Production designer: Tim Burton

For the what if metropolis project we need to research a production designer instead of
a concept artist, as of such I chose Tim Burton. He has worked on countless classic
films such as the nightmare before Christmas, Edward scissor hands and beetle juice
just to name a few. All of his films have the same thing in common, they are made with
his distinct gothic art style that makes his films instantly recognisable for being very
different. The art style isn’t scary but creepy which is only helped by his use of dark
humour. Despite his films taking a down turn in recent years, the films he has made in
the past are undeniably impressive to this day. While he has worked as a director he
has also worked as production designer which is main reason I chose to do this
research on him. A production designer role begins after the initial planning of the film
when an art style is decided, his role is to take the art style and bring it to live in the
film. As of such I want to talk about some of his films which are the nightmare before
Christmas and Edward scissors hands.

The first examples I want to use is one of his most famous movies which is the
nightmare before Christmas that was made in 1994. It is a Claymation feature length
animation featuring the main character Jack skeleton and his quest to bring Christmas
to his home town. Claymation is basically stop motion except it uses clay models for
characters and objects and the backgrounds have also been constructed as a mini set
with lights as well as the use of camera angles for the recording. The nightmare before
Christmas uses the same Gothic art style and dark
humour is other films are known for. The basic premise is
that the main character Jack skeleton is in charge of
kingdom that’s responsibility is to make sure Halloween
takes place each year. After discovering a Christmas
kingdom exist he attempts to take control of the town
and in extension organise Christmas instead of
Halloween which he is board of doing by this point. The
concept and story was inspired by The Grinch that stole
Christmas and Rudolph. This kind of setting and plot
plays a very strong roll when combined with his art style
that consists of the colour black, pale skin and general
use of twisted looking creatures. The fact that this film is
Claymation only makes the art style come out stronger
then previously could have. All of the characteristics of
his art style can be seen in the main character of Jack
Skeleton as he is tall and thin figure that is pale with black
clothes, a them that can be seen in several of Tim
Burtons characters.

For my other example I want to talk about is called Edward scissor hands which is a
live action film rather than Claymation the previously film was made with. The film was
made in 1990 and revolves around a man called Edward scissor hands that literally has
scissors for hands. Edward scissor hands is a Frankenstein type of film where the miss
understood Edward scissor hands is found living alone in an abandon mansion and is
taken in by a family from the suburbs. In his time there he cuts bushes, hair and ice
sculptures until he is framed for several instances which lead to him returning back to
the mansion where he pretended to have died. Despite being live action his gothic art
style can still be seen mainly in Edwards design that looks like it was inspired by past
monster figures such as the previously mentioned Frankenstein due to his tall slender
figure with a lot of black hair. The character itself was made by Tim Burton as he came
up with and drew the character long
before making this film but at the time had
no real purpose. To a degree the film
resembles the plot of Frankenstein where
a scientist creates a monster that in this
case is Edward that ends up being
rejected by people. The other place the
gothic style can be seen is in the design of
the mansion Edward lived uses the same
principles as Edwards design except in
the form of a building. Decorated with
stations that included a dear. These create a strong contrast when compared to the
colourful cookie cuter suburb its next to. The film puts a strong emphasis on that its
what’s on the inside that matters rather then the outside by making Edward into a
character that is easy to sympathise with.

In conclusion, the biggest take away I found from Tim Burtons work is that art style is
very important to stand out as you can always tell if it is a Tim Burton film based just of
that. I also notice that his film concepts and characters tend to involve mixing elements
that sound like they wouldn’t work together but somehow do, such as Edward Scissor
hands. Both of these aspects I will take into account in my work.

References
Bacher, H. (2009). Dream worlds. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Focal Press, pp.5-19.

Smith, J. (2002). Virgin film Tim Burton. London: Virgin Books Ltd, pp.86-89, 130-133.

A still from the movie Edward scissor hands. (1990). [image] Available at:
https://www.boredpanda.com/movie-locations-edward-scissorhands-suburb-now-then-pictures-
voodrew/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].

Disney (1993). A poster for Tim Burtons nightmare before christmas. [image] Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].