Category: Thesis

Introduction

This week, I decided to go over and revise the books I have chosen as my key bibliography as it will enable me to get a clearer understanding on how to analyze Tim Burton’s movies.

Post-It Notes

As you can see in the picture, I used post-it notes to help me structure the information in the books. I used two different colors to set apart general concepts with explanations. This system will help me to quickly find any quotes I want to include in my research.

Conclusion

It is beneficial to organize the information with different color tags, as it enables me to memorize the quotes and descriptions which I am planning to use in my paper.

For my research paper, I will analyze the animated movies The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride (2005), and Frankenweenie (2012) as well as the live-action movies like Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990).

Filmography

Beetlejuice (1988) Directed by Tim Burton. Available at: Amazon Prime Video (Accessed: 21 August 2023).

Edward Scissorhands (1990) Directed by Tim Burton. Available at: Disney+ (Accessed: 17 August 2023).

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994) Directed by Tim Burton. Available at: Disney+ (Accessed: 18 August 2023).

Corpse Bride (2005) Directed by Tim Burton. Available at: Amazon Prime Video (Accessed: 21 August 2023).

Frankenweenie (2012) Directed by Tim Burton. Available at: Disney+ (Accessed: 20 August 2023).

Key Bibliography

In order to work on my literature review, I decided to systematically list my key papers according to the four sections I mentioned before.

Tim Burton

Hockenhull, S. and Pheasant-Kelly, F. (eds) (2021) Tim Burton’s Bodies. Gothic, Animated, Corporeal and Creaturely. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Salisbury, M. (ed.) (2000) Burton on Burton. Revised Edition. England: Faber and Faber.

Character Engagement:

Smith, M. (1995) Engaging Characters. Fiction, Emotion, and the Cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Identification:

Cohen, J. (2001) ‘Defining identification: A theoretical look at the identification of audiences with media characters’, Mass Communication & Society, pp. 245–264. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0403_01 (Accessed: 5 June 2023).

Horror Genre:

Wells, P. (2000) The Horror Genre. From Beelzebub to Blair Witch. London: Wallflower Press.

Novak, M. E. (1979) ‘Gothic Fiction and the Grotesque’, A Forum on Fiction, pp. 50-67. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1344951 (Accessed: 31 August 2023).

Introduction

The purpose of my research is to explore how Tim Burton makes use of the grotesque and uncanny in the characters of his movies to evoke empathy and create an emotional connection with the audience. In order to approach my research question, it is essential to establish my framework by developing the literature review.  

Literature Review Structure

The structure of my literature is going to be divided into four main chapters:

Tim Burton and the ‘Burtonesque’ Style: The first part will introduce who Tim Burton is, what his most famous movies are and what the Burtonesque style is.

Bringing Grotesque and Uncanny Characters to Life The second part will focus on defining the grotesque and uncanny.  

Emotional Connection through Character Identification The third section will explain how characters can create an emotional impact on the audience through character identification.

Character Engagement through Empathy and Sympathy The last part focuses on how characters are designed to bond with the audience through empathy and sympathy.

Conclusion

Working on my thesis has enabled me to explore several fields of interest as I do not only have the opportunity to analyze the artwork of Tim Burton from an animation-oriented perspective, but also conduct my study from a semiotics and psychology approach.

Introduction

Last term we worked on our thesis proposal and got some feedback sessions with Nigel to enhance our research. In the following weeks, I will post the process behind the study I am conducting, emphasizing on my literature review, my research methodology and findings.

Research Question

Research Aims

– Analyze the physical aspect, personality traits and backstory of Tim Burton’s main characters to understand how they communicate meaning.
– Compare and contrast the physical and emotional patterns the main characters of his animated and life action movies have to portray the idea of a grotesque and the uncanny.
– Explore what key elements Tim Burton uses in the design of his characters to achieve an emotional connection and sense of identification with the audience.

Research Contribution

Given the fact that for my research question I will design my own data collection tool (by adapting and editing preexisting studies from different authors and fields), I am contributing to the animation community in that I am providing a new method to systematically gather information to analyze characters.    

Conclusion

In order to start working on improving my research methodology, it is crucial to clearly understand what my research aims are. In addition, it is also vital to analyze how the study I will conduct can be beneficial to the animation community and how my data recollection tool can be used and adapted by future researchers.