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.