Bogle - Ed or Eden?

     Tim Burton's film, Ed Wood, is a biopic view of Ed Wood, "the worst director of all time". Personally, I find that Wood was just misunderstood. In the 1950s, in order to succeed, one must have been a conformist. Individualism was looked as communistic. Sure, Wood's films were beyond campy, and too cheesy for words, but they were genuine. If Wood had been born in a different time period, he could have succeeded. Burton is just a lucky version of Ed Wood. He is able to flourish in today's society. Movie ideas that were once considered too strange, are now considered artistic. The audience loves new and different stories, settings and directors. Burton's Ed Wood pays homage to the misunderstood director. It not only shows the life of Ed Wood, but Burton also directed the movie much like Wood had directed. Burton used stock film, black and white cinematography and cheap sets in his production. Each characteristic is used to show respect to Wood, and to his works.
     In many scenes of Ed Wood's films, stock film is used. Often, it is out of place, and does not make sense. Burton used stock film of octopi and other sites in Ed Wood. Of course, Burton put a twist on this, and his stock film was actually his own stop motion footage Burton's decision to do this showed his respect for Ed Wood, and also his own individualism. Another obvious choice of Burton's was to make the film black and white. Obviously, this was a major artistic decision of his. Most of the people I know, refuse to watch black and white films. Black and white films aren't seen as interesting, but instead, as boring and dreary. This is not the case in Ed Wood. Ed Wood has many hilarious, quirky moments, and is the least bit boring. I mean, it's a straight man who cross dresses in an angora sweater. How is that not hilarious? Burton's decision to have the movie in black and white linked him closer to Ed Wood, and also makes one focus specifically on the story. With black and white films, comes a deeper understanding of the characters, and their stories. There are no distractions from the characters, and this was an amazing decision made by Burton. Another decision made by Burton was to shoot most of the movie on cheap sets. This too allows no distractions from the characters of the film. The cheap sets were a known characteristic of  Wood's films. This was due to his lack of funding, but it also showed the hard work of Wood. Most people give up once they hit a certain amount of bumps, but Wood was resilient. Although many a time he was told his movies were terrible, he kept going. He was a driven man, and Burton obviously respects that. 

     Burton obviously feels a bond between Wood and himself. This is the reason he made the film. Wood and Burton are essentially the same, except Burton has support from the film community, and from that, has the ability to turn his visions into good movies. If Wood had made enough money to produce his own films, like Burton does, his films could possibly have succeeded. He was just alive in the wrong era for his individual creativity.