Tim Burton Film Google Images Search

I have searched some of Tim Burton's films on google images and found screenshots of scenes in his movies. This will help me get a good understanding about how he uses cinematography and mise en scene in his shots even before I actually watch the movies. Things I will be looking out for are colour, angles, focus/depth of shot, busy-ness of shot. Of course, because these are images, I cannot comment on the ratio of the shot or quality because that is dependant on whoever shared the screenshot, not on Tim Burton's producing.

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Colour: Bland, Neutral, lots of brown, plain
Angle: Straight on but slightly low angle
Lighting:
Focus/Depth of Shot: Characters quite close to camera, and background is far away and really out of focus, and mostly unidentifiable (although it is obviously the sky)
Matter: 3 characters; grasshopper, james, caterpillar, looking shocked at something on the floor
Notes: Rule of thirds, Mid Shot

Colour: Bland, Dark juxtaposed with dark; contrast
Angle: Straight on but slightly high angle
Lighting:
Focus/Depth of Shot: Main focus is medium-close to the camera, halfway between the background and the camera, background is out of focus and unidentifiable
Matter: James and spider, James looks up to the spider because he is vulnerable and slightly scared as the spider tries to act as sort of a 'mother figure' for him (I haven't seen this movies for about 10 years (wow I feel old) so my narrative understanding is probably off)
Notes: Rule of thirds, the golden rule, the colours of the characters are really symbolic to their personalities, and to how innocent they are.


Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Colour: Edward Scissorhands is coloured in black and white juxtaposed to the other characters and the set, saying a lot about his character, however, all of the other colours are still undersaturated and plain/bland
Angle: Straight on, slightly high angle
Lighting:
Focus/Depth of Shot: Everything in the shot is in focus because the background is close to the foreground
Matter: Edward with 4 other people at a restaurant table, they're all looking at him
Notes: Edward is very isolated in this shot, no matter how close or how included he looks to these other people, because they are all looking at him, he is wearing clothes of colours in a different pallet, and he is on the edge of the shot.

Colour: A lot of Burton's films lack a lot of colour, however, he does use it in a clever way; to juxtapose characters and moods, just like in this shot, bright colours are rare for him to use but even then, the colours are still undersaturated and seem unbright
Angle: Straight on, slightly low, to reveal the bush statue and the "power" of these women
Lighting:
Focus/Depth of Shot: The background is far away however the bush is not out of focus, the far far background though is out of focus.
Matter: five women standing and talking to each other, they look very high-maintenance
Notes: There are 2 main focuses in the shot, the bush sculpture and the women at the front, if I knew what the dialogue was I could analyse the action more and find a meaning and purpose for why Burton has placed these 2 focuses here.


Batman (1989)

Colour: White and off-white, as well as dark purples, brown and green accent, though there are considerable bright colours, they vibe is still quite dull because of the undersaturation of the colours
Angle: Straight on, lens looks slightly fish-eyed (I could be wrong)
Lighting:
Depth of Shot: Quite close, the focus is the joker who is standing relatively close to the wall, not causing much depth in the shot
Matter: Joker, mask on a table, corner of a room, shadows cover a lot of the jokers body, revealing only his extremely white face
Notes: Lighting is to a minimum but is used in a clever way, shadow of the mask

Colour: Batman is costumed in a dark black suit, the joker in purple and green colours; juxtaposition, also irony because batman is the good guy and the joker the bad.
Angle: Straight on, Mid Shot
Lighting: Joker's face is well lit, however batman is less 'in the light'
Depth of Shot: The characters are at a good length from the camera however the background is quite a distance away and re well out of focus, but not to the point of being unidentifiable
Matter: Joker grabbing Batman,
Notes: The power in the shot is given to Joker because he is more well lit and is the one grabbing batman by the arms

Colour:  Lots of black, hints of white and accent of yellow on his chest logo
Angle: Low angle looking up at Batman (power symbol)
Lighting: Minimum, light reveals more of the background and the smoke rather than Batman himself
Depth of Shot: Batman relatively close to the camera and the background is well out of focus, smoke helps with taking focus away from background
Matter: Batman in focus, lots of foggy smoke behind him, creating a powerful mysterious vibe
Notes: even though batman is the good guy, he is always shown in dark lighting, which is quite ironic but very suitable for his character (bats only come out at night)

Tim Burton Research

For this critique task, I have decided to focus on the director Tim Burton.

Watch the films of the director of your choice

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Corpse Bride (2005)

Beetlejuice (1998)

Alice In Wonderland (2010)

Batman (1989)

Take notes of the stylistic elements/signatures of their work (Characters? Storyline? Genre? Weird or Quirky?)

1. Techniques
2. Signature style
3. Recurring themes
4. Plot devices
5. Symbolic codes or motif

Critique Task Notes

This lesson, Mr Andrews talked to us about our task and below are the notes I took during this conversation

• There are 3 assignments to the topic: all three covering information about the auteur of your choice 
• Critique Task: find the auteur that you like and analyse their work
• Design Task: plan a scene (or two) that are in the style of the chosen director

CRITIQUE TASK

• Oral presentation on the work of a director who has a signature style (AKA AUTEUR)
• Argue and show evidence about how this director is considered an auteur
• Prove that they are an auteur by using examples and evidence
• 6-8 minutes of presentation
• Multimodal - powerpoint
• Videos and photo's can be in the powerpoint to back up the presentation
• If you stop your speech to show a video sequence, keep it to maximum 20 seconds
• You can have a video playing as your speed
• Show specific evidence from the directors films in the presentation

Examine their

1. Techniques
2. Signature style
3. Recurring themes
4. Plot devices
5. Symbolic codes or motif

Research Questions to answer

Below are some things I must do in order to thoroughly research my director.

• Watch the films of the director of your choice
• Take notes of the stylistic elements/signatures of their work
• Characters? Storyline? Genre? Blood going everywhere? Weird or Quirky?
• Research the director and their films to get a better understanding of their work
• Google their images, it is the most important part of their work. You can gain their visual style from there
• Look at what some articles online about the director

Production Assignment notes

• Take notes of the directors camera movements, style, and genre
• Recreating the directors style of filming

Famous Auteurs

Below are listed some famous auteurs, some basic info on their film careers, and the reason why they are considered to fit into the theory of auteur.

Alfred Hitchcock

• When talking about the Auteur theory, Hitchcock is one of the first names to come up becuase of his evident style that is constant throughout all of his films, also the fact that he has full control of the films that he creates in regards to camera-work, storyboards, the script and directing them
• Alfred Hitchcock has made a total of 53 films in his lifetime - six decades of his filming career
• A lot of these films are classics and are very well-known
• Some of his more notable works are Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Vertigo (1958), Rear Window (1954), North By North West(1959),  and Rebbeca (1940).
• His style of film is known for the intelligent plots, witty dialogue, and the smattering of mystery and murder. 
• He has been attributed with revolutionizing the thriller genre.

Tim Burton

• Tim Burton is another director that is also included as an Auteur because he has a very certain style to all of his films, and charge with a lot of his work
• 'So The Theory Goes' states that "Films made by Tim Burton are easily identifiable. They incorporate his beliefs and values. They feature actors and crew members that are frequently a part of his team. Furthermore, the stories are told from his perceptive, both in terms of themes and the style (mise-en-shot)."
• He is an American film director, producer, artist, writer and animator. 
• He is known for his dark, gothic and quirky fantasy films.
• Some of his more famous works are  Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride (2005), and Alice In Wonderland (2010).

Wess Anderson Anderson

• Anderson is often considered a contemporary auteur because of his very distinct visual and narrative style of film.
• He is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, and actor.
• Some of his famous works are The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Quentin Tarentino

Sophia Capo

Bas Lerman

Tim Burton info

We were asked to choose another director that is considered to be an auteur, and research them. Mr Andrews told us that we must chose a director whose films that we really like so that we are interested in our research.

• His style is very dark and weird, just like his characters, this is shown through the lighting and the colours used in the films
• In the storyline he uses lots of flashbacks
• Doesn't write up all of his scripts but has a lot of creative input
• As an auteur, he has made an influence on other directors because his style is so distinct that movies like Coraline, which he didn't direct, people think that it is his film.
• He uses a lot of twisted and weird characters: Edward Scissorhands
• Tim Burton also uses many of the same cast and crew in his films.  

Alfred Hitchcock

Monday 16th May

Research Alfred Hitchcock 

Alfred Hitchcock was a fan of Pure Cinema; telling of a story through the film by using strong visuals, instead of lengthy dialogue, to further the narrative. 
Hitchcocks 

He used the background as a very important part of the film, as important as a character.

Choose another director that is considered an original auteur 

Find 10 films of Alfred Hitchcock

• Vertigo (date)
• Rope (fdsj f)
• North By North West
• Psyco
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Birds
• Rear Window

Tuesday 17th May

Notes about Hitchcock, why he is considered an auteur, his signature, his style (mise-en-scene etc)

what genre he worked in

Hitchcock is well known for 

• Cool title sequences
• Very suspenseful shots
• Thriller/suspense genre
• Using a Mcguffin 

Thursday 19th May

Signature elements of Alfred Hitchcock

• Staging: treated the camera like an actor. He blocked out the movements of the camera to match the movements of the actors.
• Very long and suspenseful shots
• Another “manipulation” tool is the way his actors are required to show their emotions and reactions only on their faces.  This is present in all of his films, it’s a pattern, a signature.  The acting in his films is nearly always excellent and very effective.  But it is also very  deliberate, and oftentimes exaggerated.

More Alfred Hitchcock - Signature Elements/Influences

Thursday 19th May

For homework, we were set homework to research more on Alfred Hitchcock(Our teacher absolutely adores this director). Mainly because he is the perfect gamble of an auteur director, and he is very well known, making it easier to find information about him and his films.

SIGNATURE ELEMENTS IN HIS FILMS

• 'The Camera Is Not A Camera'. Instead it is treated more like a character, where it moves around and follows the people around. This affects the audience in a way to make them feel as if they are IN the movie.
• He doesn't base his films on dialogue, but rather the visual story that he is telling. So, many of the actors can communicate their 'internal dialogue' within their eyes and the way they express their faces, rather than talking and externalising their thoughts. This is also called Pure Cinema.
• 'Point Of View' shots. Where the camera reveals what the character is looking at from his or her perspective. It lets the audience connect with the characters on that level and reveal what they are seeing, not just them themselves.
• Simple story lines
• Complex characters
• Hitchcock uses a lot of tension in his films through elements of humour, long shots, 
• Uses location as an important part of the story
• If you combine all of this lengthy dialogue, lengthy shots with well blocked camera blocking, it creates both a story in the cinema and a story in the visuals.

HIS INFLUENCES ON POPULAR CULTURE

• He is said to have had an influence in the directing style of David Lynch, M. Night Shymalan, Steven Speilberg, Brian DePalma, and David Fincher, according to 'geektyran'
• Apparently, Hitchcock was the first to incorporate suspenseful elements into his films. This has influenced many other films in the way that 
• He began the slasher movie trend, he pushed the boundaries of what was allowed to be shown to the audience, and many films afterwards 
• Hitchock has had impacts on very recent movies and tv shows like Big Train, an episode of The Simpsons, and Pretty Little Liars.

Online Comparison Articles on Ringu and The Ring

http://blogcritics.org/ringu-vs-the-ring/

This person states that they liked the Japanese version, 'Ringu', a thousand times better than the American 'The Ring'. They justify this through analysis of their victims, the video, the music, the characters and the overall message.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/jun/26/the-ring-remake-beats-original-ringu

However, this person has a totally different opinion, stating that they think The Ring totally outshined the original Ringu.

By looking at these articles is makes it easier to get opinions and information for my analysis essay. I am able to compare and contrast the films and get a perspective on their purposes.

What is Auteur Theory?

What is Auteur Theory?

GOOGLE DEFINITION:

The auteur theory, which was derived largely from Astruc's elucidation of the concept of caméra-stylo (“camera-pen”), holds that the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion picture, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay.

MY DEFINITION:

The auteur theory is the idea of a director having complete control over his films and therefore creating a very distinct style within all his films. However, this definition can change between each director. Lots of directors are auteurs but in different ways, because their films are made distinguishable to their own personal style.

PROBLEMS:

The problem with Auteur theory is that it is so vague that many directors can be considered auteur but it is debatable. Some directors are considered auteur because they do their producing, camera work, storyboards, scripts. Other directors do not do all of this but they have a very distinct style in their filming.