Wednesday 30 December 2015

New Film #10

Title: Dr Seuss' The Lorax
Year of Production: 2012
Type: Film
Director: Chris Renaud
Producer: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy
Writer: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
Production Company: Illumination Entertainment
Key Cast: Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Rob Riggle
Key Crew: John Powell, Claire Dodgson, Steven Liu, Ken Schretzmann
Genre: computer-animated 3D musical fantasy comedy
Budget: $70 million
Box Office: $348.8 million
Themes:
Awards:

Narrative:
In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O'Hare, has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business.

Key Scenes:

Progression of Key Contributors:

ED HELMS:

  • We're the Millers
  • Vacation
  • Love the Coopers
  • Captain Underpants
ZAC EFRON:
  • The Lucky One
  • The Paperboy
  • That Awkward Moment
  • Bad Neighbours
  • We Are Your Friends
  • Dirty Grandpa
  • Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising

New Film #9

Title: Father Christmas
Year of Production: 1991
Type: Film (animated short)
Director: Dave Unwin
Producer: John Coates
Writer: Raymond Briggs
Production Company: n/a
Key Cast: Mel Smith, William Dennis Hunt
Key Crew: Mike Hewer
Genre: n/a
Budget: n/a
Box Office: n/a
Themes:
Awards:

Narrative:
After a hard night's work, Father Christmas decides to go on a "blooming vacation", builds his sledge into a caravan and holidays in France, Scotland and Las Vegas before coming home and settling down, with a bit of grumbling, to answer the mail, get the gifts ready, deliver them and get to the Snowmens' party on time--only he's forgotten something.

Key Scenes:

Progression of Key Contributors:

New Film #8

Title: Inside Out
Year of Production: 2015
Type: Film
Director: Pete Docter
Producer: Jonas Rivera
Writer: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
Key Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling
Key Crew: Michael Giacchino, Patrick Lin, Kim White, Kevin Nolting
Genre: 3D computer-animated comedy-drama adventure
Budget: $175 million
Box Office: $851.6 million
Themes: love, family, friendship, health, mental health, coming of age, life
Awards:

Narrative:
Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.
Key Scenes:

Progression of Key Contributors:

New Film #7

Title: The Holiday
Year of Production: 2006
Type: Film
Director: Nancy Meyers
Producer: Nancy Meyers, Bruce A. Block
Writer: Nancy Meyers
Production Company: Relativity Media, Waverly Films
Key Cast: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Rufus Sewell, Edward Burns
Key Crew: Dean Cundey, Joe Hutshing, Hans Zimmer, Henrey Jackman, Lorne Balfe
Genre: Romantic-comedy
Budget: $85 million
Box Office: $205.1 million
Themes: love, friendship, christmas
Awards:

Narrative:
In London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and nurtures an unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom. Near Christmas, she is informed that Jasper is engaged to marry another colleague, and her life turns upside down. In Los Angeles, the movie-trailers maker Amanda Woods has just split with her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan and wants to forget him. Through a house exchange website, Amanda impulsively swaps her mansion for Iris' cottage in Surrey for the holidays. While in Surrey, Amanda meets Iris' brother and book editor Graham and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Iris meets her new next door neighbor the ninety year old screenplay writer Arthur, who helps her retrieve her self-esteem, and the film composer Miles, with whom she falls in love.

Key Scenes:

Progression of Key Contributors:

CAMERON DIAZ:
  • My Sisters Keeper
  • Knight and Day
  • Bad Teacher
  • What to Expect When You're Expecting
  • Gambit
  • The Other Woman
  • Sex Tape
  • Annie

New Film #6

Title:  The Santa Clause
Year of Production: 1994
Type: Film
Director: John Pasquin
Producer: Robert Newmyer, Brian Reilly, Jeffrey Silver
Writer: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Karey Kirkpatrick
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Outlaw Productions
Key Cast: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, Wendy Crewson, David Krumholtz, Peter Boyle
Key Crew: Michael Convertino, Walt Lloyd, Larry Bock
Genre: Fantasy family comedy
Budget: $22 million
Box Office: $189.8 million
Themes:
Awards:

Narrative:

Divorcee Scott Calvin is disgusted to learn that his ex and her husband have tried - and failed - to break it easy to their 6-year-old son Charlie that Santa isn't real. On Christmas Eve, Scott reads The Night Before Christmas... then receives an unexpected visitor on his roof. When he's startled by Scott's calling out and falls, the Santa impersonator disappears, leaving only an 8-reindeer sleigh and a suit with instructions to put it on if he's involved in an accident. Scott does, and is transported around the town dropping gifts through chimneys until he's taken to the North Pole and informed by a group who claim they're elves that he is now Santa. Charlie is proud of his dad's new job, though Scott's convinced it's a dream. Until his hair turns white, his beard refuses to stay shaved, he gains weight inexplicably, even for his sudden love of junk food... Now he's accepted it, there's just one problem: how to keep it secret from his disbelieving family?

Key Scenes:

Comparables:

Progression of Key Contributors:

TIM ALLEN: 

  • Toy Story
  • Toy Story 2
  • The Santa Clause 2
  • Christmas with the Kranks
  • The Shaggy Dog
  • The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
  • Toy Story 3

Thursday 26 November 2015

Annotated Catalogue (Presentation Script)


Speaker: Good morning everyone. Today I will be talking about

Presentation Slide 1: Statement on screen

Speaker: “How have events in Tim Burtons life provided evidence that it’s reflected in his films?”

Slide 2: picture of Burbank, California on a map

Slide 3: quote from burton on burton book (ITEM 1)

Speaker: Tim Burton was born in 1958 in the city of Burbank, California. He used his hometown as a location in Edward Scissorhands. He is using elements of his life to portray himself into the film and making Edward Scissorhands character to represent most elements of his life.

Slide 2: Trailer of Edward Scissorhands

Speaker: The first item we will look at is my main film, Edward Scissorhands, directed by Tim Burton in 1990. The film focuses around the main protagonist, Edward Scissorhands, and how he is an outcast to society. This is reflected as when Tim Burton was a child he dressed differently from other children and struggled to make friends. Edward Scissorhands is an example of how Tim Burton wants to go against the hegemonic ideal. (ITEM 3)

Slide 3: Image of Tim Burton and Edward Scissorhands (ITEM 16)

Speaker: Tim Burton frequently characterizes the main protagonists of his films to portray an image of him. This is further represented in Edward Scissorhands as Johnny Depp’s character, Edward, shares many of the same physical attributes that Tim Burton has. This could emphasise the point that Tim Burton has an obsession with himself, and uses it as an advantage in his films.

Slide 4: Play Vincent (short, d. Tim Burton, 1982) – 6mins

Slide 5: picture of Vincent Molloy (ITEM 6)

Speaker: You can clearly see that Vincent Molloy from the short film has many resemblances to Tim Burton, as they both have dark, scruffy hair, slim face and dark clothing. This suggests that Tim Burton clearly had an obsession with himself and chooses to reflect his ego into his films. Burton’s favourite actor when he was younger was Vincent Price, and he gained a slight obsession. As a result this led to his first short film based on a young boy called Vincent who imagined he was Vincent Price. This suggests to the audience that the short is based on how Burton felt when he was younger. (ITEM 5 and 6)

Slide 6: quote on slide from burton on burton book           

Speaker: This quote confirms how Tim Burton felt on Vincent’s character, and how he used him as his first attempts to represent himself onscreen. It suggests how he his reminiscent of his childhood and the connections he had with Vincent Price. (ITEM 7)

Slide 7: quote from burton on burton book

Speaker: this quote also confirms the point of how Tim Burton was different from other children when he was a child, as it is not typically normal for young boys to enjoy watching horror films without getting scared. And therefore some of the most popular films that Tim Burton has made have been focused around fictional monsters, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie reflect the stylistic choices he made, because horror has always been his favourite genre. (ITEM 2)

Slide 8: trailer for Frankenweenie 1984

Speaker: Another way that the audience can suggest that Tim Burton had an interest in fictional monsters is because in 1984 Burton made a short film called Frankenweenie while he was working for Disney, but they deemed it unsuitable for Disney’s target audiences. Tim Burton discussed how he didn’t feel like he could fit in with Disney’s animation team and they did not like the drawings he produced. This obsession with monsters and dead dogs continued after it was reflected in his short film, Vincent, when he tries to turn his pet dog into a zombie, and later on in 2012 when he was able to make Frankenweenie as a full length film.

Slide 9: trailer for Frankenweenie 2012

Slide 10: Disney logo and music

Speaker: in 1980, Burton attracted Walt Disney Production’s animation department and they offered him an animators apprenticeship at the studio. He worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist for Disney, but his ideas never made it into the finished films. In 1984, after Burton released his live-action short of Frankenweenie, Disney fired him as they thought he spent the companies resources on creating a film that was too dark and scary for children.

Slide 11: quote from burton on burton book (ITEM 11)

Speaker: this is evidence of how Tim Burton felt while he was working for Disney and his audience could suggest that this is what then encouraged Burton to make his own films with his own style, and now this is why his films are so distinctive compared to other directors and auters.

Thursday 19 November 2015

Annotated Catalogue (Presentation)

https://prezi.com/srunxc7o5qsv/have-events-in-tim-burtons-life-provided-evidence-that-it-i/

Annotated Catalogue (final)

How have events in Tim Burton’s life provided evidence that it’s reflected in his films?

Item 1
BURTON, T. (1995) Burton on Burton
“Burbank is an archetypal working-class American suburb. It was an environment, however, from which Tim Burton felt alienated at an early age, one that he would later portray in Edward Scissorhands. Indeed, it’s easy to see the young, introverted Tim Burton in Edward’s stranger-in-a-strange-land, removed from his hilltop castle home to a pastel-coloured version of suburbia. As a child, Burton was, by his own admission, moderately destructive. He would rip the heads off his toy soldiers and terrorize the kid next door by convincing him that aliens had landed. He would seek refuge from his surroundings in the movie theatre or sit in front of the television watching horror movies.” Tim Burton used his hometown of Burbank, California as a location in Edward Scissorhands. He is using elements of his life to portray himself into the film, and making Edward Scissorhands’ character to represent most elements of his life.

Item 2
BURTON, T. (1995) Burton on Burton
“I’ve always loved monsters and monster movies. I was never terrified of them, I just loved them from as early as I can remember. My parents said I was never scared, I’d just watch anything. And that kind of stuff has stuck with me.” Reflected in films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Frankenweenie (2012), as the films central focus are fictional monsters.

Item 3
Edward Scissorhands (d. Tim Burton, 1990). As a child Tim Burton was an outcast. He dressed differently from other children and struggled to make friends. Edward Scissorhands character is an example of how Tim Burton wants to go against the hegemonic ideal. This suggests to the audience that Tim Burton has used Edward Scissorhands’ character to reflect and image of himself to the audience. (Also shown in item 14)

Item 4

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (d. Tim Burton, 2005). Throughout Tim Burton's childhood, his parents had a turbulent relationship, which in effect, ended badly. This is reflected in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Willie Wonka and his father, as they did not get on and went many years without speaking to each other. This proves that Tim Burton has used his personal experiences of his childhood in a way that he can relate to Willie Wonka’s character and so it suggests these themes to the audience.

Item 5
Vincent (short, d. Tim Burton, 1982). Tim Burton's favourite actor when he was a child was Vincent Price, and he gained a slight obsession. As a result, the first short film Tim Burton made was based on a young boy called Vincent who imagined he was Vincent Price. This suggests that the young boy, Vincent, in the short is based on Tim Burton when he was a child, as they also share many of the same physical features.

Item 6
You can clearly see that Vincent Molloy from the short film has many resemblances to Tim Burton, as they both have dark scruffy hair, slim face and dark clothing. This suggests that Tim Burton has an obsession with himself and chooses to reflect his ego into his films.


Item 7
BURTON, T. (1995) Burton on Burton
“Vincent Price, Edgar Allan Poe, those monster movies, those spoke to me. You see somebody going through that anguish and that torture-things you identify with-and it acts as a kind of therapy, a release. You make a connection with it. That’s what the Vincent thing really was for me.” This quote from Tim Burton’s book gives his opinion on how he felt about Vincent’s character, and how he used him to first represent himself through a character onscreen. It shows how he is reminiscent of his childhood and the connections he had with Vincent Price.

Item 8
The Nightmare Before Christmas (d. Henry Selick, 1993). Tim Burton describes his former fiancée, Lisa Marie Smith, as his muse. She appears in Mars Attacks! (d. Tim Burton 1996) film and was the inspiration behind the character, Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas.




Item 9
*Tim Burton also took inspiration from his wife, Helena Bonham Carter, as from the time they were married (2001-2014) and his best friend Johnny Depp, and they have appeared in six of his films, including: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).





Item 10
Frankenweenie (d. Tim Burton, 2012). Tim Burton had an obsession with dead dogs when he was a child. He made a short film of Frankenweenie in 1984, which was deemed unsuitable for Disney's young target audiences. Tim Burton talks about how he didn’t feel like he could fit in with Disney’s animation team and they did not like the drawings he produced. His obsession with dead dogs is also reflected in his Vincent short film as Vincent tries to turn his pet dog into a zombie.

Item 11
BURTON, T. (1995) Burton on Burton
“Disney and I were a bad mix. For a year I was probably more depressed than I have ever been in my life. I worked for a great animator, Glenn Kean. He was nice, he was good to me, he’s a really strong animator and he helped me. But he also kind of tortured me because I got all the cute fox scenes to draw, and I couldn’t draw those four-legged Disney foxes. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even fake the Disney style.” This shows how Tim Burton really felt when he was working for Disney, and you could imply that this is what encouraged him to make his own films with his own style, and why now his films are so distinctive to other directors.

Item 12
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/tim-burton-his-life-movies-422036

Item 13
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/tim-burton/ Written by Danny Elfman (published 22.01.10)


This extract from the interview between Danny Elfman and Tim Burton suggests where Burton may have found his inspiration for the themes in his films. As most of them center on death, Burton was exposed to this at a young age; instead of playing in parks he was playing in a graveyard.



In another extract from the interview, Tim Burton tells Danny Elfman how he took inspiration from Dr. Seuss throughout his childhood, and therefore reflected his style in his films. So in Vincent and The Nightmare Before Christmas, both films use rhyming qualities in the soundtrack that give the audience a sense of familiarity as they sound similar to Dr. Seuss’ work.

Item 14
http://www.timeout.com/london/film/tim-burton-interview-1 Written by Dave Calhoun
In this extract of the article, Dave Calhoun describes how he thinks that Tim Burton’s house could be in the settings of one of his films. This suggests that Tim Burton’s gothic style and themes are not just within his films, but in his home life too, as he describes his house to have ‘a gothic feel’. This could be where Tim Burton gains some of his inspiration for films ideas, as his environment reflects the general mood of all of his films.



In this extract of the article, Dave Calhoun is able to witness how much Frankenweenie meant to Tim Burton, as he begins to get emotional. This supports the point that he really does put all of his childhood memories into his work, and as a result it provides successful films that some people can relate to.

 Item 15                                                                                   
Tim Burton frequently characterizes the main protagonists of his films to portray an image of him. This is represented in Edward Scissorhands, as Johnny Depp’s character, Edward, shares many of the same physical attributions that Tim Burton has. This could further suggest that Tim Burton has an obsession with himself.




REJECTED ITEMS

Item 15

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/07/tim-burton-frankenweenie-interview