Burtonism

Differences and similarities when speaking of Burtonism

 1. Proposal - The director I’m writing about is well known for his outside of the box approach to all of his movies. It’s always the same actors crew, but the movies are complete different one from another. One thing can be said that it’s sure – he’s one of a kind. Yes, The director I have chosen is Tim Burton. Brilliant for his fans and not only, who can’t wait for his next boxoffice  major projects. One thing we might call for sure, there’s going to be Johnny Depp involved. A lot of humor, sarcasm, stupidity and art. Weird, awesome, astonishing, crap – all these words suits his artistic approach at the same time. That’s what he’s famous for, and, to be more precise, for being himself all the way from Disney studio drawing Vincent to the glory of Dark Shadows. Burton is all that, and even a bit more.

• The main research question is “What is so special when speaking of Burtonism?”. I will try to explain what are the great and not-so-great things about his movies, what brings him so much success and one last thing – his one of a kind marks that I commonly call “Burtonism”.

• The research methods I am using in general are internet, magazines, some books in the library which are totally not up-to-date, but doing some decent deal of job and asking questions to random people in twitter who might know something more.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) 

Based on Washington Irving’s tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; directed by Tim Burton; written by Andrew Kevin Walker; director of photography – Emmanuel Lubezki, edited by Chris Lebenzon; music by Danny Elfman.

WITH: Johnny Depp (Ichabod Crane), Christina Ricci (Katrina Van Tassel), Miranda Richardson (Lady Van Tassel), Michael Gambon (Baltus), Casper Van Dien (Brom), Jeffrey Jones (Reverend Steenwyck), Marc Pickering (Young Masbeth), Michael Gough (Notary Hardenbrook), Christopher Lee (Burgomaster) and Christopher Walken (Hessian Horseman). 

“History will recognize the rich imagination and secret tenderness of Mr. Burton's best films. (From a purely technical standpoint, as in the award-ready cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki, this grimly voluptuous ''Sleepy Hollow'' must be one of them.) But it will also raise the question of what we were smoking during this period of infatuation with grisliness on screen. It is not unreasonable to admire Mr. Burton immensely without wanting to peer at the exposed brain stems of his characters, but ''Sleepy Hollow'' leaves no choice. As written by Andrew Kevin Walker, who took off Gwyneth Paltrow's head in ''Seven'' and apparently considered that small potatoes, ''Sleepy Hollow'' turns the tale of the Headless Horseman into the pre-tabloid story of a rampaging serial killer.” [1] JANET MASLIN. (1999). Headless Horseman With Quite a Head Count. 

“Tim Burtons take on this classic ghost story is at once eerie, atmospheric and darkly humorous.  As with most of his films it is extremely rewarding visually, and in this case is shot with such diluted use of colour as to be almost black and white in places.” [2]

• The beginning of the scene

The scene starts in front of the livery when Ichabod Crane’s introduced to his new-old horse. The horse looks like it’s about to die any second and the Constable has clearly no idea how to use this “thing”. The landscape is very dark. There are some other animals in the picture, like for example a goat, some ducks and cows. The atmosphere is typical for outside-the-big-town villages - creepy. Assumingly the smell is terrible as it can be seen on Ichabods face. 

-His name is Gunpowder.

-He should do just fine. (speaking about the horse)

• Denouement

Then, all of a sudden, horseman shots in the air saying that the other horseman, the dead one,  killed again. It is time for Ichabod Crane to be seen in action. He tries to set himself up on the   Gunpowder, but instead of this he’s hilariously hanging as a luggage on the left side of the horse. He’s trying to navigate his “vehicle” into the right path, but unfortunately this turns out to be mission impossible and that’s the reason why the New York Constable arrives last at the crime scene.

• Crime scene

As he arrives, most of the men from the village are already gathered around the decapitated corpse. Van Tassel is giving instructions to everyone what to do. There’s some sort of priest, standing on a rock with a bible in his hands. The music is mournful. Bells are ringing.(chime,toll) The Ravens caws are very loud thus the picture is completed. Death it is saying. The trees are very dark as well, no colour can be found. It’s all grey. It might be said that the sun never sets upon Sleepy Hollow. 

• Ichabods arrival

Then, out of nowhere, Johnny Depp, a.k.a Ichabod Crane arrives  in his totally out-of-range style, fighting with the saddle which refuses to release his leg. Everyone’s starring at him in the most awkward way possible. Some of the gunmen are even laughing. Everything is so sad. There is a man near the corpse. Ichabod is required to go through the crowd and see if he can say something more than the obvious. Indeed he does that.

• The Coprse check

The forth victim is Jonathan Masbeth. However, Ichabod’s wondering how they can be so sure when there’s no head.

-That I see. And, the head?

-Taken.

We can surely say that the wood is singing its own dark song. Ichabod’s tryin to investigate, as there can be seen traces from horseshoe inbetween the fallen leafs. Ichabod is testing with some strange chemicals in bottles to see if there will be any reaction. We can say that this is an outstanding moment, because the actor is staying near beheaded body and he’s actually touching the spot where is supposed to be the head. He is anxiously calm, but his black eyes are saying that he is about to vomit his lunch every moment. The scene is very typical example of how Burton-Depp cooperation is creating a whole different picture of what’s is supposingly called “expectedness”.

“The pace and tension are both kept up throughout the film, aided and abetted by Danny Elfman's dramatic score and the remarkable visuals. There is, however, surprisingly little warmth or connection between the audience and the characters.” [2]Ali Barclay,2001, Sleepy Hollow.

Big part of Tim Burton’s style are exactly those strange-weirdo kind of glasses. We might say that this is his biggest mark in this film – something he will be remembered for. The acting of Johnny Depp at that scene is quite amazing, though the original Ichabod Crane is supposed to be very ugly. Burton tries to recreate the ugliness in the character via this weird manners of his in the acting style. 

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. (which is actually existing street in London)

Directed by Tim Burton; written by John Logan, based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond; director of photography, Dariusz Wolski; edited by Chris Lebenzon; music and lyrics by Mr. Sondheim; production designer, Dante Ferretti; produced by Richard D. Zanuck, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Mr. Logan; released by DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

WITH: Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin), Timothy Spall (Beadle), Sacha Baron Cohen (Pirelli), Jayne Wisener (Johanna), Jamie Campbell Bower (Anthony Hope) and Laura Michelle Kelly (Lucy/Beggar Woman).

“A great deal bloodier than most musicals, Tim Burton’s beautifully crafted take on Stephen Sondheim’s stage show still feels like a kids’ film that no littl’uns will see, such is the sweep of his story, his caricaturing, and his balletic approach to killing.” [4] Dave Calhoun. (2007). Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

“Sweeping, tragic, epic and strange, Sweeney Todd is, without reservations, one of the best films of the year. Blessed with the oddly perfect pairing of director Tim Burton’s gloomy visuals and Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant music and lyrics, it’s a clever adaptation of a notoriously difficult Broadway play. While remaining respectful to the source material, Burton has created something very much his own. It’s grisly and darkly funny in the way we expect from him, but also more emotionally resonant and genuine than perhaps anything he’s done in his career.” [5]

The scene in Sweeney Todd I would like to write about is probably the last one, if not – some of the last. 

• The beginning of the end

It starts when the young sailor lad opens the door screaming, accompanied with the beautiful Johanna dressed like a little boy, looking all over the place for Mr. Todd. The room is very dark, as most of the Burton’s film – it is almost black and white. The room is actually furnished in old Victorian style. There is a bell on the door that rings every time when someone opens it, so the barber would be able to hear if new clients are arriving. There is a big window, like a portal to the world, through which the light is falling exactly on the special chair. Chair that leads to hell. 

• Johanna and her adventure.

After Anthony left her in order to find a coach for them to leave London, Johanna has a moment on her own. Just like a infant child, she looks with a great deal of curiosity to all the things that are surrounding her. She stops in front of a desk filled with all of the barbers stuff. She looks at a picture – very nice, lovely double portrait of the whole Barker Family – her mother, she as a baby, and the young barber. But she can’t recognize none of them. It’s like she has an amnesia or something. She tooks the razor from the desk and opens it, all of a sudden, her mother is looking for the Beadle, who, apparently, entered the barber shop but didn’t come out. Scared to death, Johanna walk into a box, where previously was Pirellis dead body. 

• Lucy enters

When Lucy step into the dark room, with a single candle enlightening the space, she’s singin to herself like a mad woman. The dark atmosphere is supported by music that’s constantly increasing and decreasing its volume thus one can never be sure what’s next. The suspense is very high. Then, surprisingly, in the room enters Mr Sweeney Todd himself and stares at his wife, without recognizing her at all. 

-Don’t I know you, mister?

He cuts her throat with his razor without even considering it. At that time he thinks his wife is dead so he’s far away from the thought that he just killed his wife. The effects are very strong. All the blood spreading all over her body. His right shirt sleeve is red. The moment is extra visual. As a consequence it is plus one for Burton’s overall approach. 

• Judge Turpin is to meet his destiny

The actor who plays Turpin is well-known for his Proffesor Snape role in Harry Potter – Alan Rickman. His voice sounds very specifically, which adds an extra tension to the scene, but it’s matching to Johnny’s voice – it’s musical after all. The judge is very anxious about his sweetheart, the barbers daughter. The barber, as a good servant, calms him down and makes him feel much better. As a consequence he starts to sing about Johanna. And then, all out of sudden.

-BENJAMIN BARKER

The final cut. One last throat that remained uncut – not anymore. The Barbers dream came true. He revenged himself for all that he’s been through because of mr Tulpin’s decision. We might be able to describe the picture of the last assassination as “bloody blood bath”. Literally bloody. It’s blood everywhere. On the razor, on the barbers face, even on his teeth. His eyes are blinking all the time because of the bloodspray. 

One can see the dark clouds through the window. The white skunx stripe on Benjamin Barker’s head and his razor, as well, in action. Quite unpleasant scene that is.

Charlie and the chocolate factory. [2005]

Directed by Tim Burton; written by John August, based on the book by Roald Dahl; director of photography, Philippe Rousselot; edited by Chris Lebenzon; music byDanny Elfman; production designer, Alex McDowell; produced by Brad Grey and Richard D. Zanuck; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 116 minutes. This film is rated PG.

WITH: Johnny Depp (Willy Wonka), Freddie Highmore (Charlie Bucket), David Kelly (Grandpa Joe), Helena Bonham Carter (Mother Bucket), Noah Taylor(Father Bucket), Missi Pyle (Mrs. Beauregarde), James Fox (Mr. Salt), Deep Roy (Oompa-Loompas), Christopher Lee (Dr. Wonka), AnnaSophia Robb, (Violet Beauregarde), Jordan Fry (Mike Teavee), Philip Wiegratz (Augustus Gloop) and Julia Winter (Veruca Salt).

“It is not ugly, exactly - by now we are accustomed to seeing grandeur in this kind of architecture - but it is nonetheless forbidding. The interior, of course, is another story. This factory does not only turn out irresistible confections. As imagined by Tim Burtonand his production designer, Alex McDowell, Wonka's candyworks is itself such a confection, a place of extravagant innovation and wild indulgence where the ordinary principles of physics, chemistry and human behavior do not apply.” [6] A. O. SCOTT. (2005). Looking for the Candy, Finding a Back Story

“Deliciously dark and packed with candy-coloured visuals, Tim Burton's adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is an intoxicating endorphin rush. Freddie Highmore is engagingly winsome as one of five children who scores a ticket to the world's most magnificent chocolate factory. But it's his Finding Neverland co-star Johnny Depp who steals the show as the oddball chocolatier. While the story is a little soft in the centre, his take on Willy Wonka is a richly layered treat.” [7] Stella Papamichael . (2005). Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

The scene that our author is about to describe, is the one with the flying elevator. It is one of the last scene, profoundly found as a “crucial scene” by the same person in the previous sentence. 

• Amazing elevator

It all start’s with the pressing of a single button, saying “up and out”. Actually this is not an ordinary elevator. Like most of Tim Burton’s movies there is magic and lots of imagination. Here we have a flying, skyscraping elevator, capable of doing whatever you may possibly ever wan’t. We see the elevator dash out the chimney straight into the sky, while outside is winter. The whole factory is white, one can barely see the figures from the sky. All of a sudden everything around turns out to be clouds up until the moment, when the elevator reaches the zenith of it’s jump and starts to fall. Charlie and Grandpa Joe are worried, but Mr. Wonka is cool as a cucumber. It looks like he knows what he’s doing and nothing really bothers him at all. The picture here’s very bright. We could say that there’s not much of an art in it, but in fact all these computer-made factory 3d stuff are amazing. Especially when Willie Wonka pushes another button and suddenly the his invention stops just like that its free fallin. It has this astonishing for mini turbo engines, one on every side, that keeps it steady in the space. 

• House invasion

-When do you think they will be back?

- I don’t know, dear.

And then, out of nowhere, the magic elevator crushes the ceiling and parks exactly in front of little Charlie’s family. It’s an old, wood-made house, second-hand furnished. The strangest thing in this scene is that the house is kind of tilted sidewards. We could say that this is the Burton’s mark here and the key to the Burtonism. In the house, there is bad with three elder lads in it, four used-to-be, two on every side. We might say that the background says “this is what poverty looks like”. Everything is broken or newly-repaired-about-to-fall. The family is very poor but they didn’t look like poor people though. Of course, their clothes are patched, but the smiles on their faces are telling whole other story – happiness.

• strange arrival

We can see in the picture that everything’s about to destroy itself. What it takes to happen is just a single push. The picture contains: small fridge, microwave on it, strange portrait, falling beam and cooking stuff. It’s is actually something like a build-in kitchen-corner, with all the stuff. Helena looks like she just saw a ghost or something. 

Evaluation:

The key weaknesses in this research are the lack of book references (information after 2003 simply could not be found in the college library). As a strength I could mark that I’m thoroughly internet person and I did take the maximum out of it. 

About the research process I learned that time is never enough and information is always a lot more than one can afford to use.

My research could be improved if I dedicate myself to the art of filming and start to learn more and more about the matter. 

Burton recreates old stories in a great way.

References:

[1]JANET MASLIN. (1999). Headless Horseman With Quite a Head Count.Available:  http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C02E4D6163CF93AA25752C1A96F95826 . Last accessed 17.05.2012.

[2] Ali Barclay. (2001). Sleepy Hollow. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/06/20/sleepy_hollow_1999_review.shtml. Last accessed 17.05.2012.

[3] Wikipedia. Tim Burtons Sleepy Hollow. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_(film)

[4] Dave Calhoun. (2007). Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Available: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/85001/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street.html. Last accessed 17.05.2012.

[5] Katey Rich. (2007). Sweeney Todd. Available: http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Sweeney-Todd-2774.html. Last accessed 18.05.2012.

[6] A. O. SCOTT. (2005). Looking for the Candy, Finding a Back Story.Available: http://movies.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/movies/15char.html. Last accessed 20.05.2012.

[7] Stella Papamichael . (2005). Charlie And The Chocolate Factory . Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/07/18/charlie_and_the_chocolate_factory_2005_review.shtml. Last accessed 20.05.2012.

Book sources:

[1] Andrew Goeff (1999). Film Directors A-Z. London: Prion Books. 201

[2] I.Pym (2004). Time Out Film Guide. 12th ed. London: universal house. 55.

[3] Jim Smith and J.Clive Mathews (2002). Tim Burton. London: virgin books ltd. 345.