Research on Auteur's - Signatures/Styles etc.

TIM BURTON:

The Outsider Theme: All contain characters that are perceived as 'weird' by the outside world. They try to adapt themselves to 'normality' only to realise they will never fit in- extreme surreal and unlikeable characters in the 'normal' world.

-Alice in Wonderland

Gothicism & Expressionism: Distinct visual style. Strange worlds influenced by German expressionists films of the 1930's (sharp contrasts between light and dark, stylised, a love of things dark and bizarre).

Autobiographical: Films that directly relate to his personality. His main characters are often a representation of Burton himself. 

-Charlie and Chocolate Factory (Reflection on his childhood).

Recurring Iconography: Such as death, children, cows, circus, dogs, checks, stripes, dots, use of same actors (i.e. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter)

Question:

How does Tim Burton's recurring iconography and expressionism make him considered to be an Auteur?

Catalogue
FILMS

Item 1: Alice In Wonderland - I have chosen to use this in my catalogue due to the wide range of colours and choices in cinematography. I remember watching this film as a child and being astonished with the creativity and unusual characters. I will be studying this film and relating it to my research and pulling quotes to link with the images on screen.

Item 2: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - As said in Alice, i have chosen this film due to it's wide use of colours and diverse characters, the mise en scene is often usual too, including extremely small rooms, chocolate waterfalls etc. I also chose this article as it juxtaposes between light moods and dark moods easily which is a common occurrence throughout his films.

Item 3: The Corpse Bridge – Portrayal of death is different in this film, I chose this as it opens up topics within his choice of iconography and the unusual approach to express death, arguably in a positive way. Film also relates to other movies Burton has done in the past, such as Beetlejuice.

Research:

Item 4 - Auteur Theory (Film Studies) -Andrew Butler - http://www.mvla.net/teachers/GalenR/Film%20Analysis/Documents/Class%20Readings/AUTEUR%20THEORY.pdf

François Truffaut, possibly the most polemic Cahiers critic, coined the phrase ‘politique des auteurs’ (referring to the aesthetic policy of venerating directors). The French critics were responding to the belated influx of American films in France after World War Two (they had been held back by import restrictions for a number of years). Thus, directors like Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford were hailed, often extravagantly, as major artists of the cinema.

Critics like Truffaut knew that American filmmakers were working within the restrictions of the Hollywood system and that the types of films and their scripts were often decided for them. But they believed that such artists could nonetheless achieve a personal style in the way they shot a film – the formal aspects of it and the themes that they might seek to emphasise (eg. Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol wrote a book on Hitchcock in which they highlighted recurrent themes in his films, including the transfer of guilt). With other, often European directors, the stamp of the auteur often involved them scripting and fashioning their own material. 

INTERVIEW/MAGAZINE:

Item 5 - The Museum of Modern Art - Tim Burton interview

Tim Burton discusses the cultivation of his 'signature' style, "when I wear striped socks, i feel grounded. If I didn't, i felt like i was floating".  Talks about his interest in art from a young age and doesn't believe in being told how to 'draw' when taught.

I have decided to use this within my catalogue due to himself mentioning his artistic styles and inspiration, fitting in with my choice of topic.

Item 6 -Interview Magazine - TIM BURTON

BURTON: "The thing I love about the old monsters is that they had such a strong, immediately identifiable image. I find that a lot of monsters today are just so busy. They have so many little tentacles and flaps and whatever else that they don’t have the kind of strength in their images that the old monsters had. It’s also due to the CGI heaviness. You’re missing the human element—like Boris Karloff, who actually played the monsters. Even in Creature From the Black Lagoon [1954], the guy had a complete costume, so you felt like there was a human being underneath. I think that’s important. It’s always an interesting challenge to see if you can create a character that’s got emotion. It can be done and it has been done".

I feel this source is extremely reliable in terms of linking it to my topic, due to the discussion of why he uses old style monsters, compared to a higher tech CGI created monster; he believes creating the monster from scratch rather than using a human with advanced CGI technology is much more powerful to a viewer.

Item 7 - Frankenweenie Interview
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/07/tim-burton-frankenweenie-interview

"His films still all start in his sketch pad; it's fascinating to see how his initial line drawings of the Penguin in the Batman films, or Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, survive to define the look of the multi-million-dollar finished products. He generally carries a pencil and paper with him, though he has to be a little more covert in his activities these days, for fear of being caught in the act of creation by paparazzi or fans with iPhones" The Guardians article talks about how his ideas all form from his sketchpad, and still stick throughout all the checks before the films are released. Evidence to support his individuality and how this makes him an Auteur.

BOOKS:

Item 8 - Burton on Burton (Book) - Mark Salisbury

"Johnny also understands the visuals. He understands how to move, he understands how to hit a mark, which sounds kind of boring but it's also very important, and it makes it very easy on a film like this".


This quote supports how Burton has full control upon the production and images he wants in the films he directs,  meaning all iconography shown has been portrayed by him for a particular purpose, whether to connote meaning or to just remind the viewers that he is the director(a signature if you will).

Item 9 -The Gothic Imagination of Tim Burton (https://2015.acmi.net.au/media/102407/the-gothic-imagination-of-tim-burton.pdf)

In creating Sweeney Todd’s darkly Gothic depiction of evil, Burton generates the same impression of oppressive claustrophobia as he did in the Batman films. The mise-en-scène of Sweeney Todd reinforces the idea that London is ‘a great black pit’ drawing in the mass of humanity, except for the ‘privileged few’ who sit ‘at the top of the hole ... making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo, turning beauty into filth and greed’. Ordinary people are easily manipulated into: buying hair tonic made out of urine, eating Mrs Lovett’s pies and offering up their throats to Sweeney Todd. The grim Victorian streets echo the moral bankruptcy of the people who live in them, while – as in Batman Returns – the city’s cellars, drains and sewers are a reminder of a further layer of human foulness running below the surface. Rather than any kind of supernatural horror, the horror of Sweeney Todd is the horror of being human.

Analysis of Sweeney Todd and Batman provides evidence of Burtons choice of mise-en scene and the connotations provided, providing further evidence for my choice of question.

OTHER:

Item 10 - Illusion, Tim Burton
http://illusion.scene360.com/art/75828/tim-burton-film-analysis/

The director described the famous German art movement in the book “Burton on Burton” (Mark Salisbury, 1995) as like “the inside of somebody’s head, like an internalized state externalized.” It’s not just chiaroscuro lighting effects, but also in the production design and the wildly exaggerated sets and décor. Just think of the Inventor’s castle in “Edward Scissorhands” or the whole of Gotham City in “Batman Returns.” 

Burton’s cinematic universe is indebted to German Expressionism. I chose this source due to the discussion of not only the book Burton on Burton, but it goes into detailed analysis upon his films associating with the topic of German Expression, linking into my choice of question.

Item 11 - Senses Of Cinema - Article on Burton
http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/burton/

"Before long young Burton was making horror films with a Super 8 camera, but he felt more like an artist than a filmmaker. He began drawing at an early age, but, it wasn’t until he has spent some time at California Institute of the Arts, that he was given an opportunity that would change his life. Disney, after seeing Burton’s artwork, hired him immediately. Amazingly, they didn’t even have a job that specifically fit what he could do. He was hired on the basis that if Disney didn’t hire him, someone else would."

Talks about his development of a director, past experiences and drawing as a child. I plan to use this alongside item 5 to support the sources of his unique iconography and how it may link to either his life experiences when growing up or purely just his imagination.

Item 12 - Static-mass - Beetlejuice movie review
http://staticmass.net/cult/beetlejuice-movie-1988-review/

"As a kid back in the later part of the 80s, Beetlejuice was the film that introduced me to the weird and wonderful world of Tim Burton and immediately there was something about his way of storytelling that struck a chord with me. Was it the zany characters? The outlandish sets? The bizarre situations that unfolded? It’s all of these things, and what I always loved about his films was that, like me, he didn’t shy away from the subject of death at all. In fact, he embraced it and with Beetlejuice what we see is a family who come to accept that death is part of life, and it’s only just the beginning!" 

Evidence that Burton represents death in a positive way, a reoccuring theme within his lines of films (The Corpse' Bride).

Item 13 - Artifice - The Corpse Bride: The Beauty of the Dead
https://the-artifice.com/the-corpse-bride-the-beauty-of-the-dead/

"Death in many forms of literature is at times looked at as bleak and torturous, but Burton creates a dimension of energy and vitality in the land of the dead. The jazzy infused musical number, Remains of the Day performed by Danny Elfman, coupled with a wide spectrum of colors helped change the viewers perception of the underworld. Burton was not the only creative genius to make life after death seem more desirable than life on earth, but he is arguably one of the geniuses who best captured the beauty and tragedy of it. When the audience sees such a strong contrast in being a part of the world of the living, and the land of the dead, it challenges the onlooker to believe that death can be much better than your life on earth. That is not to say that life on earth is full of sadness and disappointment, we can see the love between Victor and Victoria is definitely something that makes the world a better place. Burton is also exceptional when it comes to finding beauty in tragedy. Emily, the corpse bride, came from heartbreak and tragedy, but she is by far the most beautiful and dynamic character in this film, and one can argue that the true beauty of this character comes from the tragedy she lived. Her beauty came from within, and was able to shine through corpsy exterior showing Victor and the audience how beautiful she truly was. The moments when she was fueled by anger and jealousy only helped create a more “living” person which Victor began to see she is more alive than anyone he really every came in contact with. It was at that point he realized that he could truly see himself with her eternally". 

This source reflects upon Tim Burtons choice of his topics and why he does so, linking into the theme of his iconography and expression; I feel I could use quotes within this source to prove my point.


REJECTED ITEMS:

1. Ed Wood (1994 - film) - Although directed by Burton, there is no relation/evidence to prove my point.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton - Wikipedia is an unreliable source as anyone can access the file and write things in, could be proven untrue.
3. http://diply.com/tim-burton-facts - '17 Interesting Things To Know About Tim Burton' - I was originally going to use this, however, after some thought; i felt like the source was unreliable due to it's blog-like format and some of the facts could have been made up.