O'Doherty - The Last Hoorah

Throughout this course, I have learned many things about Tim Burton, myself, and how the world works. Before this course, I thought that Tim Burton was just a really creepy individual who enjoyed making really dark films. Now I realize that I was right...but there is a reason behind the darkness and the mayhem. I did not know about his parent's troubled relationship with his parents, or how he was misunderstood as a child, or that he felt like an outcast all his life. I also did not know that he worked for Disney at one point in his life (though now that I think about it, I should have because there is a ride at Disneyland that is based of Nightmare Before Christmas). One of the things I really enjoyed about this course was learning about the themes, archetypes, and symbols in each of Tim Burton's film. I thought it was clever how Tim Burton incorporated his troubled past into each of the films by making the underlying themes of each movie alienation, rejection, and isolation. It made me realize that, similarily to how Edward Bloom is the stories he tells, Tim Burton is the movies he makes. In fact, many of the characters he creates share some of the same qualities and characteristics as him. For example, many of his characters are misunderstood outcasts who are trying to be individuals in a society that is trying to get them to stick to the status quo. I also really enjoyed learning about the archetypes because I feel like it was a necessary thing to learn. I've gone all my life watching movies with the same types of characters in them. The only two I ever really noticed were the heroes and villains. Now it seems so obvious to me that there are others-- the nurturing mother, the strange outcast, the manipulative trickster, etc. The symbols were also pretty cool and interesting to learn about. I love how much detail and thought went into each scene (how certain objects, like things that people are wearing, give you context about their characters). It takes a lot of work, and I feel like only really good directors who are passionate about their work take time to do so. Now whenever I watch a movie, I can't help but to do mise en scenes of some of the scenes. I ask myself: what is the dominant? What does it mean? Why did the director think that was important? I never really go in depth with these thoughts, but I think it's funny how I acknowledge it. Another thing I learned from this course is how to write faster and more efficiently. I remember I spent well over an hour and a half on the first blog, but by the end of the year I got better at articulating what I have to say.
Overall, I really loved this course and would take it again in a heartbeat! I had so much fun watching movies, analyzing them, and figuring out their deeper meaning. I also really enjoyed having Dr. McCay as a teacher!