Analytical Essay on Tim Burton

Posted: November 26th, 2013

Name:

Course:

Lecturer:

Date:

Analytical Essay on Tim Burton

            Gothic literature serves as one of the most acclaimed art genres currently easily identified by its dark settings, characterization and plot aimed at arousing fear or dread to all who interact with it. Medieval art is also classified as Gothic yet it must have influences of magic to other superstitious actions for it to attain an element of Gothicism. Abandoned buildings, haunted mansions, and graveyards among others serve as the best settings for Gothic tales and this is enhanced by props such as eerie lighting, owls, black symbolism, phantoms, creepy sounds and many other elements. Tim Burton is a renowned movie writer and director established in the Hollywood industry since the period 1982. Burton’s films are categorized as being mysterious and eccentric attributed to the Gothic elements he applies in his films. His first film titled Vincent produced in 1982 was very short lasting for only six minutes, with the narrator and protagonist being the actor, Vincent Price. The film revolves around a mentally troubled teenager whose admiration for Vincent Price and Edgar Poe push him to the brink of insanity as he tries to imitate them. Both Price and Poe are noted for their Gothic ties in terms of acting and writing respectively. Film critics hold the view that Burton’s 1990 film, Edward Scissorhands featuring Price and Johnny Depp, as the protagonist, is the best that he ever created.

Burton the better part of his childhood in Burbank, California and as a troubled eccentric child kept his distance as an introvert and spent most of his free time on horror movies or reading horrific fiction novels. This type of entertainment became very appealing to young Burton as it identified with his childhood and he grew to admire what he saw on such films. He began experimenting with motion pictures as a young child and greatly admired Price’s characterization in films. Price was brought up in a wealthy family that afforded his career in acting. Having good vocal capability, Vincent became marketable in Gothic films. Poe had quite a difficult childhood beginning with his father’s desertion while he was only one year old and the demise of his mother while he was two years old. Poe and Depp on the other hand had similar troubled childhoods as Burton faced with divorced parents, difficulties in schooling and failed love lives. Poe’s gothic literature was very fundamental in Burton’s work as he employed the use of the poem, The Raven, to capture the themes of the film, Vincent. Johnny Depp was the protagonist in his 1990 film, alongside Price, and he has been the highest recurrent character in Burton’s films totaling to eight since that year.

Burton, Depp and Price have related careers in the film industry with the former being a director and writer and the latter two being actors. Price was a very deterministic figure in Burton’s break into the film industry as he starred in the initial creation. The best-rated Burton’s movie encompassed the screening of both actors and this serves as a defining moment to their respective careers in the film industry. Poe served a major influence in the first film with fragments of his writing used for plot and character development in the movie.

Poe has had a chief influence on Price’s acting career where the latter has adopted the writer’s publications in films like Tales of Terror, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Raven , The Comedy of Terrors, House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death and The Pit and the Pendulum. The Raven was also employed in Burton’s film, Vincent for characterization purposes. Depp has served as the best actor that Burton has ever dealt with and this had afforded him much use advancing his career in acting while at the same time being of great purpose in the success of the director’s films.

In conclusion, Burton’s Gothic alignments to film are attributed to his troubled childhood and therefore a reflection of his mental disturbance. His highest influence before his initial production was Vincent Price, whom he awarded the role of the leading character in his 1982 film. On the other hand, Vincent has been shaped into hic gothic characterization in his acting by Allan Poe whose gothic poetic concept was used in the development of Vincent. Burton’s best-ranked film applies the acting prowess of Johnny Depp and Vincent Price that utterly brings out a perfect filming that has earned him acclaimed praise. It is quite evident that all men have influenced each other in a mighty manner in their various career roles.