Would Tim Burton's use of a gothic style in his films make him an auteur?

Item 1: Corpse Bride (2005)

I chose this as my focus film because it shows how Burton uses his well known gothic style in order to give the film and eerie yet romantic feel, this is done widely though his use of mise-en-scene and characters. The main characters in this film Victor and Emily both strongly physically visualise the gothic influence Burton has for his films. In this film Burton based it off a 19th century Russian folktale; a young man (Victor) accidentally pledges his wedding vows to a corpse bride (Emily) 

Item 2: Edward Scissorhands (1990)

This film also shows Burton's gothic influence when directing, through using his own personal feelings from his teenage years he created the character Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp) who is seen as an outcast throughout in the perfectly perfect suburban neighbourhood; Edward portrays the impulses Burton had of wanting to touch and communicate but nothing able to though Edward literally could not touch or communicate due to the situation of having no hands. The use of gothic influences is used to show the barrier between Edward and his want to communicate with the other neighbours but not actually being able to.


Item 3: Sweeney Todd (2007)

Sweeney Todd shows a traditional Victorian gothic style which applies to Burton's use of gothic influences in his films. After being wrongly found guilty of a crime Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) was sent to Australia, 15 years later he returns as Sweeney Todd and eager for revenge, he teams up with Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) and uses the unfortunate who enter his barber shop as meat for her pies. With this being set in Victorian England the gothic influence that Burton usually directs with works perfectly with the plot and era of the narrative.

Item 4: Theories of authorship – John Caughie (Book)

I chose to use this book to help me with writing my presentation script because it discusses what auteurship is and how relevant the term is; I feel this will be very useful for quotes when I’m trying to prove my point of Burton being an auteur in my presentation script.

Item 5: Film Studies - Andrew Butler (Book)

I chose to use this book as an item to help me when writing my presentation script excuse it describes the auteur theory which is what I'm trying to find out, whether Tim Burton is classified as an auteur because of his distinctive gothic style that tend to run through many of his films. Thus, I think this book will extremely helpful to quote from in my presentation script.

Item 6: Tim Burton (March 2003)

This post on Senses of Cinema gives a wide range on information on many of Burton's films and his style, directing and mise-en-scene. I think this will be useful to reference when trying to prove a point in my presentation script.

Item 7: The Influences and the Gothic Style of Tim Burton (January 2012)

This blog post on animationbegins.wordpress.com clearly states Burton's influences that encourage his gothic style in film making and how he got into the world of directing. This blog post will be extremely useful for quotes when writing my presentation script as it has very usable quotes from Helena Bonham Carter who has not only worked with him on multiple occasions, she is also his partner. 

Item 8: Tim Burton: 'I've never made a scary movie' (October 2012)

This article on the BBC News website will be very helpful when it comes to writing my presentation script as it states that although the dark and eerie appearance of Burton's films may put off some people from watching or letting children watch his films that his films are made to project personal experiences, especially in the case of Frankenweenie which is the film talked about in this article; and when he makes the films they aren't intended to be 'scary'.

Item 9: Directors' Trademarks: Tim Burton (December 2014)

This article on cinelinx discusses about the trademark of Tim Burton's films that make them easy to identify. It explains how its not just the mise-en-scene that gives off a gothic vibe, its also the characters look and the character's personalities. This article will be helpful when finding quotes to put into my presentation script as it has a variety of different points that relate to answering my question.

Item 10: Auteurs: 7 Movie Directors Who Have Their Own Unique Style (August 2015)

(Number 5) I chose this online list of auteurs because it offers information on not only does it mention a silent film that has influenced a number of his films and the German expressionist film maker Fritz Lang but also what it is about his film that make them so recognisable to an audience. These features of the list are what made me believe that this item will be useful to pick out quotes from when I need them for my presentation script.

Item 11: A Dark Auteur - film review blog (May 2009)

This online review of Tim Burton's directing discusses the gothic look of Burton's films and how he creates it and why he uses the gothic influence and look as a juxtaposition to the other aspects in his films. This review will be helpful when I'm writing my presentation script as it has a lot of information that will be useful when finding out quotes that will aid in answering my question.


Item 12: Tim Burton: From Visionary to Iconic Director (March 2010)


This video on watchmojo.com's YouTube channel discusses the way that although Burton didn't start out as the easily identifiable director with his gothic presentation it is how he gained recognition in the film industry by submitting his own short side projects to film festivals, that have now lead to the success as a director he has now. I feel as though this will be useful to an extent when I'm looking for quotes and pieces to put into my presentation script.

Item 13: Auteur of the Week: Tim Burton (August 2010)

This online blog post I feel will be helpful when I'm looking for quotes and ideas for my presentation script because it offers information that with help me progress the points i'll be making throughout my script. As it states points that on my own I would not think of when discussing Burton's work as a director such as the marketing of the merchandise related to his films and how distinctive Burton's style is and how he makes it almost feel as if the world he has made is real.

Item 14: The Imagination of Tim burton (May 2010)

I think that this online article on Asethetica Magazine will be helpful to me when I'm writing my presentation script because it mentions his stop motion films and how he's made the aesthetic suit his own style as well as mentioning how Burton expresses feelings and emotion through the use of cinematography rather than straight out saying it in the dialogue, especially in films like Edward Scissorhands.

Item 15: Tim Burton: The Rolling Stone Interview (November 2015)

This interview with Rolling Stone offers a lot of information that will be useful for quotes when I write my presentation script, as it offers more of an insight to Burton's way of thinking when directing a film and how he connects to the characters in the films; I feel as though these connections and feelings he has towards them makes the filming more personal thus making the films run certain way alongside each other without any kind of legitimate connection other than Burton being the director.

Item 16: Danny Elfman on Tim Burton, The Simpsons and his return to singing live (October 2013) 

This post on the Guardian online I feel will be helpful to me when I'm writing my presentation script because it notes on the relationship between Burton and Elfman, who has scored on many of Burton's films adding to the distinctive aura of Burton's films. With Elfman working on numerous Burton films it's now expected for the scoring of Burton's films to be eerie and weird like what Elfman has done in previous films.

Item 17:  Elfman on the Ups and Downs of his Relationship With Tim Burton (July 2015)

This article from the Huffington Post explains the relationship between Burton and Elfman as Elfman has scored all of Burton's major films apart from Sweeney Todd and Ed Wood. That alone gives information I'd use in my presentation script as it suggests that Burton uses the same sort of sound for all his films and using Elfman each time allows for the sound of his films to be somewhat the same without being identical.  


Item 18: Edward Scissorhands - Hollywood Backstories (August 2008)

This YouTube video gives a lot of insight on the making and backstory of Edward Scissorhands. With Edward Scissorhands being one of Burton's most popular films to date, it offers Burton's thoughts and reasons behind the making of Edward Scissorhands. I chose to this item because I feel like it will become useful when I'm writing my presentation script.

Item 19: The 10 Best Tim Burton Movies (So Far) (August 2012)

This post on Paste an online magazine, gives a countdown of what can be seen as Burton's best 10 films he had made at the point of publishing. I chose this post because as well as showing how the films that follow the most of Burton's convention all fall within this list it offers explanations as to why those films were chosen. I feel like this will be useful to me when I'm writing my presentation script as for Edward Scissorhands is offers a view from Burton himself.

Item 20: 107 Facts About Nightmare Before Christmas! (ToonedUp #52) (October 2015)

This video on ChannelFrederator YouTube channel offers information on Burton's influences and reasons behind certain choices behind The Nightmare Before Christmas which ultimately give an insight to Burton's directorial style.

Item 21: Top 10 Tim Burton Movies (August 2013)

This video from watchmojo.com will be very useful when writing my presentation script because it offers information as to why certain films are in certain places in the list and the three films I have chosen to discuss are all in the countdown list thus I will be able to use the video to help prove my point.

Item 22: The History of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008)

I think this post on timeout.com will be useful for quotes and information when I’m writing my presentation script because it gives the background to the ‘legend’ of Sweeney Todd and I feel this will be helpful when I’m discussing how Burton brought the legend to life in his film adaptation.

Rejected Items

An Analysis of Tim Burton's Work (blog)

I rejected this item because it doesn't give any helpful insight for me to be able to use it to answer my question in my presentation script.

Interview: Tim Burton (Slant magazine)

I decided to reject this item and to not use it for my presentation script because it doesn't offer any information I'd need to answer my question, I feel there's no relevant information to do with his distinctive style of directing.


Tim Burton: A Look Inside His Visual Imagination (Open Culture)

I rejected this item because it didn't offer me the information on Burton's directorial style I needed for my presentation script. 

Filmmaker Tim Burton Discusses His "Corpse Bride" (about.com)

I chose to reject this item because although it gives information about how Burton felt while film this in comparison to his other stop motion films and working relationships with Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, I don't think it will be useful when writing my presentation script.

Dark Shadows Interview: Director Tim Burton (YouTube)

I rejected this video because it doesn't give the information I was looking for to help with writing my presentation script.