#hodgson is there because he has potential and is good with the men and is also irvings emotional support dog

[leadandblood]

I can't help it, the show's just funnier through the lense of "terror lieuts including jopson are all crozier's kids"

[disacurveball]

The Terror characters as an American college fraternity

Sir John: Obviously the president. He’s an upperclassman, but is a junior. He wasn’t anyone’s first pick, but the former President and VP (Barrow and Ross) had to step down after the house gets a hazing investigation opened on it by the college. John isn’t doing a great job of stopping future hazing incidents from occurring. His house name is Puss in Boots (ate his boot while drunk).

Crozier: Very tired senior Vice-President. He has never run for an executive position before, but his situationship Sophia Cracroft asked him to make sure her cousin John doesn’t get arrested. He doesn’t go to house parties after brawling with Fitzjames over the last drops of beer in their keg, and is on mandated sobriety by the college for this incident. His house name is Gallon (nobody ask how much he drinks).

Fitzjames: The greatest Social chair that the brotherhood of Epsilon Tau has ever seen. Every year he hosts the infamous ET Toga party, which gets the cops called on it every year. He secretly is obsessed with Rupaul’s drag race which is why he’s always able to curate the most fire playlists. His house name is Madonna (it’s not a secret).

Dundy: Jock chair, obviously. Makes sure the boys are in good shape. I needn’t say any more. House name is Dundy, because that already is one.

Little: Stressed out House Man. He’s in charge of the physical upkeep of the house. That shit is literally falling apart. There are crushed beer cans everywhere, the floors are sticky, their windows are broken and there is a foul smell coming from all the couches. He’s constantly calling repair men on the weekends and crying when he has to clean up a toilet flood in the basement. His house name is Little because let’s be real, the dick jokes there are immense.

Hodgson: Recruitment chair! He makes fun Canva posters to promote Fitzjames’s parties and makes the house seem like a really fun and welcoming place to incoming freshmen PNMs (potential new members). Will he haze them when they become pledges? Sure. But he’d rather be playing Piano Man drunkenly at 2 am and yapping about linguistic facts at a party. His house name is Hodge Podge, after his assortment of fun facts.

Irving: Treasurer (treasuring the house <3) He was the only one who has experience handling funding before because he did so fundraising for his church. Giving back to the house and being in a supportive all-male environment is a Christian pleasure after all. He engages in hazing of biblical proportions. Part of the college hazing investigation was freshman pledge Magnus Manson being forced to stay in the cemetery all night. His house name is Cherub, obviously.

Jopson: The Secretary! He sends out all campus emails and takes really comprehensive meeting notes. If you need to know anything about house lore or precedent, you go to him, he knows the house constitution inside and out. This was especially helpful during the Hickey judiciary council case. His house name is just Jop because people respect him.

Hickey: Used to be a member of Epsilon Tau, but he got kicked out for being found out as the one who tipped the college off about their insane hazing. He did so because he ran for both President and VP and didn’t get elected to either. He didn’t even get elected when Barrow and Ross had to step down either. That sent him over the edge to the point where he started planting hard alcohol bottles around the house and calling the campus police to find them. They finally caught him when he recruited his friends Billy and Tozer to steal the house’s pong table. This table still resides in his off-campus rental house which he has started spreading the rumor is an unofficial new frat called “Sigma Mu”

Billy: He has never been affiliated with Greek life but joins Hickey’s new frat Sigma Mu as its Vice President. He may have been a vital part in Hickey’s decision to do this. He also unofficially acts as its treasurer and Secretary because he was already Hickey’s roommate in the rental house, so really he has no choice but to keep it afloat.

Tozer: Also used to be a part of Epsilon Tau, but gets kicked out too for helping Hickey steal the pong table, and also getting into one too many bar fights. He’s now the new Social chair/Recruitment chair at “Sigma Mu” and gets Pilkington and Armitage to join.

Des Voeux: Freshman who somehow becomes best friends with Fitzjames and Hodgson and so immediately gets into Epsilon Tau without much hazing involved. Nobody knows he’s the one who gave Hickey’s crew the new door code and info to go steal the pong table. He’s still part of ET but frequents the parties at Sigma Nu because he’s not about to say no to any rager. His house name is Des Hoeux.

Goodsir: Not part of Greek Life but he’s treated like an honorary brother of Epsilon Tau because he’s the student EMT who always gets sent to their house every party and he takes care of their drunk brothers. Somebody asks him for drugs every time he enters the building.

Blanky: Fuckmaster Blanky needs no description. He is a legend that gets past down amongst the brotherhood. Legend has it that Fuckmaster Blanky was a brother who lost his leg while doing what he loved……Recruitment chair will tell this story during initiation every year to encourage pledges to honor the house and be like Blanky.

[synesindri]

so admittedly i did think it was a little bit random when they started calling the mutineers a coven but i've seen the light now so here are my thoughts on this kickstarted by this description of a common 19th century british witch archetype:

literary representations of witches would also be underpinned by popular tales recorded by folklore collectors in most parts of Britain, which portrayed such people as utterly wicked, possessed of all too effective magical powers, and ending up brutally punished by death or injury

— ronald hutton, "Witches and Cunning Folk in British Literature 1800–1940," p29

1. "utterly wicked." i mean. no justification needed for this one probably.

2. "possessed of all too effective magical powers." not directly, but hickey is weirdly unaffected by sickness and starvation and exposure and exhaustion compared to the others (a lot of his off-the-rails behaviors/mentalities later on do map on reasonably well to symptoms of lead poisoning and other things going on, but like, he isn't bleeding or losing teeth and i would sell my soul for my skin to look the way his does even during the very worst of everything, so). he also clearly has a lot of power over many of the men, in an understandable leadership way that is more reliant on charisma, bribery, planfulness, and situations than magic, but it does seem kind of magical at times

3. "ending up brutally punished by death or injury." hard to get more brutally punished than literal bodily bifurcation. the rest of the "coven" likewise meet brutal ends.

4. devil shenanigans. lots of focus during this time period in british lore on witches and devil worship. obviously the tuunbaq is not a or the devil and it is troubling to suggest as much (even in its role as a fabricated entity that does not actually belong to the culture it has been inserted into). nonetheless, it is presented fearsomely in a way that seems likely to be understood as demonic or hellish by a christian crew such as the men of terror and erebus (it might even be described as such canonically? i don't remember specific examples and i haven't checked). certainly everyone has a good christian "avoid that thing" reaction to the tuunbaq — everyone except hickey, who finds it appealing and sees an opportunity to seek power through it, much as folkloric and literary witches of the era were depicted as doing through the devil.

5. christian inversions and rejections. the mutiny arguably really kicks off with the murder of lt. irving, the most outspokenly christian person in the group. christ symbolism through the "punished as a boy" scene through framing and posture. as lt hodgson so kindly spells out for us, cannibalism and (catholic) communion both involve the consumption of human blood and flesh. at mutineer supper time i was briefly convinced they were about to say grace (totally subjective on that one but whatev). hickey going up the hill to listen to his thoughts was very prophet-like imagery. hickey's final speech rejects god and religion. probably there are more examples but i think that's enough for this post that is already longer than i planned for it to be.

6. sexuality part 1. witches of the time and place were associated with non-normative sexual practices (including homosexuality, promiscuity, femdom, sexual coersion, so on and so forth). hickey is directly depicted in a sexual and romantic relationship with another man (who is also the one who first suggested mutiny in the first place, solidifying the narrative importance of the connection between gay people and mutiny. be gay do crimes but for serious). idk what the stance in general fandom scholarship is about the hickey-tozer dynamic, but i would say that is plausibly depicted as at least being implied to be not 100% heterosexual, which is particularly notable because that has important potential effects on how the power structure of the mutineer camp works — a chaste rank-based collegiality has a very different vibe than a situation where the main guy in charge and his second in command might be fucking (or kissing, or holding each other's faces in a sort of tender pseudo-religious way, or whatever else they might have been getting up to together) — this is getting a bit off from witchcraft but certainly there are many comparable depictions of witches coercing powerful men to do their bidding by using sexuality (see my non-existent au i just thought of just now that's based on lewis's the monk, i guess???)

7. sexuality part 2. witches also were notorious for doing castration to people. sorry, irving.

8. sexuality part 3. perhaps most notably witches were regarded as having sexual relationships with the devil. none of the mutineers ever gets it on with the tuunbaq obviously (although i feel confident that some adventurous fic writers out there have probably made this a subject of their study), but it is KIND of attempted symbolically. i talked about this already but it bears repeating here that the tongue is an erogenous body part generally, and there is possibly some mild extra narrative emphasis on that symbolism for hickey specifically, so the metaphorical self-castration of him cutting out his own tongue and offering it to the tuunbaq is a little bit giving weird sex. it's also giving nun/priest/monk-like disavowal of the potential for (at least a few types of) sex with human beings in favor of pledging oneself to a deity.

9. human sacrifice. common trope with witches, and the clear point of hickey's dragging everybody up that hill with him when he goes also to attempt to sacrifice part of his own human self to the tuunbaq.

10. identity. this is a little less solid but there's often kind of a sense that witches aren't who they claim to be? see lewis's the monk again, with (spoilers, i guess) the character of monk rosario revealing himself actually to be matilda, a seductive witch, who eventually does a double reveal that she's a demon. the "i'm not really cornelius hickey" reveal is giving that, a bit.

[laststandx3]

what are ur best terror ships??? /wllipt

so as you might have guessed I have a soft spot for hickey. so hickey/gibson and hickey/tozer are my faves.

Adding on this i can add the unappreciated and overlooked but with actually a lot of potential ship: gibson/tozer, hear me out: they're in a situationship with the same weird little guy but they're polar opposite (introvert vs extrovert, judgy vs friendly, self-reliant vs loyal, it's-not-personal-but-it's-finished vs get-me-off-these-chains-cornelius!, we'll-be-flogged vs walking to the gallows together aka not wanting trouble vs risking everything) and yet those two clever, practical, peaceful, skilled men fall for the same guy.

I think exactly for those contradictions they can have such an interesting dynamic.

If Billy had more scenes people would appreciate him more. Tozer gets flashed out a lot more, has different interactions and we get to see his character arc. Billy's arc tho happens mostly off-screen. even his talk with irving is off-screen. we don't see how billy reacts AFTER the flogging (it's implied he and hickey didn't interact much and that hickey spent more time with the marines) but then again we see so little from billy's pov one really needs to pay attention to him to notice the shades of his personality.

anyway. i got lost, back to the question: gibson/hickey/tozer is my ot3, because on one side

-> tozer adds a sense of stability to hickey/gibson that they alone don't have.

on the other side

<- gibson is the reality check to hickey/tozer. dont get me wrong but hickey/tozer is also (much slower than hickey/gibson) on a self-destruction path. you know tozer can't say no to hickey until it's too late. So billy would be the canary to the coalmine that can be hickey's lastest scheme.

basically I'm a hickey shipper, with the right setup i'm all for hickey/manson, hickey/irving, and even hickey/hartnell. hickey/goodsir too! i forgot about them

i see why people might enjoy hickey/crozier but i'm not part of the 'fuck that old man' club so i don't actively look up for those.

I can also see the appeal for hickey/jopson, but to me jopson isn't flashed out enough to be interesting. he's just very needy for crozier approval. to me he doesn't carry anything on his own, he's got eldest daughter syndrome and he's the guy from tweeter who says i don't have an opinion on my own, if a beautiful girl tells me to change my mind I will. but for crozier. sorry for the jopson enjoyers. nothing personal, that character doesn't resound with me. i don't have daddy issues.

other ships i enjoy are: tozer/armitage, manson/hartnell, heather/being alive, anyone/hodgson bc hodge is a case study, it's interesting for interpretation. honorable mention goodsir/silna

honorable non-mention bridgens/peglar, bc they're already happy in canon or into a realtionship of some kind so i don't feel the need to explore that more.

and this is it.

hope you found this answer interesting and...not to long and have a good day <3

[eddycurrents]

Strange Places: The Island

Words & Art: Mike Mignola | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Hellboy: The Island #1 & 2 | June & July 2005

Epilogue - Originally published by Dark Horse in Hellboy - Volume 6: Strange Places | April 2006

Collected in Hellboy - Volume 6: Strange Places | Hellboy Library Edition - Volume 3 | Hellboy Omnibus Volume 2: Strange Places

Plot Summary:

Hellboy emerges from the depths of the ocean to a crag of wrecked ships and navigates an island of ghosts, ruminating on who he is, who he was, and who he’s meant to be.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination does not represent anything within the issue or collections themselves, it is solely in reference to the chapter.)

pg. 1 - The bleakness in these panels from the white skies, white water, the faded colour to the gulls and the ships, this feels like purgatory. In his introduction to this story, Mike Mignola said that he was inspired by William Hope Hodgson’s Sargasso Sea stories, which explains the setting, but this feels so much further removed from the world. That Hellboy has landed himself in a no man’s land.

Also, I think a potential interpretation of “The Third Wish” and “The Island” is to see them as two parts of the death and resurrection of Hellboy. Maybe not literally, maybe so, since everything here seems to be an existential exercise. In the former, you could see Hellboy going to a “hell” in the underworld of the sea and the final panels are vague enough that he could have drowned. Then in “The Island”, his soul is traversing this kind of purgatory, facing his demons and angels, while searching for a way to exist again.

pg. 3 - Absolutely stunning work from Mignola and Dave Stewart. The fading, distant sunset just adding to the feeling that wherever Hellboy is, there’s soon to be no light or warmth.

pg. 4 - This is a nice summary of the last story. The appearance of others is certainly strange.

pg. 5-6 - The sea shanty, what’s actually looking more like flaming mugs than just sloshing ale, and weird orange colour definitely give it a feel that something’s wrong here.

pg. 7 - And there’s the rub. You do wonder, though, if Hellboy’s drinking with ghosts or if his loneliness and drink have him hallucinating happier surroundings.

Also, I just love the presentation here. The layout for the page and bottom tier’s grid is just interesting.

pg. 8 - Hecate’s looking a bit different from her last appearance, but it’s interesting to see her here to lay claim on Hellboy. The moon in the background is a nice little hint to her identity, if anyone was confused at the onset before she’s explicitly named.

Also, like the monkey with a gun panel, this is probably one of the funniest sequences in a Hellboy comic.

pg. 9-11 - Hecate’s reasoning for Hellboy to join her is kind of weird, reiterating a binary choice that Hellboy himself has rejected the notion of before.

That’s also probably one of the creepiest, most terrifying “I want you inside of me” propositions from a woman...or iron maiden. Somebody should probably do a study of the sexual innuendo in Hellboy and how awkward and strange much of it happens to be.

pg. 11 - Hellboy atop the cliff, tossing away the rum bottle, discovery of another skeleton, and then fade to black is probably one of the scenes in this story that most reminds me of The Seventh Seal.

pg. 12 - And then things possibly get stranger. Being unfixed in time and place give you a lack of orientation literally, so the appearance of a castle randomly on this island is even an odder prospect.

pg. 13 - When has Hellboy ever done the “sane” thing?

pg. 14-15 - Like the castle, the appearance of the priest, knights, and the man they’re judging as a heretic is hard to place, unexplained, making you wonder if it’s something currently happening, something that has happened previously and we’re just getting a flashback, or what.

pg. 18 - Sudden monster appearance is sudden.

pg. 19-21 - Impressive battle, though there’s an interesting level of futility that Mignola introduces through referencing Moby Dick. That Hellboy is losing himself in continuing this battle.

pg. 22 - Yeah...grievous impalement probably isn’t good.

pg. 24-25 - I definitely seems more now that the bit with the priest is in the past. With the heretic telling the priest that he’ll rise again some time in the future.

pg. 26-27 - The juxtaposition of the heretic’s words in the past over the events in the present with Hellboy are well done. The art as well is just phenomenal. The darkness, the spot colours of red, the designs for the sculptures and decorations, the resuscitation of the old heart, you kind of just have to stare at these pages a few times to take it all in.

pg. 28 - Aside from just looking cool, there are also possibly some hints as to some of the story elements in what otherwise may just seem like random images.

pg. 30 - Mohlomi’s reappearance is certainly interesting. Especially serving as a kind of psychopomp for Hellboy. It makes you wonder if his role even in “The Third Wish” was merely a passive guide, ferrying Hellboy from one place to another.

pg. 31 - I absolutely love that the heretic has taken Hellboy’s colour scheme, along with his blood. It helps reinforce the idea that this is an assumption of Hellboy’s life and destiny, that he’s basically stolen everything of Hellboy’s existence to spur his own resurrection. And in doing so, Hellboy’s colour has faded and left him grey.

There’s also a visual similarity to the wound pattern and silhouette of Rasputin. From a conceptual standpoint, it sets up Hellboy against not just someone who has taken on his essential life spark to serve as a kind of doppelganger, but also a representation of his opposite.

pg. 32 - The heretic basically explaining it to us, and Hellboy just not having any of it is typical. Absolutely gorgeous art still from Mignola and Stewart.

pg. 34 - The legend of those gold tablets (alternately copper in some tellings, I think, but mostly gold) is real. Again, it’s a testament to how Mignola tells a story, weaving in bits of pre-existing folklore, urban legends, mythology, occult, and magick with his own inventions to tell a bigger story.

pg. 37 - I find it very interesting that as soon as Mignola goes into the creation story for Hellboy, the constrained layouts and grids ends. Suddenly we get a full bleed page, something we’ve not seen often in the series. Visually, it signifies that something bigger is being told here, even if you don’t necessarily comprehend that on a first reading.

pg. 39-40 - And that full-page storytelling continues through with the creation of the Ogdru Jahad and their offspring.

pg. 41 - And just weird happenings regarding the creator race of Watchers and the one who basically constructed their “devil” in Ogdru Jahad, and how his bits and pieces ultimately come down to Hellboy’s conception.

pg. 42 - This conception of the creation of gods and monsters, of mice and men, is interesting. Even if predicated on a faulty understanding from Blavatsky.

pg. 44 - Just stunning use of colour from Stewart.

pg. 46 - And it gets woven back into the narrative that started in Seed of Destruction and is currently running through this narrative movement in BPRD.

pg. 47 - It’s interesting that it always cycles back to the crazy. Delusions of grandeur and an attempt to run the world, to have it accept him as a saviour, anyone who disagrees be damned. It’s an interesting counterpoint to Hellboy, who doesn’t want to be a hero but tends to do the right thing just because it’s “right”.

pg. 50 - I love it when Hellboy provides his own sound effects.

pg. 51 - It always sucks when hurting the villain hurts you yourself. This mirror nature between the heretic and Hellboy is fascinating. It’s also interesting to see what effect Mohlomi’s trinkets are having.

pg. 52 - The heretic’s assumption of Hellboy’s “true” form, even as this nascent Anung Um Rama demon--though looking a wee bit more like Astaroth--is interesting. It’s a sign of a path not taken.

pg. 53 - Creepy worm is back.

pg. 54 - The heretic suffering as the worm creature thing dies is an interesting touch. Gorgeous artwork.

pg. 56 - After all that...

pg. 57 - Ominous hint of things to come.

pg. 60 - Love the use of the fairies and night creatures and whatnot again as a kind of Greek chorus for the epilogue.

Also a hint for what comes next in the main narrative, “Even now he is bound for England.” which I think picks up in Darkness Calls.

pg. 61 - I find it interesting that Hecate has apparently fallen silent, likely living by Hellboy’s wish for her to leave him alone (at least for the time being).

pg. 62-63 - Nice reiteration and reinterpretation of who Hellboy is.

pg. 63 - It’s also interesting as to just how much of Hellboy’s eventual fate is shaped just because this little hobgoblin, Gruagach, couldn’t handle his smackdown from being a jerk back in “The Corpse”.

pg. 65 - Just let it go, pig dude.

Final Thoughts:

So...if “The Third Wish” was a fairy tale, Mike Mignola’s tragic take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, this is something else entirely as a follow-up, somewhere between The Seventh Seal and Black Narcissus. It’s bleak, distant, esoteric, and absolutely lush when it comes to its use of colour to set mood and atmosphere.

While it is a resumption of the origin cycle for Hellboy that has played out before in the narrative a few times now since Seed of Destruction, it’s also a bit of transference and confrontation of Hellboy’s destiny that plays out here. Where previous iterations may have been an emotional response and rejection, here we get a more measured physical and intellectual rejection.

This also feels kind of like a dry run for the storytelling approach that we’re going to eventually be seeing in parts of Hellboy in Hell. This story definitely takes us to some strange places.

d. emerson eddy is just a broken machine, with all the layers of dust some things have started to fail. Some things. Some.

[s0022219a2film-blog]

Section 1: Creative Investigation T. Creative Investigation - First Draft

Creative Investigation

For my creative investigation I will be exploring authorship in the fantasy genre. I aim to investigate the themes that create a Burtonesque styled film, shown through the gothic aspects of Burton’s films. There are key articles that inspire my study; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Berardinelli, J, 2017, ReelViews), which discusses how Tim Burton uses similar aspects within the film X-Men, based on the children in both films having special abilities, which could in fact undermine Burton’s authorship. A book I am inspired by is Burton On Burton (Burton, T, Salisbury, M, Depp, J, 2000) which highlights Burton’s works and how they can inspire his films, and how his collaborations with stars that may effect the authorship due to how Burton can rely on the stars of his film successes. The key frameworks that I will use for my study are authorship within the theory of Andrew Sarris (relating to the three premises - the technical competence, the personal style, and the interior meaning). Which helped me create my three subtopics: style, collaboration and theme of a potential auteur. I will focus my study on the following focal films; Alice In Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010); Edwards Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990); Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Tim Burton, 2016).

Primary Research Texts

Filmography:

Item 1: Burton, Tim, 1990, Edward Scissorhands, 20th Century Fox

This is a fantasy drama film, which reflects upon the director himself, as he believed he was an outsider much like how Edward Scissorhands is portrayed in a “perfect” traditional life in the suburbs. I chose this film to look at the success of Tim Burton and how it was created in order for the film to be effective in terms of showing the interior meaning of the director, which is a part of the auteur premises. I will be also focusing on how certain roles on the film set may be beneficial to the success of the films, in terms of stars, director, music composer, designer and editor.

Item 2: Burton, Tim, 2010, Alice In Wonderland, Walt Disney Pictures

Alice In Wonderland is a classic Disney fairytale, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll, in 1865, about a little girl in a shop in Oxford, that he visited. However, Tim Burton transferred the fairytale into a twisted fairytale, with the hybrid genres of fantasy and adventure. I chose this film due to how the themes are effective in the film as it is about growing up and coming of age, which is used a lot in Tim Burton films, as he tends to use younger actors in his films, this is because he believed that younger characters created a more honorific and dark atmosphere.

Item 3: Burton, Tim, 2016, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Twentieth Century Fox

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is one of Tim Burton’s more recent films, it is about a boy who is portrayed as an outcast in society, much like Edward Scissorhands, this shows how Tim Burton uses interior meaning from the auteur theory of the three premises as he tends to repeat many themes in his films. I chose this film as I believe that the fantasy and drama film is similar to the other films in terms of genre, which may cause a counter argument in terms of how Tim Burton may actually be categorised because of the repetition of generic conventions.  Also, this is the only film that I have chosen that doesn’t repeat the actor - Johnny Depp - which could imply how Tim Burton may not rely on star power all the time.

Secondary Research texts:

Books:

Item 4: Reference: Andrew Sarris (1962) Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962. Barry Keith Grant (ed) Auteurs and Authorship. Oxford Blackwell Publishing. 35-42

Andrew Sarris uses a series of examples of movie director, to music composers and artists, to show a high level of understanding on what an auteur is made up of, using Hitchcock as a huge example.

Item 5: Reference: Gledhill, C. (1991). Stardom. London: Routledge.

This is linking to a small part I would mention, that Johnny Depp is a star who Tim Burton relies on having a repetitive surreal character.

Item 6: Reference: Burton, T., Salisbury, M. and Depp, J. (2000). Burton on Burton. London: Faber.

This is an overview of how Edward Scissorhands is similar to Burton, but also how it can relate to a younger audience who is going through situations like feeling as if they are an outsider.

Item 7: Reference: Hodgson, B (2017) The Elusive Auteur. The Question of Film Authorship Throughout the Age of Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

This is an overview on what an auteur is, it is saying how they have full control (directors). This is useful to my research as it agrees towards my point about how Tim Burton is an author.

Articles:

Item 8: Reference: Perno, G. (2017). Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton. [online] Cinelinx.com. Available at: http://www.cinelinx.com/movie-stuff/item/6889-director-s-trademarks-tim-burton.html [Accessed 19 Sept. 2017].

The article is about the stylistic techniques that are usually conventional to a Burtonesque film, it shows how many of Tim Burton uses repetition of the music, as Danny Elfman is usually the one to dictate in that department, the use of stars as Tim Burton relies on specific stars like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, which could relate to them being type cast. It involves the certain aspects that Tim Burton uses to give the Burtonesque style.

Item 8: Reference: Berardinelli, J. (2017). Alice in Wonderland | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/alice-in-wonderland [Accessed 19 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review about how Alice In Wonderland is interpreted by Tim Burton, and how he creates his style on a “twisted tale”, towards a children’s bedtime story.

Item 9: Reference: Usatoday30.usatoday.com. (2017). 3-D ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sparkles with magic, splendor - USATODAY.com. [online] Available at: https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-03-05-alice05_ST_N.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

The critics review is talking about the interpretation of the modern Alice, is engaging and amusing.

Item 10: Reference: Berardinelli, J. (2017). Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children[Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review on how Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is presented with good actors with similarities to other films like X-Men, due to how the children having special abilities.

Item 11: Reference: We Live Entertainment. (2017). “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” Review. [online] Available at: http://weliveentertainment.com/welivefilm/miss-peregrines-home-peculiar-children-review/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review about miss peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, it is showing the similarities of Tim Burton’s successful films like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice.

Item 12: Reference: Dargis, M. (2017). Review: In ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home,’ Chasing Grandpa’s Stories Down a Rabbit Hole. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review on how Miss Peregrine’s is portrayed to the audience, and for how Tim Burton always brings the sense of uneasiness and eerie atmosphere.

Item 13: Reference: Aesthetica Magazine. (2017). Aesthetica Magazine - The Imagination of Tim Burton. [online] Available at: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/the-imagination-of-tim-burton/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is an article that includes insights from the Andrew Sarris notes on auteur theory, and how Tim Burton is an auteur himself, as he is a director and an artist.

Item 14: Reference: Itzkoff, D. (2017). Tim Burton on His Movies, His Life and His Tombstone. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/movies/tim-burton-at-home-in-his-own-head.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is about how Tim Burton is an auteur due to his own the theme, and how the star of his films (Johhny Depp) is usually the same type of character throughout his films.

Item 15: Reference: Classic-horror.com. (2017). Edward Scissorhands (1990) | Classic-Horror.com. [online] Available at: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/edward_scissorhands_1990 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This article is talking about how Tim Burton has created Edward Scissorhands more of an autobiography with using his dark and eerie themes to give a touch of ‘Burtonesque’ that makes him an auteur.

Aims of research

I would like to address the question:

Does Tim Burton’s own themes and styles make him a successful auteur. However, does Tim Burton rely on other collaborations for the production of the films?

My creative investigation is focused on these areas:

What are the key traits of Tim Burton's directorial style in the three focal films?

For this question, I would like to evaluate the micro elements of each focal film and gather evidence to where they are similar to each other, to determine whether Tim Burton has his own style, but that he may repeat them making him stuck with a specific genre, however, he is more of an auteur as the audience can easily define a Tim Burton film compared to different directors, as only his Gothic aspects can really succeed. I will also be linking to how his styles in his film help the genre based films more. For this question, I would like to find out how Tim Burton uses specific styles that are made from him, and how the audience can easily identify when they are watching a Tim Burton film. I would like to argue points on whether he is an auteur or much like Alfred Hitchcock; he may have been stuck within a specific genre. This will be linked to Tim Burton’s famous aesthetic visuals of the three focal films.

What are the recurrent themes in Tim Burton's films that are evident in the three focal films?

For this question, I would like to find out how Tim Burton uses specific themes that are made from him, and how the audience can easily identify when they are watching a Tim Burton film. I would like to argue points on whether he is an auteur or much like Alfred Hitchcock; he may have been stuck within a specific genre. This will be linked to Tim Burton’s famous aesthetic visuals of the three focal films.  I would also analysis certain themes that are used in most of Tim Burton films, and how it makes the audience understand the characters more.

Does the fact that Tim Burton has well established working relationships with a number of stars and high profile crew weaken his claim to authorship?

For this question, I would like to evaluate whether the stars are relied on more by Tim Burton in order for the films to succeed and attract the audience. I would be focused on two main actors that are used by Tim Burton the most as they were used more than eight times.

As part of my directors study on Tim Burton, I am focusing on Burton’s unique styles and themes, in order for him to be classed as an auteur, I will give evidence from my three focal films: Alice In Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I chose these films as I believe that each film shows the gothic style clearly in each film, I will also be arguing how Tim Burton’s chance on being an auteur maybe effected due to how he is reliant on his collaborations with: editors, actors, sound composers and costume.

What are the key traits of Tim Burton's directorial style in the three focal films?

As part of my study of Tim Burton being an auteur, I have analysed free focal films: Alice In Wonderland, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Edward Scissorhands in order to show that Tim Burton can be considered as an auteur and being a “true author” to his own films, by using a specific style that only he is known for to an audience as they will be able to identify through certain aspects of the films.

According to Andrew Sarris, the 3 premises of auteur theory uses the outer circle as technique (technician), the second circle is the signature style (stylist), and the inner circle is the interior meaning (auteur), is important to film authorship as it allows the audience to identify the work of a director, which is exactly what we can do with an artist. So for the style and technique of Tim Burton it is mainly super gothic and eerie with the use of creative CGI. Also, the signature should be clear in all of Tim Burton’s projects, so that the audience would be able to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film.

For my source 1, it clearly states many aspects in Tim Burton’s films to create the “Burtonesque” style; the writer describes Burton’s work, as “Tim Burton is one of those directors who has an easily identifiable visual style almost all of his films revel in gothic imagery. From the characters themselves, to the props, to the houses and cities where the films take place are sculpted in an an exaggerated, almost cartoonish way to emphasize “goth” features.” It is said by Andrew Sarris that to be an auteur you have a style, as he has directed, produced, edited, screen-played many of his films, he does have a lot of similarities in his films, however, what can be questionable to being an auteur, is that is Tim Burton stuck in a genre or is his projects art?

This is clearly shown in the film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children through the use of a low angle, over the shoulder shot of the house that is visually gothic, the house is also rather exaggerated in terms of showing how the house gives an eerie atmosphere, which is an imposing and intimidating impression towards the audience, so it can get more of a reaction. To link this back with my main point, the mise-en-scene via lighting is low key to create a spooky atmosphere, also how the houses in many of Tim Burtons films are isolated to other houses, and that they are all mainly abandoned looking and dark, to underline how someone is lurking in the house. This may also be shown through colour filters during the production of filming to create the low key lighting to make the genre seem more mysterious towards the audience.

Moreover, it is also repeated in Edward Scissorhands with the almost identical house, it is also a with a character who is in shot and how they are unknown to what is in the house, which creates a more mystery genre, which appears a lot in Tim Burton’s films. Similarly, to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, it links back to my main point of the use of mise-en-scene, via lighting and set as the house is dark in comparison to the surroundings. It also creates a more horror genre to all of him films as the low key lighting and the set are mostly found within the conventions of a horror genre film. Also, Tim Burton creates the individual style with his own gothic houses to be surrounded by a suburban housing estate, which creates a large emphasis of the gothic atmosphere in the film, which is helped by wide shots and establishing shots, as it shows a clear contrasts of what is first seen as a protagonist village and a house that could possible hold the antagonist, which shows the messages and values of, ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’. The blue skies and the yellow car creates a juxtaposition as they both contrast to the dark and gothic house, this is effective because juxtaposing is commonly used to create the audience to understand a certain character, much like how Edward who is inside the house, may first be labelled and the antagonist due to how the house is darker to the surroundings. Juxtaposing is also used to create suspense within a scene, Peg is seen in her natural lighting near her yellow, with her pastel colour costume, however in the extreme long shot, she is towered other by a gothic and mysterious house, that she is unknown to who might be lurking.

Also, it is evident in the film of Alice In Wonderland, this is shown through the set, it is also helped through editing via CGI, as most of Alice In Wonderland relies on editing. Which goes against the more realistic world creating verisimilitude as it creates a more adventure and fantasy genre, unlike the other focal films, which contain more of a horror genre. This links to my main point about Tim Burton using mise-en-scene via low key lighting and dark sets, used to convey a gothic style to the films, this is effective to the audience because it allows them to immediately understand that they are watching a Tim Burton film, making him an auteur as he is easily recognisable for a gothic style and theme. Through the image of Alice In Wonderland, the gothic aspects in the scene are the isolated stairs and doors, which look to be deteriorating, the stars are full of green moss which shows how the area is becoming old and slowly dying, the tree is also gothic and it seems to have sharp branches that may look as if they are pointing toward the door where Alice Kingsley came from, which could imply to how Alice has walked into the danger.

Each example for my focal films demonstrates Tim Burton’s films have set micro elements, like mise-en-scene and editing in his films to portray the horror and fantasy dark comedy genres, which make his films rather unique to him, and that this allows the audience to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film. Tim Burton uses a fairy-tale style to his films, which allows the films to have more flow, to show the events while a voiceover is heard, to help the audience understand what is happening in the film.

However, for my source review sheet investigation 5, the magazine ReelViews written by James Berardinelli, throughout the article he would praise Tim Burton for making his films his own style, “Burton adds his own stamp to the production by making the Hollows nightmare-worthy...”, which is showing how Berardinelli looks up to Tim Burton’s own style, however, towards the end of the article he mentions, “The movie’s pacing sags a little toward the middle and the action sequence forms the climax goes on for a little too long...” Berardinelli says how he was slightly bored due to how Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children didn’t give the right pace, unlike Tim Burton’s other films, could this suggest to why the use of his typical stars like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter was not in this film, and their usual creative and extravagant characters were missing from the film, however, pacing may be caused by the editing of the film, which could mean how some scenes were too long, which made the film lack in excitement.

What are the recurrent themes in Tim Burton's films that are evident in the three focal films?

For my study of Tim Burton, I am focusing on authorship. I have chosen three focal films: Alice In Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I chose these as it creates a more obvious timeline due to Edward Scissorhands came out in 1999, Alice In Wonderland in 2010, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in 2016, so it proves how Tim Burton is still making films from the 90s to now, which shows how he is successful due to his films still doing well, with his gothic style, meaning I am measuring up all of the qualities of Tim Burton’s films and testing if his features equals up to being an auteur. For this subtopic I will be decide and evaluate Tim Burton’s themes in the three focal films. Most common themes within Tim Burton’s films are isolation, identity, courage and appearances.

Auteurs need to have full command over the way the film is presented, artistically (genre, themes, and mise-en-scene) and technically (cinematography). Also, the signature should be clear in all of Tim Burton’s projects, so that the audience would be able to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film. That is why it is important for Tim Burton to have his own themes as it makes his film clearly to be his own project. The themes tend to relate to the characters who are the main part of the narrative, they seem to be  more of an outsider trying to fit into a false society.

The common themes of the narrative can be shown through the storytelling of what Tim Burton is also famous for, which is show in my source review sheet “Burton likes to use flashbacks in order to tell a story within a larger story. He uses them to help add additional depth to his characters and, in the case of his main characters, help the audience understand why they are so strange.” This is from the magazine Movie Buffs, it shows how Tim Burton tends to use similar motives to help the audience connect in ways to a character with a detailed back story which are mostly sad stories in order for the audience to feel sorry for the character, and tend to be thinking that they are the protagonist in the end as they have been put under hard situations, which is rather emotive language to make the audience respect the character and would want to help them.

The first theme that is evident to the audience in Edward Scissorhands is ‘Conformity’ this is due to how Edward Scissorhands first reveals through mise-en-scene via set design as the colours are all warm and bright, each house colours are also pastel colours, which gives an over-exaggerated effect, the houses are also not tainted or anything, which gives a perfect mask effect, almost as if the houses are trying to hide something. Which could be Edward’s house as it is the only house that stands out due to the dark colours of the gothic house. It is also shown as more characters are introduced later on in the film, the characters wear the same colours, which are also pastel like the houses, the lives seem tidy but plain which everyone tends to have the same source of entertainment, which is cooking on the barbecues and sports. They also have the same schedule, which is one of the scenes where all the cars pull out of the drive, but in more detail of the scene, it is the men who are driving off, which shows the lack of diversity of women and men, and that the village concentrates on stereotyping women to be more of a house wife. When Edward cuts the bushes in the garden of Peg’s, everyone follows what the latest trend if, which is showing how the neighbourhood always want what everyone has. Another clear theme in Edward Scissorhands is being ‘The Outsider’ this is because Tim Burtons shows how people who seem to be different in society are rejected straight away. Edward is seen as an outsider as his hands have sharp objects on, which immediately consider him being a protagonist as he is a walking potential weapon. First, people’s reactions like Peg in the scene I analysed, shown through a shot reverse shot, Peg steps back when Edward reaches out to her for  ‘Love’ (which is another key theme in Edward Scissorhands). However, as Edward was welcomed by the family to stay at their home, the use of ‘conformity’ leads the neighbourhood to forcefully welcome Edward which is why they called him “Extraordinary”. However, as Edward does an act were he doesn’t necessarily want to do it, he only wants to have an impression on Kim, he is immediately called a “freak” by the neighbourhood. The source from Burton on Burton says: “From day one you’re categorized.”, which implies how Tim Burton understands what the society is

In the film Alice In Wonderland, there is a clear and evident theme going on throughout the film, which is growing up. This is also helped by the writer, Lewis Carroll, this is known as Lewis Carroll likes the innocent way a children would view the adult world, however, it is slightly changed through the way Tim Burton presented the way Alice In Wonderland is, this is by having Alice to be an adult who is 19 years old. This is to define a creepy childlike world, but also a sense of escapism as Alice before she follows the White Rabbit, she was basically being forced into a marriage. The fact that Alice actually struggles in this child-like view on an adult world shows how a child in real like struggles to survive on their own, which means to understand the adult world, Alice would have to go through of ending the typical youthful mindedness that is a typical characteristic of a child-like character. During Alice’s quest through Wonderland, she is in fact growing up in her mind, which is showing through symbolic representations of shrinking and growing, which is an evident movement in editing however, it has a hidden meaning to it. Which links to an article that said, “From day one you’re categorized.”, this shows how Tim Burton understands what society is about, he also mentions how Edward is more of a figment of himself in society as he felt hew never actually fitted in well, which shows how he is following on what Andrew Sarris believed that a true auteur puts his own personal aspect into his film in order to succeed. As she is growing up, she is also understanding the creatures that live in Wonderland, she learns that everyone is actually mad in Wonderland by the Cheshire Cat, however she starts to learn the crazy rules in Wonderland, and starts to get better at managing certain situations. In the end, Alice loses her innocent and child-like imagination , as for example, she realises that the threat from the Red Queen, is just really a pack of cards. Also, identity is a key theme in Alice In Wonderland is ‘Identity’ which relates to the theme of ‘Growing up’. She is always forced to identify herself to the creatures in Wonderland, however she doubts her own identity. It is also shown when the White Rabbit actually confuses Alice Kingsley with his maid Mary Ann.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children also have similar themes, much like Alice In Wonderland, the theme of ‘Coming of Age’ and ;Growing up’, this is due to how Jacob’s age, he is a typical misunderstood to his parents. As his grandfather gave these stories that are fantasy styles, makes Jacob having to overcome a burden that his now - dead - grandfather had gave Jacob. At the start of the film, it shows a nerdy teenager working in a shop, trying to fit into the conformity of being a typical teenager by trying to impress a girl, which doesn’t really work out right. Meaning he was trying to be confident, even though his actual personality is a scared and unsure personality. By the end of the film, Jacob ends up with a choice on whether to stay with his family, which would be the easier path for him, or leaving with the peculiar children, which is the harder option, as it is out of his comfort zone. He completes the ‘Coming of Age’ theme by choosing the harder path. Another theme in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is ‘The Hero’s Journey’ which is were the narrative of a character leaves the comfort of their home, which is Jacob who first lives in America, goes on a vacation to Wales, where he has gone on a physical journey that would trigger an emotion, which seems to be ‘Love’, (which is also a theme within Edward Scissorhands, with Edward and Kim), as Jacob and Emma Bloom tend to have moments between one another, also it is where Jacob goes into another dimension going back to the 1940′s.

As Tim Burton often relies on similar themes within his films, shows how he relies on themes a lot, which means he tends to have a view on how he wants his films to relate to the audience, this could be because he tends to relate to some of the themes like ‘identity’ and trying to fit in within the ‘conformity’ of some societies, which is shown in the article: “ “The manifestation of the image made itself apparent and probably came to surface when I was a teenager, because it is a very teenage thing”, which is from the book, Burton on Burton, this shows how Burton often relates his films back to his past, which relates back to when Andrew Sarris believes that an auteur would put their personal aspects into their films in order to succeed.

To further prove Tim Burton’s status on being an auteur is the research through the themes that are shown  in Tim Burton’s films, as the themes are shown frequently in his films, shows how Tim Burton has a recognisable themes and styles towards the audience, which further on proves my hypothesis.

Does the fact that Tim Burton has well established working relationships with a number of stars and high profile crew weaken his claim to authorship?

For this subtopic, I will want to find out how it can be arguable for Tim Burton to be an auteur due to how he can be heavily influenced by other features on set, much like the sound where most of his films use the composer Danny Elfman, who emphasises emotion and the genre of Tim Burton’s film “Danny Elfman has created the soundtracks for all of Burton’s films”- This is from my first review sheet from the magazine ‘Movie Buffs’ written by G.S. Perno. This is linking further on into my abstract essay about how Danny Elfman heavily influenced the sound in Tim Burton’s films.

Tim Burton can also rely on his stars as well as keeping up a Gothic appearance through cinematic an visual approaches8, this is seen through most of the success of his films, he has used many successful actors in his films, from Winona Ryder, known for films like ‘Girl, Interrupted’ (1999), which did well in the the worldwide gross went to $28,350,204, earning a 7.4 out of 10. Also, Tim Burton repeats his actors to who may have helped the box office like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who he has repeated around 8 of his films, “ Most prominently, it’s Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter who have appeared the most (8 and 7 films respectively).”, this quote is from my review sheet one from the Movie Buffs, written by G.S Perno.. Even though I haven’t chosen my focal films to have Johnny Depp in, I would rather compare any differences on the box office, to see if Johnny Depp would make the box office rise. However, this leads to them being more typed casted due to his films having similar gothic styles, they are deemed to have to have the same sort of dark roles. Sound is completely famous for a Tim Burton film, as most of the soundtracks are often similar in most of his films. Which is obvious through two out of three of my focal films, Danny Elfman has composed the music for Edward Scissorhands and Alice In Wonderland. The soundtrack for Edward Scissorhands delivers the emphasis on the characters emotions. Whereas, Alice’s theme song gives a more fantasy and tense atmosphere rather than focusing on the emotions of the characters. However, the partnership between the music composer and the director may effect the auteur status as Tim Burton may be too reliant on the composer

From my review sheet 11, the book, ‘Stardom: Industry of Desire’ Richard deCordova talks about how stars are involved in a system, much like how auteur theory works through systems, deCordiva mentions how the look of the actor will determine how they could be casted, seen as Johnny Depp is in a film with Tim Burton a lot, he would know that it is rather easy to transform Johnny Depp into a different character, and that it was mentioned in an interview that Johnny Depp even sketched ideas on how the Mad Hatter should look like in the end, which the sketches were similar to Burton’s. The quote, “…the development of this system was effected through three significant transformations in this regard. These can be listed in the order of their appearance: (1) the discourse on acting, (2) the picture personality and (3) the star.” further suggests that the personality of the actor can differ their character process,it is a known fact that actors who tend to be quieter - like Johnny Depp - can easily transform themselves into something else, as acting is a source of escapism.

Through the sequence in Alice In Wonderland, when Alice is chasing after the White Rabbit towards the hole that leads to the Wonderland, the use of sound via a score, composed by Danny Elfman, called ‘Alice’s theme’ creates a tense and mysterious atmosphere as the audience and the character of Alice do not know where the White Rabbit is leading Alice to, and the fact that the White Rabbit is even wearing clothes (which is created by the use of mise-en-scene via costume ideas and editing: CGI), shows the diversity of the verisimilitude as it is known to the audience and Alice that typical real life rabbits do not wear clothes, which gives the film a strange tone already, which is typically known for a Tim Burton style film, as the Sight & Sound article about Tim Burton’s style was “More weird than funny” which is on my third recourse sheet. The soundtrack by Danny Elfman currently sets the curiosity of the character of Alice, which is effective to the audience as it tends to move the emotions and feelings of a character to the audience, but that is if the director and sound composer does it correctly, and in my opinion so far, it has succeeded.

Tim Burton, doesn’t just rely on the composer for sound, in fact he also has an editor that has done a few of his films, even though Tim Burton is known for his spooky animations and CGI, he has an editor that helps him in order for the editing to succeed. For two of my focal films, which are Alice In Wonderland and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children they both share the same editor - Chris Lebenzon - this clearly shows how Tim Burton is more reliant on using an editor in order for the atmosphere to succeed for the gothic styles. Chris Lebenzon has also edited in the films: Dark Shadows and Corpse Bride, which shows how Tim Burton enjoyed and liked how Chris Lebenzon made the films look excellent, whereas the editor Richard and Colleen Halsey only edited for the film Edward Scissorhands which could mean that they didn’t fully meet the expectations of what Tim Burton may have had in his mind. This is also proving the evident source from Andrew Sarris who wrote about Auteur theory, hat an auteur always has specific pictures and imagines in their mind already about what they would want their films to be like.

It is evident on this screenshot of Alice In Wonderland that the surrounding are rather dark and eerie, whereas the characters are a lighter tone which makes them look as if they are protagonists, it also over-exposes their characters to the potential danger that Wonderland may have. The dark tones of the CGI on the surroundings are effective as it gives off a dark and gothic graveyard effect, which for this to be a dream world for Alice, and that her mind may actual fade off to a place that should be full of wonder, hence the name “Wonderland” is contradicting the view of what the audience may first think of what Wonderland should really look like.

Also, Tim Burton has worked withe a production designer called B Welch, and it is known that Edward Scissorhands succeeded in terms or having a gothic and eerie atmosphere due to the huge contrast between the dark house that Edward lives in is obviously darker than the suburbia's. Bo Welch mentioned how he had shrunk the windows of the houses in order for it “to be a little less friendly, a little more mask-like and to heighten the hiding-in-suburbia feeling.”, this shows how the neighbourhood wanted to come across as too perfect as the terms of “mask-like” makes the audience obviously think of a creepy and fake area. It also creates an image of a porcelain doll, when they are seen as perfect, but Edward’s house could symbolise the cracks upon the a perfect doll, to show the imperfections. But the cinematography also helps the house to stand out through an establishing wide shot, the cinematography in Edward Scissorhands is Stefan Czapsky, he hasn’t worked on my other two focal films, but he has worked on a lot of other films of Tim Burton. On this screen shot, the cinematography actual manipulates the image as it shows the clear contrast between where Edward is living and the neighbourhood.

In conclusion, Tim Burton uses collaborations in terms of sound, cinematography, costume and makeup, and editing it still would not affect his auteur status. However, the repetition of the stars he chooses to be in his films may make people question about Tim Burton’s auteur status, this is because he may rely more on using familiar and successful stars in order to attract the audience to watch his films.

In conclusion, I believe that Tim Burton should be classed as an auteur as I believe he creates his films with lot of interior meaning as he shares his past experiences in more extravagant amounts in order for his characters to have a personal meaning, which is mentioned by Truffaut as he believes that a filmmaker has no choice but to show the audience their emotions. Burton has his own identifiable themes and styles, meaning that he is specifically known towards these aspects to the audience.

Bibliography:

1. Perno, G. (2017). Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton. [online] Cinelinx.com. Available at: http://www.cinelinx.com/movie-stuff/item/6889-director-s-trademarks-tim-burton.html [Accessed 19 Sept. 2017].

2. Berardinelli, J. (2017). Alice in Wonderland | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/alice-in-wonderland [Accessed 19 Oct. 2017].

3. Sight and Sound (1997) PAX AMERICANA. Aliens. February 1997. 6-9

4. Usatoday30.usatoday.com. (2017). 3-D ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sparkles with magic, splendor - USATODAY.com. [online] Available at: https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-03-05-alice05_ST_N.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

5. Berardinelli, J. (2017). Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

6. Berardinelli, J. (2017). Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

7. Andrew Sarris (1962) Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962. Barry Keith Grant (ed) Auteurs and Authorship. Oxford Blackwell Publishing. 35-42

8. Dargis, M. (2017). Review: In ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home,’ Chasing Grandpa’s Stories Down a Rabbit Hole. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

9. Aesthetica Magazine. (2017). Aesthetica Magazine - The Imagination of Tim Burton. [online] Available at: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/the-imagination-of-tim-burton/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

10. Itzkoff, D. (2017). Tim Burton on His Movies, His Life and His Tombstone. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/movies/tim-burton-at-home-in-his-own-head.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

11. Gledhill, C. (1991). Stardom. London: Routledge.

12. Burton, T., Salisbury, M. and Depp, J. (2000). Burton on Burton. London: Faber.

13. Hodgson, B (2017) The Elusive Auteur. The Question of Film Authorship Throughout the Age of Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

14. Classic-horror.com. (2017). Edward Scissorhands (1990) | Classic-Horror.com. [online] Available at: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/edward_scissorhands_1990 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

[starbuck]

OKAY MORE THOTS (thank you for yours!!!!)

1) yeah I actually noticed Armitage’s carnivale costume and his hanging out with the marines when I marathon rewatched the other day and that lines up with Hickey telling Hartnell in the same episode that Armitage always wanted to be a marine (meaning he’s identified that as a factor to manipulate). But based on all of that, it makes sense that Armitage, for his own reasons unrelated to Hickey or the mutiny, would try to be a part of their group (and that he would be interested in a ‘promotion’ if the opportunity arose). But, to me, I guess what’s interesting about it is that Hickey goes along with it once his group has split off. It’s a completely pointless distinction since they have five guns and, even counting Armitage, three marines and I doubt there’s no lingering resentment on Hickey’s part for Armitage not fessing up to his part in the kidnapping plot in ep 4. So, Although Armitage may have been given the rank in earnest (probably by Tozer and maybe as thanks for his help in arming men against orders in ep 8?), Hickey keeping it up when he’s previously shown distain for ‘unofficial’ promotions strikes me as at least partially ironic.

2) Sidenote to that: Hickey also knew about the walk-out during carnivale. He figured it out on his own using context clues (i.e. - canned foods being moved to the back of the storage and the inventory of empty things that Gibson saw on Hodgson’s desk) and then started telling people about it. I think that really was when his idea for a mutiny started up. He clearly wanted to start some sort of chaos being as he enlisted Gibson to spy on command for him back in ep 5, but learning about the walk-out in ep 6 gave him an opportunity to stir even more chaos and confusion amongst the men before Crozier announced it publicly. (And, getting a head-start on Crozier also allowed him to inject his own, surely quite unfavorable opinions about it when telling the men before Crozier could give his rationale.)

3) Regarding Hodgson: he also refers to him as “Lieutenant” when he’s talking directly to him so I don’t think the title was only for Goodsir’s benefit. You may be onto something with his trying to appeal to Goodsir’s classist nature, I hadn’t thought about that but it does act as a good response the dialogue from Goodsir that you referred to when you view it though that lens. My take on his choosing Hodgson to threaten was that he thought Goodsir would see him as a relative innocent to the majority of them who clearly chose to mutiny (don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed at Hodgson for not turning Hickey and Tozer in in ep 7 when he first found out about their mutinous ideation but Goodsir doesn’t have that information) as well as someone who’s just completely unable to defend themselves against a potential attack.

4. Going back to the marines for a sec, I also noticed Pilkington’s jacket but I don’t really have any specific thoughts on it because I feel like I don’t know enough about him. Certainly things that could be inferred from that alone though! Much to pay attention for next rewatch!

Is there any logic or pattern to how rank is referred to in Hickey’s camp?

Hickey clearly makes a point not to call Goodsir “Dr.” which I feel like is equal parts general disrespect towards him, the fact that Hickey brought him to be an anatomist not to heal people, and his apparent dislike for ranks having been changed under Crozier (since he also made a point not to call Jopson “Lieutenant”) so that makes sense.

But also, despite the previous “let me be your lieutenant in a new arrangement” conversation, he still refers to Hodgson as a Lieutenant and makes no change to his own referred rank although Hodgson has no actual power there while Hickey is successfully commanding the camp (if only because everyone is so terrified of him and lacks better options).

So is that it? Is Hickey making fun of rank by illustrating how false and pointless it is, especially in their situation?

Seems to line up pretty well with Armitage being made a marine even though that clearly means nothing there. It’s like a sick joke.

[torentialtribute]

Southampton vs Manchester United Preview: Predicted lineups, predictions, match odds and more

After their shock defeat by Crystal Palace last time out, it is imperative Manchester United emphatically jumps back against Southampton this weekend

But the task ahead of us will not be easy for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as they will travel to St Mary & # 39; s for Saturday's lunch kick-off in the Premier League.

Southampton took their first win of the season last weekend against rivals on the south coast, Brighton and Ralph Hasenhuttl will be determined to throw a spanner in the works.

Here, Sportsmail gives a preview of both teams before the fourth weekend of Premier League action, which should create more drama …

Manchester United travels to Southampton on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League

SOUTHAMPTON: Victory can bring the Saints early in the give a huge boost to the season

After a very disappointing start to the season, when he suffered a heavy defeat at Burnley for a narrow loss for Liverpool, Southampton reacted with a brilliant showing in Brighton.

An extraordinary solo goal of new signature Moussa Djenepo and the knock-out battle of Nathan Redmond lifted the Hasenhuttl men in the Premier League as they attempted to kick off their relegation concerns from the previous campaign.

When Hasenhuttl took over last December, the saints were in need and saw relegation bound, but he played his side with much more confidence and strength.

And he will be looking to claim the scalp of United and placed an early dent in their top four hopes this weekend, who were injured after their last sob 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in Old Trafford .

Victory against United at St Mary & # 39; s could give Southampton a huge boost so early in the season, with two winning games against Sheffield United and South Coast rivals Bournemouth.

But there is some disturbing team news for the long-awaited action of the weekend, with injury concerns about forward trio Redmond, Djenepo and Michael Obafemi.

Both Redmond and Obafemi were withdrawn prematurely against Fulham in the Carabao Cup, with ankle and hamstring worries respectively, while Djenepo also struggled with a muscle problem.

This comes as a real blow to Hasenhuttl – who will also be without Ryan Bertrand due to an ankle injury – since all three attackers contributed to goals against both Brighton and Fulham within the last week.

And to make matters worse for the hosts, they have been without profit in their last eight Premier League games against United (W0 D3 L5) since winning 1-0 in August 2003.

Southampton defeated Brighton 2-0 last weekend for their first victory of to reach the season

MANCHESTER UNITED: Red Devils must bounce back in style after stumbling early on

The race for spots in the Champions League goes down to the wire but United knows that they must respond in style in St Mary & # 39; s after Fri. stumble.

After their disappointing 1-1 draw at Wolves, they suffered their first defeat of the season at home against Roy Hodgson & Palace, which has raised many questions about their top four expectations.

Solskjaer needs an immediate response from his players and of course they are not shocked again by Southampton because they want to follow Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.

And Solskjaer sent a challenging message after their setback and said last weekend: & The last two results were disappointments because at Wolverhampton you felt you deserved to win, and today we deserved to win to win, but you don't always get what you earn in football.

& # 39; We need to make sure that we go to Southampton with a little bit between our teeth and play better, score goals and win the game.

But they will be without some key players too, with the Red Devils facing a problem in the back left with Luke Shaw not being fit after suffering a hamstring problem against Palace. Ashley Young is set to start in his place.

Anthony Martial will be absent with a thigh injury, while Alexis Sanchez will not act if he moves a loan to Inter Milan.

This may open the door for a potential start for a very talented 17-year-old Mason Greenwood, who has so far competed in all three league games.

While Solskjaer Defense remains convinced that it will find offensive fluences at St Mary & # 39; s.

Marcus Rashford and Co will be desperate to bounce back their defeat by Crystal Palace

Predicted line-ups

Southampton & # 39; s Predicted Starting XI : Gunn; Valery, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Danso; Romeo, Hojbjerg; Ward-Prowse, Boufal; Adams, Ings

Man United & # 39; s predicted start XI: From Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Young; McTominay, Pogba, Pereira; Greenwood, Rashford, James

What do the bookmakers say?

The bookmakers have the traveling United side of Solskjaer as a favorite for the lunch kick-off on Saturday. The visitors are priced on 10/11 to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Southampton is rated 5/2 to evoke another surprise for the Old Trafford outfit. In the meantime, a draw is also a good bet on 12/5.

Who says what?

Southampton & Ralph Hasenhuttl's manager: & # 39; You know you have to play these clubs and those teams, and last season we played them very well on Old Trafford. We had a very good competition there and perhaps earned more. Perhaps we can now reverse the roles. We build up a little more confidence after the last two games with two clean sheets.

The performance is better and even with the good injuries we have good subs that are really looking forward to play. It is up to me to find the right balance and then I am sure we will have players on the field who can cause problems for Manchester United. & # 39;

Andreas Pereira of Manchester United: & # 39; We & # 39; played football very well and showed what we are about. We were a bit unlucky with the results in the second and third game, I think, but we have to keep on doing the things we do and keep believing.

& # 39; In the second and third game we didn't get the result we wanted and we earned because we had a lot of shots and a lot of possession, but sometimes you have to get the details on the right. These are just a few things that you need to be right and the goals will come. We must remain calm and the results will certainly come.

MAIN FACTS

Southampton have been winless in their last eight home games against Manchester United (W0 D3 L5) since winning 1-0 in August 2003.

In all competitions, Manchester United has won more away matches in St. Mary's against Southampton than on any other side (10 wins).

The home team ended on the winning side in just three of the last 15 Premier League meetings between Southampton and Man Utd (W3 D5 L7).

Southampton has lost nine Premier League matches against Manchester United after a lead in the match – more than any other team has done so against another in the history of the Premier League.

Seven direct free kicks were scored in Premier League games between Southampton and Man Utd – including two from Southampton last season – with only games between Liverpool and Man Utd seeing more of such goals (8).

Since 0-0 draw with Newcastle in October 2018, Southampton has found it just at least once in their last 15 Premier League home games. Only between August 1992 and April 1993 did Saints have a longer run in the league (17), while only Manchester City (21), Arsenal (19) and Liverpool (17) scored the longest in home games.

Manchester United has just held one clear sheet in their last 14 Premier League games (4-0 against Chelsea on the opening day), scoring 22 goals in that time and scoring only 19 (W5 D3 L6)

Manchester United has failed to score more penalties than any other team in Premier League history (37 of 144), with Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford the last two spot-kicks from United missed in the competition.

Including games as a player, Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær has won his last eight Premier League games against Southampton (six as a player, two as a manager), not playing this last 90 minutes in a 3-3 draw in Old Trafford in September 1999.

Nathan Redmond of Southampton has b and directly involved in four goals in his last four home games in the Premier League (3 goals, 1 assist), because he did not have can score or assist with one of his previous seven in St Mary & # 39; s.

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[openmydiary]

Just Pinned to Admission Test: Value of Time Essay Composition and Paragraph for Students Our life is nothing but a sum total of some moments seconds minutes and hours. If we can utilize our time properly then our life is successful. Otherwise our life becomes nothing but cries wails and sighs. For this reason the proper use of time is necessary. There is a proverb that Time and tide wait for none. It is literally. Lost health can be recovered by exercise proper food and medicine lost money can be regained by dint of hard work but time once lost is lost forever because nobody can stop the cycle of time. For this reason time is invaluable. To be successful and make our life meaningful. it is necessary to make a proper division of our time for different activities and use our time accordingly. There should be time for our study exercise income generating activities hobby recreation self-development and other routine activities. It is also necessary to do everything at the right moment. Only through proper division and use of the time we can lead a healthy and prosperous life. If we look back to the great people in the history we can see that those who were successful made appropriate use of time. We can also easily notice that if things are not done at their proper time nobody can be successful. There is no doubt that idleness is another word for failure. If we turn to nature we find that the elements of nature maintain their timeliness. The ants bees insects and all other things work timely. The sun the moon and such other things also work in a cycle and keep their time. So we should always try to make proper use of time. value of time essay Value of Time Essay Topics: (Introduction Proper use of time Bad effects of wasting time The life of great men Conclusion) Our life is nothing but a collection of moments. So every moment of our life is very precious. Life is very short but uncertain. We do not know when we shall die. Within the short period we are to build-up our life. In order to make good use of time we must follow a routine for work strictly. We know that the secret of success in life lies in the proper use of time. In our student life we should very much care about the use of time. According to the poet The time you old gypsy man Will you not stay? Put up your caravan Just for one day? (Time You Old Gipsy Man / Ralph Hodgson) Time flies fast. It never stops. That is time once lost is lost forever. If a student spoils time through the evil company he must suffer in the long run. The duties and responsibilities of students must be done in student life. These cannot be done in the old age. It will help us to reach the goal. Active and conscious people know the value of time. They do not waste their time in vain. As a result they become successful in life. An idle brain is the devils workshop. If we waste our time in idleness all sorts of evil thoughts will come to our mind. Besides people become unhealthy if they remain idle all the time. Idle people cannot achieve anything. They are the nuisance to the society. If we study the life of the great men of the world we find that they made proper use of time. The life of the great prophet the saints the political leaders and social leaders teach us to make the right use of time. By following their examples we may also be able to prosper in life in the future. As we are the best creation of God we should not neglect time. If we neglect our time it makes our life barren like the desert. If we fail to perform our duties in proper time we shall be liable to our next generation. Their future of course depends on how we utilize our time. In fact proper utilization of time brings not only money but also peace happiness and prosperity. Therefore we should utilize time properly in every sphere of life. The Value of time Composition Topics: [Introduction. Time flies away. An optimistic word. Making the best use of time. The gifts of life. Conclusion.] Human life can be thought of as a concatenation of events put on an ever-flowing current of time. As a result whether we are awake or asleep alive or dead conscious or unconscious live as a real living being or like the dead-time takes no notice of that; it passes on and on declaring the end of each event of life. Even if we are asleep with our eyes closed times current draws us along its own coursewe leave parts of our life behind. Therefore whatever value life has it is bound by times merciless rope at both ends. So the value of life is indeed the value of time. It is Many things in life once lost can be regained. Riches or wealth interest fame people and power health employment or joball these fall under this category. But time once lost can never be gained back. The reality is not as straightforward as this. it is Indore merciless: time is to be lost; that it must pass away is the first truth and that it will never be back is the second truth. For this reason time is the most valuable asset we can ever have in the universe. Though time cannot be made to stop it can be fully utilized and thus converted into works and achievements and stored as wealth. Human life is not a mere slice of time; it should not be measured only by times scale. It is better to learn to measure life by the success work and achievement than by its time-length. If a man wastes away forty years of his sixty years of life in vain then his real life-time is sixty years less forty. On the other hand if somebody achieves through work within his twenty- year-life as much as what normally a one-hundred-year-old man can achieve then it would be a rudeness to measure his life with only a scale of a Twenty-year-period. Rather his life is worth at least one hundred years of lifetime. Therefore if work and achievement are to be the measuring rods of life then we can have some hope. We can defeat time by valuing it the right way by going parallel with The life which can receive the fullest gift of time is least harmed by time being passed away. The main thing is whether we are able to utilize time fully to our gain. To utilize time fully and effectively it should be divided according to pieces of work to be done. In the mysterious maze of each moment there exists a great potential. We should bring it out consciously with hard efforts. It is possible to hold the gifts of time if not time itself in our plans works and success. For this we have to advance valiantly shaking off all our idleness consciouslessness superstition and ignorance: Nowadays the most effective way to utilize time fully is to keep up with it. We have to acquire any gift that any particular time period offers us. If time is utilized this way in our individual social and national life we can bring about drastic improvements in our economy culture and society. But to do this we need to follow the rules of perseverance punctuality and discipline to the letter. The most important gift of nature to our life is time. Since we have it we can have anything else we want to. This notion becomes apparent when we look at the busy and important lives of the modern and advanced world. Japan China Korea and many other countries bear out the essence of this belief. Time passes away no doubt but it wants to give us one thing-value. If we are able to take it fully we can so to say surpass it. The truth of this statement can be substantiated by citing examples from the lives of many great men from the world history. Time has not been able to perish them altogether. They have successfully stood the tests of time and remained alive with their deeds even after their death. The most effective way to utilize time to our well-being is to do the right thing in the right time in the right way. There is no time to waste timethis should be the guiding principle of all. Moreover todays work should never be postponed until tomorrow. We all should remember that We know what we are but dont know what we may be. We can not control the future. That is why we have to control the present. In conclusion the great comments of Napoleon the Great can be referred to: I have defeated the Austrians mainly because they could not realize the value of only five minutes time. Essay on Importance of Time Introduction: Our life is nothing but a sum total of some moments seconds minutes and hours. If we can utilize our time properly then our life is successful. Otherwise our life becomes nothing but cries wails and sighs. For this reason the proper use of time is necessary. There is a proverb that Time and tide wait for none. It is literally true. Lost health can be recovered by exercise proper food and medicine lost money can be regained by dint of hard work but time once lost is lost forever. Because nobody can stop the cycle of time. For this reason time is invaluable. Bad Impact of Idleness: Saying goes that An idle brain is devils workshop. An idle person cannot contribute to the society and the country in a productive way. He is a burden to the family and the society. When a person remains idle all the bad ideas and thoughts begin to crowd in his head. The outcome can be no good. In fact idleness can have no positive consequence. If we waste our time in idleness we are sure to repent when it will be of no use. Proper Division and Use of Time: To be successful and make our life meaningful it is necessary to make a proper division of our time for different activities and use our time accordingly. There should be time for our study exercise income generating activities hobby recreation self-development and other routine activities. It is also necessary to do everything at the right moment. Only through proper division and use of the time we can lead a healthy and prosperous life. If we look back to the great people in the history we can see that those who were successful made appropriate use of time. We can also easily notice that if things are not done at their proper time nobody can be successful. There is no doubt that idleness is another word for failure. If we turn to nature we find that the elements of nature maintain their timeliness. The ants bees insects and all other things work timely. The sun the moon and such other things also work in a cycle and keep their time. Nothing sits idle in nature. Conclusion: Man is superior to all other things in nature. This superiority also imposes a responsibility on him to make proper use of time. The prosperous nations of this world are developed because they used their time properly. So to become a prosperous nation we should also make appropriate use of our time. Essay on Time is precious Topics: [Introduction Importance Using of time in student life Results of wasting time The punctual find time for everything Conclusion] Time is valuable. It once lost is lost forever. There is a proverb that time and tide wait for none. It mere goes away. It does not take any rest. The importance of time beggars description. Lost health may be regained by medicine and proper caring and nursing. Lost wealth may be regained by dint of hard labor but lost time cannot be regained by any means. So every moment is very precious. Success in life depends on the best use of time. If we make a proper division of our time and do our duties accordingly we would surely be successful in life. A nation can be developed by using of time properly. The future life of students also depends on the right use of time. They should do their duties on time. They should not put off their works for the future. Students should always bear in mind that the proper use of time is the key to success. If they waste their time idly they must be repent. So it is inevitable to use time properly in student life. Wasting of time is a curse. Those who waste time can not shine in life. Some people are not aware of the value of time. As a result they bring dangers in their own life. People lead miserable life on account of wasting of time. From the history we come to learn that those who have become great in this world have made the proper use of time. Even we see that bees ants insects use time properly. They do not waste a single moment. There are some people who say that they have no time for reading books and for taking physical exercise to improve their mind and body. I think that this people only deceive themselves. If they are punctual and industrious they will find time for doing everything. In the long run it can be said that the secret of success in life lies in the proper use of time. If we waste the precious moments of life in idleness we will have to suffer till death. https://ift.tt/2uhFjFZ

[s0022219a2film-blog]

Section 1: Creative Investigation U. Final Draft

Creative Investigation

Primary Research Texts

 Aims of research

I would like to address the question:

Are Tim Burton’s own themes and styles unique enough to make him a successful auteur? However, does Tim Burton rely on other collaborations for the production of the films, thus undermining his claim to the title of ‘author’ of his films?

 For my creative investigation I will be exploring authorship in the fantasy genre. I aim to investigate the themes that create a Burtonesque styled film, shown through the gothic aspects of Burton’s films. There are key articles that inspire my study; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Berardinelli, J, 2017, ReelViews), which discusses how Tim Burton uses similar aspects of film due to how it seemed similar to X-Men due to how the children had special abilities, which could in fact undermine Burton’s authorship. A book I am inspired by is Burton On Burton (Burton, T, Salisbury, M, Depp, J, 2000) which highlights Burton’s works and how they can inspire his films, and how his collaborations with stars that may affect the authorship due to how Burton can rely on the stars of his films success. The key frameworks that I will use for my study are authorship within the theory of Andrew Sarris, I will be relating to the technical competence, which is where the outer layer is the technical competence, the personal style and the interior meaning. which helped me create my three subtopics: style, collaboration and theme of a potential auteur. I will focus my study on the following focal films; Alice In Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010); Edwards Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990); Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Tim Burton, 2016). I chose these as it creates a more obvious timeline due to Edward Scissorhands came out in 1999, Alice In Wonderland in 2010, and Edward Scissorhands in 2016, so it proves how Tim Burton is still making films from the 90s to now, which shows how he is successful due to his films still doing well, with his gothic style, meaning I am measuring up all of the qualities of Tim Burton’s films and testing if his features equals up to being an auteur.

Filmography:

Item 1: Burton, Tim, 1990, Edward Scissorhands, 20th Century Fox

This is a fantasy drama film, which reflects upon the director himself, as he believed he was an outsider much like how Edward Scissorhands is portrayed in a “perfect” traditional life in the suburbs. I chose this film to look at the success Tim Burton has created in order for the film to be effective in terms of showing the interior meaning of the director, which is a part of the auteur premises. I will be also focusing on how certain roles on set may be beneficial to the success of the films, in terms of stars, director, editors, composers and designers.

Item 2: Burton, Tim, 2010, Alice In Wonderland, Walt Disney Pictures

Alice In Wonderland is a classic Disney fairytale, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll, in 1865, about a little girl in a shop in Oxford, that he visited. However, Tim Burton transferred the fairytale into a twisted fairytale, with the hybrid genres of fantasy and adventure. I chose this film due to how the themes are effective in the film as it is about growing up and coming of age, which is used a lot in Tim Burton films, as he tends to use younger actors in his films, this is because he believed that younger characters created a more horror and dark atmosphere.

Item 3: Burton, Tim, 2016, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Twentieth Century Fox

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is one of Tim Burton’s more recent films, it is about a boy is seems like an outcast in the society, much like Edward Scissorhands, this shows how Tim Burton uses interior meaning from the auteur theory three premises as he tends to repeat many themes in his films. I chose this film as I believe that the fantasy and drama film is similar to the other films in terms of generic conventions, which may cause a counter argument in terms of how Tim Burton may actually be categorised because of the repetition of genre. Also, this is the only film that I have chosen that doesn’t repeat the actor - Johnny Depp - which could imply how Tim Burton may not rely on star power all the time.

Secondary Research texts:

 Books:

 Item 4: Reference: Andrew Sarris (1962) Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962. Barry Keith Grant (ed) Auteurs and Authorship. Oxford Blackwell Publishing. 35-42

Andrew Sarris uses a series of examples of movie directors, to music composers and artists, to show a high level of understanding on what an auteur is made up of, using Hitchcock as a huge example.

Item 5: Reference: Gledhill, C. (1991). Stardom. London: Routledge.

This is linking to a small part I would mention, that Johnny Depp is a star who Tim Burton relies on having a repetitive character, which takes away the authority from Tim Burton, as the use of a repetitive characters means that Burton is stuck within a genre.

Item 6: Reference: Burton, T., Salisbury, M. and Depp, J. (2000). Burton on Burton. London: Faber.

This is an overview of how Edward Scissorhands is similar to Burton, but also how it can relate to a younger audience who is going through situations like feeling as if they are an outsider.

Item 7: Reference: Hodgson, B (2017) The Elusive Auteur. The Question of Film Authorship Throughout the Age of Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

 This is an overview on what an auteur is, it is saying how they have full control (directors). This is useful to my research as it agrees towards my point about how Tim Burton is an author.

 Articles:

 Item 8: Reference: Perno, G. (2017). Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton. [online] Cinelinx.com. Available at: http://www.cinelinx.com/movie-stuff/item/6889-director-s-trademarks-tim-burton.html [Accessed 19 Sept. 2017].

The article is about the stylistic techniques that are usually conventional to a Burtonesque film, it shows how many of Tim Burton uses the repeatedly uses Danny Elfman who dictates in the soundtrack, also the article mentions the use of star theory as Tim Burton relies on specific stars like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, which could relate to them being type cast. It involves the certain aspects that Tim Burton uses to give the Burtonesque style.

Item 9: Reference: Berardinelli, J. (2017). Alice In Wonderland | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at:http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/alice-in-wonderland [Accessed 19 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review about how Alice In Wonderland is interpreted by Tim Burton, and how he creates his style on a “twisted tale”, towards a children’s bedtime story. This further suggests that Burton’s authorship as a director, as he is familiar to the audience, to use story-telling within his films.

Item 10: Reference: Usatoday30.usatoday.com. (2017). 3-D ‘Alice In Wonderland’ sparkles with magic, splendor - USATODAY.com. [online] Available at: https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-03-05-alice05_ST_N.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

The critics review is talking about the interpretation of the modern Alice, is engaging and amusing. This links to Tim Burton’s authorship, due to how he creates a new aspect on a fairytale that has been showed before. Meaning that Burton likes to use his typical gothic aspect to make a film look as if it’s his own.

Item 11: Reference: Berardinelli, J. (2017). Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children[Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

 This is a critics review on how Edward Scissorhands is presented with good actors with similarities to other films like X-Men, due to how the children having special abilities. 

 Item 12: Reference: We Live Entertainment. (2017). “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” Review. [online] Available at:http://weliveentertainment.com/welivefilm/miss-peregrines-home-peculiar-children-review/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review about Edward Scissorhands, it is showing the similarities of Tim Burton’s successful films like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice. This suggests that Tim Burton is an author as he is influence by his own films.

Item 13: Reference: Dargis, M. (2017). Review: In ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home,’ Chasing Grandpa’s Stories Down a Rabbit Hole. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is a critics review on how Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is portrayed to the audience, and the way in which how Tim Burton always bring the sense of uneasiness and eerie atmosphere.

Item 14: Reference: Aesthetica Magazine. (2017). Aesthetica Magazine - The Imagination of Tim Burton. [online] Available at:http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/the-imagination-of-tim-burton/[Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This is an article that includes insights from the Andrew Sarris notes on auteur theory, and how Tim Burton is an auteur himself, as he is a director and an artist.

Item 15: Reference: Itzkoff, D. (2017). Tim Burton on His Movies, His Life and His Tombstone. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/movies/tim-burton-at-home-in-his-own-head.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

 This article goes against Tim Burton’s authorship due to how he relies on stars like: Johnny Depp, who is usually the same type of character throughout his films. 

 Item 16: Reference: Classic-horror.com. (2017). Edward Scissorhands (1990) | Classic-Horror.com. [online] Available at: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/edward_scissorhands_1990 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

This article is talking about how Tim Burton has created Edward Scissorhands more of an autobiography with using his dark and eerie themes to give a touch of ‘Burtonesque’ that makes him an auteur.

Discussion of findings

My creative investigation is focused on these areas:

What are the key traits of Tim Burton’s directorial style in the three focal films?

For this question, I would like to evaluate the micro elements of each focal film and gather evidence to where they are similar to each other, to determine whether Tim Burton has his own style, but that he may repeat them making him stuck with a specific genre. However, as an auteur, the audience can easily define a Tim Burton film, due to the Gothic aspects. I would like to find out how Tim Burton uses specific styles, and how the audience can easily identify when they are watching a Tim Burton film. I would like to argue points on whether he is an auteur or much like Alfred Hitchcock; or whether he may have been stuck within a specific genre. This will be linked to Tim Burton’s famous aesthetic visuals of the three focal films.

What are the recurrent themes in Tim Burton’s films that are evident in the three focal films?

For this question, I would like to find out how Tim Burton uses specific themes that are personal to him, and how the audience can use these theme to easily identify when they are watching a Tim Burton film. I would like to argue points on whether he is an auteur or much like Alfred Hitchcock; he may have been stuck within a specific genre. I will also analyse themes: Growing up/Coming of age, Conformity, Man VS Himself, that are used in most of Tim Burton films, and how it makes the audience understand the characters more.

Does the fact that Tim Burton has well established working relationships with a number of stars and high-profile crew weaken his claim to authorship?

For this question, I would like to evaluate whether the stars are relied on more by Tim Burton in order for the films to succeed and attract the audience. I would be focused on two main actors that are used by Tim Burton the most as they were used more than eight times.

Subtopic 1Q

What are the key traits of Tim Burton’s directorial style in the three focal films?

As part of my study on Tim Burton being an auteur, I have analysed three focal films: Alice In Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to show that Tim Burton can be considered as an auteur. I think that he is the “true author” of his own films, because he uses specific styles that only he is known for by the audience as they will be able to identify through certain aspects of the films that the film is a ‘Burton’ film.

According to Andrew Sarris, the 3 premises of auteur theory uses the outer circle as technique (technician), the second circle is the signature style (stylist), and the inner circle is the interior meaning (auteur). The interior meaning is important to film authorship as it allows the audience to identify the work of a director, which is exactly what we can do with an artist. So, for the style and technique of Tim Burton is gothic and eerie. Also, the signature should be clear in all of Tim Burton’s projects, so that the audience would be able to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film.

For my source 1, it clearly states many aspects in Tim Burton’s films to create the “Burtonesque” style; G.S. Perno describes Burton’s work, as “Tim Burton is one of those directors who has an easily identifiable visual style almost all of his films reveal in gothic imagery. From the characters themselves, to the props, to the houses and cities where the films take place are sculpted in an exaggerated, almost cartoonish way to emphasize “goth features”.

This is clearly shown in the film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children through the use of a low angle, over the shoulder shot of the house that is visually gothic, and gives an eerie atmosphere, by being imposing and intimidating towards the audience. To link this back to my main point, the mise-en-scene via lighting is low key to create a spooky atmosphere, also how the houses in many of Tim Burton’s films are isolated from other houses, and that they all dark and abandoned, to imply that someone maybe lurking in the house. This may also be shown through colour filters during the production of filming to create the low-key lighting to make the genre seem clearer towards the audience.

Moreover, the use of gothic iconography is also repeated in Edward Scissorhands with the almost identical house. It is also shown with Jacob in the shot, his back is faced away from the camera, creating the unknown feeling, similarly to how the character may be feeling towards the house. Which creates a more mystery genre, which appears a lot in Tim Burton’s films. Similarly, to Edward Scissorhands, it links back to my main point of the use of mise-en-scene, via lighting and set as the house is dark in comparison to the surroundings. It also creates a much more darker tone to all of Burton’s films as the low-key lighting and that the sets are mostly found within the conventions of a horror genre film. Also, Tim Burton creates the individual style with his own gothic houses to be surrounded by a suburban housing estate, this juxtaposition creates emphasis of the gothic atmosphere in the film, which is helped by wide shots and establishing shots, as it shows a clear contrasts of what is first seen as a protagonist village and a house that could possibly hold the antagonist, which shows the messages and values of, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. The blue skies and the yellow car creates a juxtaposition as they both contrast to the dark and gothic house. This is effective because much like how Edward who is inside the house, may first be labelled as the antagonist due to how the house is darker to the surroundings. Juxtaposing is also used to create suspense within a scene, Peg is seen in her natural lighting near her yellow car, with her pastel colour costume, however in the extreme long shot, she is towered other by a gothic and mysterious house, which reinforces the use of juxtaposing as it shows the difference between an antagonist and a protagonist.  This links to my main point about Tim Burton using mise-en-scene via low key lighting and dark sets, used to convey a gothic style to the films, this is effective to the audience because it allows them to immediately understand that they are watching a Tim Burton film, making him an auteur as he is easily recognisable for a gothic style and theme.

Also, it is evident in the film of Alice In Wonderland, this is shown through the set, it is also helped through editing via CGI, as most of Alice In Wonderland relies on editing. CGI is used to create verisimilitude as the unreal aspects being made real via CGI creates a more adventure and fantasy genre, unlike the other focal films, which contain more of a horror genre. Through the image of Alice In Wonderland, the gothic aspects in the scene are the isolated stairs and doors, which look to be deteriorating, the stairs are full of green moss which shows how the area is becoming old and slowly dying, the tree is also gothic and it seems to have sharp branches that may look as if they are pointing toward the door where Alice Kingsley came from, which could imply to how Alice has walked into the danger.

Each example for my focal films demonstrates Tim Burton’s films have set micro elements, like mise-en-scene and editing in his films to portray the horror and fantasy dark comedy genres, which make his films rather unique to him, and that this allows the audience to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film. The audiences are familiar with the narrative structure and conventions of fairytales; however Tim Burton subverts the Disney approach, which makes him more of an auteur as he creates his films as his own.

However, the magazine ReelViews written by James Berardinelli, throughout the article he would praise Tim Burton for making his films his own style, “Burton adds his own stamp to the production by making the Hollows nightmare-worthy…”, which is showing how Berardinelli looks up to Tim Burton’s own style. However, towards the end of the article he mentions, “The movie’s pacing sags a little toward the middle and the action sequence forms the climax goes on for a little too long…” Berardinelli says how he was slightly bored due to how Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children didn’t give the right pace, unlike Tim Burton’s other films, could this suggest to why the use of his typical stars like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were not in this film, and their usual creative and extravagant characters were missing from the film. But it can also imply that Burton is all style and no substance, he may be visually great, but lacking strong narratives. Moreover, pacing may be caused by the editing of the film, which could mean how some scenes were too long, which made the film lack in excitement.

 Subtopic 2Q

What are the recurrent themes in Tim Burton’s films that are evident in the three focal films?

Auteurs need to have full command over the way the film is presented, artistically (genre, themes, and mise-en-scene) and technically (cinematography). Also, the signature should be clear in all of Tim Burton’s projects, so that the audience would be able to know that they are watching a Tim Burton film. That is why it is important for Tim Burton to have his own themes as it makes his film clearly to be his own project. The themes tend to relate to the characters who are the main part of the narrative, they seem to be more of an outsider trying to fit into a false society.  For this subtopic I will be evaluating Tim Burton’s themes in the three focal films. Most common themes within Tim Burton’s films are isolation, identity, courage, conformity, growing up/coming of age.

The common themes of the narrative can be shown through the storytelling of what Tim Burton is also famous for. The article, Aesthetica says, “Burton, as the director auteur, is comparable to other such directors as Eisenstein and Rossellini, but his style of filmmaking is intrinsically different for its focus on animation and the idea of the fairytale.” This can imply how Tim Burton’s narrative style can class Tim Burton as an author, but his directorial style could potentially make him blend in within other directors, making his chance on being an author rather limited. He uses them to help add additional depth to his characters and, in the case of his main characters, help the audience understand why they are so strange.” This is from the magazine Movie Buffs, this implies that Tim Burton tends to use similar motives to help the audience connect to a character with a sad back story so that the audience feel sympathy for the character.

The first theme that is evident to the audience in Edward Scissorhands is ‘Conformity’ this is due to how Edward Scissorhands first reveals through mise-en-scene via set design as the colours are all warm and bright, each house colours are also pastel colours, which gives an over-exaggerated effect, the houses are also not tainted or anything, which gives a perfect mask effect, almost as if the houses are trying to hide something. Edward’s house is the only house that stands out due to the dark colours of the gothic house. The house carries the themes is small levels of noticeability, the house is Burtonesque architecture.

This is developed through characters who are introduced later on in the film, the characters wear the same colours, which are pastel like the houses. Which further suggests how Edward Scissorhands themes heavily rely on conformity, as the cast are more identical with one another.

They also have the same schedule, which is one of the scenes where all the cars pull out of the drive, but in more detail of the scene, it is the men who are driving off, which shows the lack of diversity of women and men, and that the village concentrates on stereotyping women to be more of a house wife. Their lives seem tidy but plain which the males tend to have the same source of entertainment, which is cooking on barbecues and sports. When Edward cuts the bushes in the garden of Peg’s, everyone follows what the latest trend is, which is showing how the neighbourhood always want what everyone else has. 

Another clear theme in Edward Scissorhands is being ‘The Outsider’ this is because Tim Burton’s shows how people who seem to be different in society are rejected straight away. Edward is seen as an outsider as his hands have sharp objects on, which immediately consider him being an antagonist, as he is a walking potential weapon. First, people’s reactions like Peg in the scene I analysed, shown through a shot reverse shot, Peg steps back when Edward reaches out for a hug, this shows how he wants to feel loved. 

However, as Edward was welcomed by the family to stay at their home, the use of ‘conformity’ leads the neighbourhood to welcome Edward which is why they called him “Extraordinary”. However, as Edward is forced into breaking and entering by Jim, he only agreed to impress Kim, he is immediately called a “freak” by the neighbourhood. The source from Burton on Burton says: “From day one you’re categorized.”, which implies how Tim Burton understands what the society can behave badly towards an individual. Burton mentions how Edward is more of a figment of himself in society as he felt he never fitted in; this shows how he is following on what Andrew Sarris believed that a true auteur puts his own personal aspect into his film. Conformity is mentioned in an article called Classic Horror, it mentions how Edward Scissorhands is a “critique to conformity”, this is typically known as keeping up with the Joneses, and however Tim Burton would only take that to an extent which shows how he wants to keep his work as his own. It is said that Burton lived in a similar neighbourhood to the suburbia in Edward Scissorhands, which further shows how Burton puts personal meaning into his films.

In the film Alice In Wonderland, there is a clear and evident theme going on throughout the film, which is growing up. This is also helped by the novelist, Lewis Carroll, who likes the innocent way a child would view the adult world; however, it is slightly changed through the way Tim Burton presented the way Alice In Wonderland is. Alice is presented as a 19-year-old. This shows a creepy childlike world, but also a sense of escapism, as before Alice follows the White Rabbit, she was forced into a marriage (item 9 mentions that the wedding is “odious”, meaning that the wedding is repulsive). The fact that Alice struggles in Wonderland, shows how a child in reality struggles to survive on their own, which means to understand the adult world, Alice would have to go through challenges she faces in Wonderland. During Alice’s quest through Wonderland, she is in fact growing up in her mind, which is showing through symbolic representations of shrinking and growing, which is evident through editing, this has a hidden meaning to it.  As she is growing up, she is also understanding the creatures that live in Wonderland, she learns that everyone is mad in Wonderland by the Cheshire Cat, however she starts to learn the crazy rules in Wonderland and starts to get better at managing certain situations. In the end, Alice loses her innocence and child-like imagination, as for example, she realises that the threat from the Red Queen, is just really a pack of cards.  Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children uses the theme, “Coming of Age”, this is due to Jacob’s age, he is a typical misunderstood teenager to his parents. As his grandfather gave these stories that are fantasy styles, makes Jacob having to overcome a burden that his now - dead - grandfather had gave Jacob. At the start of the film, it shows a nerdy teenager working in a shop, trying to fit into the conformity of being a typical teenager by trying to impress a girl, which didn’t go too well. Meaning he was trying to be confident, even though his actual personality is scared. By the end of the film, Jacob ends up with a choice on whether to stay with his family, which would be the easier path for him, or leaving with the peculiar children, which is the harder option, as it is out of his comfort zone. He completes the ‘Coming of Age’ theme by choosing the harder path. 

Also, identity is a key theme in Alice In Wonderland, which relates to the theme of ‘Growing up’. She is always forced to identify herself to the creatures in Wonderland, however she doubts her own identity. It is also shown when the White Rabbit actually confuses Alice Kingsley with his maid Mary Ann.

Another theme in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is ‘The Hero’s Journey’ which is the narrative of a character who leaves the comfort of their home, which is Jacob who first lives in America, goes on a vacation to Wales, where he has gone on a physical journey that would trigger an emotion, which seems to be ‘Love’, (also a theme within Edward Scissorhands, between Edward and Kim), as Jacob and Emma Bloom tend to have moments between one another, also it is where Jacob goes into another dimension going back to the 1940′s.

As Tim Burton often relies on similar themes within his films he tends to have a view on how he wants his films to be presented to the audience, this is because he tends to relate to some of the themes like ‘identity’ and  ‘conformity’ of societies, which is shown by: “The manifestation of the image made itself apparent and probably came to surface when I was a teenager, because it is a very teenage thing”, Burton on Burton shows how Burton often relates his films back to his past, which relates back to when Andrew Sarris believes that an auteur would put their personal aspects into their films in order to succeed. To further prove Tim Burton’s status on being an auteur is the research through the themes that are shown in Burton’s films, as the themes are shown frequently in his films, shows how Tim Burton has recognisable themes and styles towards the audience, which further on proves my hypothesis.

Subtopic 3Q

Does the fact that Tim Burton has well established working relationships with a number of stars and high-profile crew weaken his claim to authorship?

I want to find out how it can be arguable for Tim Burton to be an auteur due to how he can be heavily influenced by other crew and main post-production, much like the sound where most of his films use the composer Danny Elfman, who emphasises emotion and the genre of Tim Burton’s film “Danny Elfman has created the soundtracks for all of Burton’s films”.  Sound is famous for a Tim Burton film, as most of the soundtracks are often similar in most of his films. Which is obvious through two out of three of my focal films, Danny Elfman has composed the music for Edward Scissorhands and Alice In Wonderland. The soundtrack for Edward Scissorhands delivers the emphasis on the characters emotions. Whereas, Alice’s theme song gives a more fantasy and tense atmosphere rather than focusing on the emotions of the characters. However, the partnership between the music composer and the director may affect the auteur status as Tim Burton may be too reliant on the composer. Through the sequence in Alice In Wonderland, when Alice is chasing after the White Rabbit towards the hole that leads to the Wonderland, the use of sound via a score, composed by Danny Elfman, called ‘Alice’s theme’ creates a tense and mysterious atmosphere as the audience and the character of Alice do not know where the White Rabbit is leading Alice to, and the fact that the White Rabbit is even wearing clothes (which is created by the use of mise-en-scene via costume ideas and editing: CGI), shows the diversity of the verisimilitude as it is known to the audience and Alice that typical real life rabbits do not wear clothes, which gives the film a strange tone already, which is typically known for a Tim Burton style film, as the Sight & Sound article about Tim Burton’s style was “More weird than funny”. The soundtrack by Danny Elfman currently sets the curiosity of the character of Alice, which is effective to the audience as it tends to move the emotions and feelings of a character to the audience, but that is if the director and sound composer does it correctly, and in my opinion so far, it has succeeded.

Tim Burton can also rely on his stars as well as keeping up a Gothic appearance through cinematic and visual approaches, this is seen through most of the success of his films, he has used many successful actors in his films, from Winona Ryder, known for films like ‘Girl, Interrupted’ (1999), which did well in the worldwide box office went to $28,350,204, earning a 7.4 out of 10. Also, Tim Burton repeats his actors to who may have helped the box office like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who he has collaborated with on around 8 of his films, “ Most prominently, it’s Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter who have appeared the most (8 and 7 films respectively).”, Johnny Depp is shown in two of my focal films, this shows how the fact that the films have succeeded more than Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, shows that Johnny Depp may be the cause of Burton’s successful films. However, this leads to them being more type casted due to his films having similar gothic styles, they are deemed to have to have the same sort of dark roles.

The book, ‘Stardom: Industry of Desire’ Richard deCordova talks about how stars are involved in a system, much like how auteur theory works through systems. DeCordiva mentions how the look of the actor will determine how they could be cast. Johnny Depp is in many films with Tim Burton directing, Burton would know that it is rather easy to transform Johnny Depp into a different character, and that it was mentioned in an interview that Johnny Depp even sketched ideas on how the Mad Hatter should look like in the end, which the sketches were similar to Burton’s. The quote, “…the development of this system was effected through three significant transformations in this regard. These can be listed in the order of their appearance: (1) the discourse on acting, (2) the picture personality and (3) the star.” further suggests that the personality of the actor can differ their character process.

Tim Burton, doesn’t just rely on the composer for sound, in fact he also has an editor (Chris Lebenzon) that has Alice In Wonderland and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, even though Tim Burton is known for his spooky animations and CGI, and he has an editor that helps him in order for the editing to succeed. For two of my focal films, which are Alice In Wonderland and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children they both share the same editor - Chris Lebenzon. Chris Lebenzon has also edited in the films: Dark Shadows and Corpse Bride, which shows how Tim Burton liked how Chris Lebenzon made the films. Whereas the editor Richard and Colleen Halsey only edited for the film Edward Scissorhands which could mean that they didn’t fully meet the expectations of what Tim Burton may have had in his mind. It is evident on this screenshot of Alice In Wonderland that the surroundings are rather dark and eerie, whereas the characters are a lighter tone which makes them look as if they are protagonists, it also over-exposes their characters to the potential danger that Wonderland may have. The dark tones of the CGI on the surroundings are effective as it gives off a dark and gothic graveyard effect, which for this to be a dream world for Alice, and that her mind may actual fade off to a place that should be full of wonder, hence the name “Wonderland” is contradicting the view of what the audience may first think of what Wonderland should really look like. This is also proving the evident source from Andrew Sarris who wrote about Auteur theory, auteurs always have specific images in their mind already about what they would want their films to be like.

Also, Tim Burton has worked with a production designer called B Welch, and it is known that Edward Scissorhands succeeded in terms of being gothic and eerie. Bo Welch mentioned how he had shrunk the windows of the houses in the suburb, in order for it “to be a little less friendly, a little more mask-like and to heighten the hiding-in-suburbia feeling.”. This shows how the neighbourhood wanted to come across as too perfect as the terms of “mask-like” makes the audience think of the area to seem too perfect. But the cinematography also helps the house to stand out through an establishing wide shot, the cinematography in Edward Scissorhands is Stefan Czapsky, he hasn’t worked on my other two focal films, but he has worked on a lot of other films of Tim Burton, such as: Batman Returns and Ed Wood. On this screen shot, the cinematography manipulates the image as it shows the clear contrast between where Edward is living and the neighbourhood.

In conclusion, despite the fact that Tim Burton uses collaborations in terms of sound, cinematography, costume and makeup, and editing it still would not affect his auteur status. Due to his popularity with his films, and because how the audience can identify that it is a Tim Burton film, they tend to include Tim Burton’s names in the film posters. However, the repetition of the stars he chooses to be in his films may make people question about Tim Burton’s auteur status, this is because he may rely more on using familiar and successful stars in order to attract the audience to watch his films. It is proven through the article: Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton says, “The most frequent collaborator is musician Danny Elfman. Not only does this mean that his films have similar soundscapes, but Elfman’s familiarity with Burton’s work means that he creates soundtracks that fit in very well with Burton’s unique style. ” The quote further proves my point on how Tim Burton uses the same collaborations to help the success with his films, the quote also goes into further detail about how Danny Elfman is an important collaboration due to how his soundtracks always creates the soundtracks similar to each of Burton’s films.

Evaluation of research

Overall, Tim Burton - in my opinion - should be classed as an auteur as I believe he creates his films with lot of interior meaning as he shares his past experiences in more extravagant amounts in order for his characters to have a personal meaning, which is mentioned by Truffaut as he believes that a filmmaker has to show their deepest emotion to have a result of judgement from the audience. This is why Tim Burton’s characters can be inspired by his past much like Edward Scissorhands feeling like an outcast from society, concludes to his films earning the respect and enjoyment from the audience.

References

Perno, G. (2017). Directors’ Trademarks: Tim Burton. [online] Cinelinx.com. Available at: http://www.cinelinx.com/movie-stuff/item/6889-director-s-trademarks-tim-burton.html [Accessed 19 Sept. 2017].

Berardinelli, J. (2017). Alice In Wonderland | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/alice-in-wonderland [Accessed 19 Oct. 2017].

Sight and Sound (1997) PAX AMERICANA. Aliens. February 1997. 6-9

Usatoday30.usatoday.com. (2017). 3-D ‘Alice In Wonderland’ sparkles with magic, splendor - USATODAY.com. [online] Available at: https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-03-05-alice05_ST_N.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Berardinelli, J. (2017). Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Reelviews Movie Reviews. [online] Reelviews Movie Reviews. Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/miss-peregrine-s-home-for-peculiar-children[Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

We Live Entertainment. (2017). “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” Review. [online] Available at: http://weliveentertainment.com/welivefilm/miss-peregrines-home-peculiar-children-review/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Andrew Sarris (1962) Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962. Barry Keith Grant (ed) Auteurs and Authorship. Oxford Blackwell Publishing. 35-42

Dargis, M. (2017). Review: In ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home,’ Chasing Grandpa’s Stories Down a Rabbit Hole. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-review.html?_r=0 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Aesthetica Magazine. (2017). Aesthetica Magazine - The Imagination of Tim Burton. [online] Available at: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/the-imagination-of-tim-burton/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

 Itzkoff, D. (2017). Tim Burton on His Movies, His Life and His Tombstone. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/movies/tim-burton-at-home-in-his-own-head.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Gledhill, C. (1991). Stardom. London: Routledge.

Burton, T., Salisbury, M. and Depp, J. (2000). Burton on Burton. London: Faber.

Hodgson, B (2017) The Elusive Auteur. The Question of Film Authorship Throughout the Age of Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

Classic-horror.com. (2017). Edward Scissorhands (1990) | Classic-Horror.com. [online] Available at: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/edward_scissorhands_1990 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].