Tim Burton (Research)

There is something inherently peculiar about the dark gothic world of Tim Burton’s style, despite this there is also immense beauty within it. He started off as an animator for the fox and hound, however it was his short film ‘Vincent’ that was what got his career started. After watching the short film, it was clear why.

I immediately noticed his work was very reminiscent of German expressionist cinema, it even contained indisputable references to this style. For example in the short film there is a clip that is unmistakably similar to the 1922 German film ‘Nosferatu’. Despite this, the work still remains individual and uniquely stylised.

Something that really struck me with ‘Vincent’ was the really clear distinction between his portrayal of ‘Vincent Malloy’ and ‘Vincent Price’. This led me to realise that duality is central to his work in every sense possible. Even before watching his work there is a juxtaposition of what you expect – in the sense that his work is very stylised and dark, verses and the unpredictable plot of the films themselves.

Furthermore, duality between bright colour and monotone colour are both usually representative of contrasting themes within his work (e.g. corpse bride – the world of the dead is portrayed with popping colours and music and bright personality’s Vs, the Bourgeoisie of society portrayed with simple and odd looks with colours that are more or less absent).

Finally horror and Beauty are also key themes in his pieces (massively evident in the corpse bride), with horror and death being the most resounding concepts in all of his work.

I’ve always been a fan of the style of Burton’s characters and the work itself, however after actually researching it as a whole and learning more in depth about his projects, I am completely fascinated by him.

I think one of the reasons I’m so interested in his work is because of his unique approach to death. And trying to avoid sounding weird, throughout the entirety of the foundation I have found myself being drawn to the theme of death/decay

Week 8

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