Esteva - Reflective Blog

   Through the development of this course we have watched a total of eleven movies and read one book of the publicly acclaimed director, writer and cartoonist Tim Burton. Since the course started we have studied the different elements and aspects that characterize the various films and how to analyze them.

     Within the aspects of a film that we learned how to analyze is the story line and how each movie is divided by and introduction, the moment of climax or the conflict and the resolution to said conflict. Knowing this helps one realize what are the truly important points of every movie and what the director wants you to give more attention to.

     Another thing that we practiced a lot though the course was the use of mise en scene. This term, in movies, refers to how all the visual elements of stage production are placed. Practicing the analyze of the elements in frames of the different Tim Burton movies has made me understand more clearly why directors do what they do while filming the movie. For instance, if the choose to portray any character with the camera looking up at him or her, is because they intend to give said subject certain power or sense of greatness. Because of mise en scene I am now able to understand more clearly what the director is trying to say to the audience.

     Between what was studied in the course we also had what is known as biographical criticism, or the links between certain way of art and his or her creator. In most of the Tim Burton films watched during class this is a very present aspect. As we learned through our book, Gothic Fantasy, Tim Burton went through a rough childhood. His family and friends never accepted him, so most of the time he was obligated to be by himself and feel like a total outcast. As we have seen in his movies many of the main characters have the same characteristics he had as a child. For example, since a young age Bruce Wayne was alone an misunderstood, which led him to find something he could do to entertain himself, so he created Batman. Tim Burton also as a lonely person found refugee in his art. His way of escaping reality was his drawings, writing and later in life his movies.

     Edward Scissorhands also represents how Tim Burton felt during a long period of time. Alone, even though at some point he had many people surrounding him. These two mentioned characters are also an example of an artist’s expression. For Tim Burton, he created someone he could relate to and feel close to.

    During this course I also realized something that every person should know. Even though you already decided what you want to be in life and already know what you have to do in order to achieve it, it is also important to go slightly out of your path and stop to learn about different things. Because, although it may not benefit you in your goal but it will certainly change the way of how you see life and what life gives you. 

Esteva - Sweeney Todd

 At the beginning of Tim Burton's film Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street one can see the protagonist of the movie telling his story about how he lost everything that he loved in the world, his wife and daughter, to the hands of Judge Turpin, a corrupt man with much more power than he should have. Since this event the audience immediately sympathizes with Sweeney Todd and his life full of darkness and grief. When Todd arrived to London his only goal was to take revenge from those who caused him harm. Nevertheless, when he gets to his old barbershop he finds Mrs. Lovett, a peculiar woman with questionable morals, now owns the place and in it's first floor has a meat pie bakery, with also questionable sanitary measures.
      As she learns Sweeney Todd's plan of revenge she decides to make something of it for both of them. She persuades Todd that only killing people is a waste and it would also be very hard to dispose of all the bodies correctly so no one finds out of what he is actually doing, hence she tells him that using the meat of the people he kills to make pies is the best way to get rid of them, and also it benefits her in every single way. After this agreement she manages to get Sweeney Todd a little carried away and convinces him to kill every single client that he has in his barbershop so she can have sufficient meat for all her pies. Obviously this is a horrible form of cannibalism and I consider even worse the fact the people that buy the meat pies are being cannibals without having any clue.
      Even though Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett are committing these awful doings Tim Burton still manages to get the audience to completely sympathize with the main characters by not giving any importance to the people that is being killed. When the two of them are singing and talking about prospective clients, or victims for the pies they are just seen as pieces of meat, that can be good or worse depending mostly on the amount of power they posses.
      Another aspect of the film that represents cannibalism in a more implicit way is what Sweeney Todd says in one of the songs, in London corruption and over powered people created the culture of "man eats man." Powerful people take advantage of the rest of the working population for their own good, until they arrive to certain point where they practically eat the less powerful up and leave them completely vulnerable and drained.

Esteva - Planet of the Apes

       In Planet of the Apes Tim Burton's plays with many dualities as the film develops. One of the various dualities is the issue of civil liberties versus slavery. In what Captain Leo Davidson and the rest of us consider the "normal" world, humans are at the top of the chain. Because humans have this position and are the only beings able to reason we often consider our specie superior to every other that exists on earth, which often leads to our specie deciding what is best for other species and how they ought to live. Nevertheless, when Captain Leo Davidson goes after his chimp in outer space he ends up going through some kind of black hole and finds himself in an alternate reality.
     In this new parallel world where the main character winds up, the roles between monkeys, or as the call themselves "Apes," and humans is completely inverted. Monkeys are the most superior beings in the world, the ones at the top of the chain. Humans are somewhat like apes are in the "normal" world, they are considered less intelligent than apes and are treated in a disrespectful manner. At some extent it could be called racism.
      Humans are second class citizens and are Apes' slaves. This type of society could be compared to the ancient societies where people had slaves of what were considered inferior ethnicities. As in the ancient societies in this Apes' world the slaves were categorized depending on the work they were assigned to do and their price changed depending on the former. Furthermore, like the slaves in ancient societies, humans preferred to remain unnoticed by the Apes, hiding in the jungle doing their best to not get the attention in any way of the "superior" specie.
      Watching this movie at first I was completely amazed by how horribly the Apes treated the humans. But as the film developed I realized that we, humans, the supposedly most intelligent beings on earth have treated Apes and many more animals in similar or even worst manner. This makes me think if it is fair that the rest of the living beings that share the planet with us are obligated to respond and follow every choice we make for them. Are they not being treated as the humans in Tim Burton's movie?

Esteva - Sleepy Hollow

     

     After watching Tim Burton's film Sleepy Hollow and reading Irving's story, in which the movie is based, I came to the conclusion that Burton only utilizes the name of the character and the main phenomenon of the story – The Headless Rider. 
      One of the most notable examples of how Tim Burton only uses the name of the characters is which the main character of both, the movie and the story, Ichabod Crane. In the film Ichabod Crane is a man from the city who believes completely and without any doubt in reasoning, facts and evidence, which is completely opposite to what the story says. In Irving's story Ichabod Crane is a school teacher who spends most of his time surrounded by children and old women making stories about supernatural things like ghosts. This past statement obviously shows how these two same characters are entirely different in most aspects. Nevertheless, even though one could say these two characters are completely different they both share the main event in the story and the film, the visit to Sleepy Hollow. In Irving's story it develops differently to how it does in Tim Burton's film, but it still is the same main event in which the entire plot grows around. 
      Another difference between the story and the film is that in the film Tim Burton provides a back story for Ichabod Crane. In my opinion doing this he allows the audience to become more involved with the character and why he is the way he is. For instance, when Ichabod starts telling the story about what happen to her mother, the awful way she died, it becomes understandable to the audience why he it is so important to find out what really happened to each person and find out the real responsible for each murderer or situation. 

       It is also worth mentioning that in the book Ichabod Crane is kind of rejected by the town's people. The only people that completely accept him are the children and the old women, in contrast to TIm Burton's film were he has different kinds of relationships with various people. For example, one of his most important relationships in the film is with Katrina Van Tassel with who he is in love with. In the film Katrina, after a few ups and downs, she returns his love and the two of them end up together in the city. Nevertheless, in the story Katrina decides to stay with Brom Van Brunt, the typical small town hero. In my opinion, this specific situation seems rather interesting because in most of his movies Burton focuses on rejection. But in Sleepy Hollow he decided to let the main character fall in love and stay with the girl, opposite to movies like Batman where he always ends up alone at the end. 

Esteva - Mars Attacks

   

   In Tim Burton's movie Mars Attacks! He satirizes many aspects of the American culture, such as the government, the military, and others that the audience can see as the film develops. When the government first becomes aware of the presence and soon arrival of the Martians, an unknown form of life, to earth Tim Burton uses the many stereotypes to make fun of the different elements that conform the country. For instance General Decker represents the most common stereotype of the military – everything can be solved with violence. In that same scene Tim Burton satirizes the president by representing that common belief that people with this job never make any decisions, other people always tell them what to do and when to do it. 

      In the scene were the Martians finally arrive to earth Tim Burton is also clearly making fun of the government. They are receiving these beings to their territory without any clear confirmation of what their intentions are. They take their arrival as major incredible event, it extends to the point that they even bring cameras so the rest of the world can see their “guests,” and also let a big audience of hippies stay in the location. Again, all of these without any substantial proof that the Martians are coming in peace. Overall, I think this entire scene shows how the government can discard everything if they have a little bit of hope that something is going to make them look good to the rest of their country and the world.

       Throughout the film Burton also satirizes capitalism. The best example of this is Art Land. His only care in the world is money. Even when the Martians are destroying the entire country he is to busy to notice because he is trying to get investors to what he thinks is going to be his biggest achievement, his hotel. Nevertheless, in just seconds one can see how he’s dreams, and himself, end up completely crushed after Martians attacked his hotel. 

     One could say Mars Attacks! Is a nothing but a mock of what constitutes America. In each scene Tim Burton makes an effort to make fun of at least one little aspect of the country, he even goes to the extent of satirizing sci-fi which could be considered as a very important and popular movie genre for the American population. 

Esteva - Ed Wood

His entire life Tim Burton was considered by society as a particularly odd person. When he was a child he was often rejected by the other children, as a young adult he never quite fit in around other people.  Furthermore, in his job as an animator at Disney he was also considered an outcast because he could not do realize the work that was stereotyped for a Disney film.

      As Tim Burton, in his career as a film director, producer and screenwriter Ed Wood was regularly considered as a freak that was only recognized by how horrible his movies were. Not only were his movies thought to be ridiculous and extremely bad, but also he himself was frequently rejected by the people that surrounded him. As a result of this behavior he decided to form his own group of people. He managed to put together a combination of men and women that were even weirder than him. By forming this group he was able to feel like he belonged somewhere. In this group he finally was a “normal” person.

     Much like Ed Wood, Tim Burton also did a very similar thing. As one can notice by watching a fair amount of his films, Tim Burton uses many people repeatedly. Since he was rejected his entire life by his family and the people that surrounded him, he made his film crew to be his own family. He put together a group of people with which he felt confortable and were as odd as he was.

      In his film Tim Burton shows us how perseverant Ed Wood was. He was capable of doing whatever it took in order to get the slightest chance of getting one of his movies into the big screen. Putting random people in the cast, telling people what they wanted to hear, altering the movie itself. Literally, whatever it took. Tim Burton also had to struggle a lot on his way to becoming what he is nowadays. He was thought to be an extremely odd artist that would never have the ability to gather a large audience. Nevertheless, with perseverance he proved most people wrong, becoming a well recognized film maker all around the world.