these characters may look, none of them are actually are cruel, with the exception of Boogie. Most of them are sweet, kind of like misunderstood monsters.” What needs to be understood is that these creatures are doing their job in Halloweentown and desire to do what they do best, even if it is to hide under your bed.
As a child these monsters were not scary and that is because Tim Burton gave them souls, feelings and passion. We see deep sadness as Jack Skellington enters the grave yard and sings, “Oh somewhere deep inside of these bones, an emptiness began to grow.” At this point we also see Sally the rag doll display empathy for Jack and his feeling of needing something more. As with most of Burton’s main characters, Jack feels misunderstood. He tried to become something more by becoming something he is not. Jack discovers in the end that is harder to be someone you are not then to just be yourself.
Burton's View 