Tim Burton and German expressionism

Tim Burton has worldwide fame for his dark, eerie and sometimes disturbing themes in his movies. Along with the themes he also specialises in making distorted and sometimes creepy looking characters of which have different personalities, they could be good hearted people or they can potentially be insane and evil but they all have the same rough design. His animation style is unique in the designs of the sets and of the characters everyone has some sort of distinct feature for example Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas has a distinct and noticeable facial design.

One of his first major films was Edward Scissorhands, a film about a young science experiment who has scissors for hands. The film uses fairly dark themes, such as the main character constantly slicing bits of flesh off himself accidentally. This Scissor  handed character wants to be as normal as possible yet cannot get to this point as he is lethal to himself and to others around him, this is a example of a false hope a theme shown in many German expressionist films. Edward tries to become "normal" yet cannot be.

For example this scene pictured to the right is a angled shot, one with a claustrophobic feel to it the entire area seems enclosed and crammed together. The actual scene from the movie is in colour however if as shown in this scene the colour is altered to black and white it portrays a clear effect of German expressionism.

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Another example of German expressionism being used in his films is in the original Batman movie which is iconic to being the kick starter to the "darker side of the bat" a trend which would still go on today. This shot incorporates a very high contrast in the lighting, the black is very clear to us but so is the light, due to this Batman seems in the shadows so to say which could connotate a darker side to this hero.
The bat suit is very dark almost matt black which makes him almost blend into the surroundings. The background seems to almost solely be made from straight edged objects giving it a enclosed feel to it.


Gotham city pictured left is very angular and makes the city look very claustrophobic every building is close together crammed onto on a single island with almost no space between them. The tall buildings portray a very menacing feel to the entire city as they stand out more compared to the smaller ones that blend in.
The fact that most of the time Gotham is shrouded in shadows or is always pictured at night give it a very eerie effect, Tim Burton's movies set this scene for the future Batman series which is more darker than previous incarnations.






Tim Burton has also made many animated films such as Frankenweenie and Corpse bride all of which are really weird and dark themed.



Frankenweenie
This film directed by Burton is particularly dark, not only is it primarily in black and white it is also fairly disturbing, the plot revolves around a dog...who gets killed and brought back to life.
The film itself it extremely dark and very disturbing, the whole film is about how one child brings back dead animals and that eventually causes some problems for the people. This film is a typical Burton one as it seems like a fairly dark film from the very start and the fact that it starts on a fairly light and positive beginning then unfolds into a dark and creepy middle, which ends with everything dying again horribly and everything becoming normal again. This film isn't just creepy because of the story it also is highly disturbing over the character models, each one has very distinct eyes and twisted bodies each one almost skeletal and deformed in appearance. Each character is very strange in the way they act as well showing that everyone has a weird personality and it could be twisted or it could be of good intentions. even characters who are meant to be portrayed as being sane are twisted.
The main character in this film just wants to bring his dead dog back to life and in Tim Burton style something that had a good intention develops into something that is very negative. this is another way in which Tim Burton uses the German expressionism style, he uses a good intention and turns it upside down so that it becomes even darker and disturbing.



Vincent:
This is a short film by Burton which shows a seven year old boy with a lot of social and metal trouble, believing himself to be something he is not. Vincent's mind is deformed in the way that everyday things seem unnatural such as his room, which appears to him as being a prison. throughout the mini movie he is constantly making up new tales such as a wife who doesn't exist, he is living a lie so to say and everything around him seems to constantly change, he is never in a single frame of mind everything distorts around him depending on his mindset.

 this shot from Vincent is very disorientating, the background doesn't seem to fit and is at a odd angle, its pattern makes it look like the flooring but it is a wall. the table he is sitting at is angled almost horrifically as it doesnt make sense.



So why does Tim Burton actually use German expressionism?

German expressionism is a brilliant way to portray multiple dark themes such as madness loss and in most cases fear.
Tim Burton tries to make his films feature some sort of "dark" story line which suits German expressionism.
 Tim Burton's characters almost always have some sort of emotional issue, for instance Vincent in which the main character desires to be someone who he can never be; this gives him a sense of desperation and turmoil.
In the case of some of his movies like Frankenweenie Burton chose a very emotional theme of loss and used the desperation of the young boy to create a movie about reanimating a dead dog. this movie in particular tries to make the desperation of a young boy into something horrific for others around them, the movie doesnt have a happy ending.

Almost all of burtons films use loss and a large factor in the main plot, which can be hard to portray, but by using jagged and disorientating places can create the effect that the character has lost something and cannot ever find it.