Perkal- Reflective Blog

Throughout this course, I have not only learned more about Tim Burton, but also about myself.  In the beginning of the semester, I knew nothing about Tim Burton.  I was interested in learning about him after the first movie we watched, which was Beetlejuice.  After watching his first movie, I was not sure if I was going to love his style of movies because of the contrast between usual plots and his added darkness.  My favorite movie of his was definitely Big Fish.  The movie Big Fish was a good balance between a typical drama and Tim Burton movie.  I enjoyed the relationship between Will and Ed Bloom because I had learned a lot about Tim Burton’s family history and I knew how he felt about his town and parents. 

In terms of learning about myself, through this class, I believe that it has broadened by imagination and knowledge on movies.  Before taking the Tim Burton class, I had never analyzed a plot or director so closely.  Between our discussions in class and the mise en scene analysis, I feel that I am able to watch movies not just for the entertainment, but also to see a deeper meaning.  I am now a much bigger fan of Tim Burton and on my own time want to see the movies that we were not able to get to in class.  Some of the other skills I picked up throughout this course were the ability to write blogs, as well as, a movie review.  I was unaware that I would enjoy writing these types of texts as much I did. 

Some of the topics that Tim Burton addressed in his films also stood out to me because I had not focused on them.  Learning about Tim Burton’s childhood life brought me relief because I felt that I could relate to him in the way that he was not fond of his hometown.  Although, I do not feel that I understand his view of parents or isolation, it was nice to be able to experience one of the issues he felt strongly about.  The idea of darkness that Tim Burton included in his films made me aware of some of the messed up views that people have toward the world.  I feel that by watching Tim Burton movies, my mind is opened up to more issues that I have been close-minded to.  Tim Burton is a unique guy and going into this class not knowing much about him, I was glad to be so intrigued by his views of the world.  He has a dark view of the world, but he also puts deep meaning into his movies, which made this class so interesting to analyze his movies.   

As the semester comes to an end, I realize that I am finally coming to a comfortable state in college and my transformation is becoming easier each day.  I am happy that I got to take this class because it challenged me in ways that I had never thought of trying.