ONCE UPON A TIME: The Fairy Tale Influences in German Expressionism and the Auteur of Tim Burton


This month, Year 1 DP Film scholars will be venturing down the rabbit hole that is German Expressionism in film making as you explore The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, and, just in time for the holiday season, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.   Links to these films in the drive are available on our website, but they may also be found on our Plex server. 


The following article is an exceptional study of how German Expressionism has gone one to influence, and even define the very style and voice of filmmakers like Tim Burton. There is also a link to a great youtube video about the influences of German Expressionism on modern filmmakers like Time Burton. Please read the blog entirely--you may even wish to take some notes as future filmmakers! Not only is this a study of style, but it is, perhaps, more importantly, a study in context. What inspired this strange and wonderfully unique and distinctive style of filmmaking? Why is it so influential? How has it forever left its mark on cinema, even as it continues to develop aesthetically and technologically?

After you have read the blog, find two shots to compare side by side, and then comment on common elements.  One shot must be from Nightmare Before Christmas.  The other may be from Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Metropolis.   Identify three things that connect the two stylistically and the meaning they convey to you, the reader.  You may get the shots while you are watching the films, or you can find them on youtube afterward, but please get them yourselves and create your side by side image.

Thank you, and I look forward to reading your observations and analysis!

Link to Article:  https://medium.com/@DaniaAtHome/the-influence-of-german-expressionist-cinema-on-the-films-of-tim-burton-7e660e36f583

Comments

  1. Carol YoungDecember 24, 2020 at 9:56 AM

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1auI9P4ssCin8tkRsSkBevCrXRW1fCTyvqEtOhxMnrAQ/edit?usp=sharing Let me know if the link doesn't work

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 30, 2020 at 7:57 PM

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uY5jxTlAePRddYuW1Y9M0gmXWGrROnJooaxasPcwctY/edit?usp=sharing
    I for one welcome a spooky Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wyatt PerezDecember 30, 2020 at 8:09 PM

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ccpcbumzIpyZHdCCVUrtpg_wyNFvSdjhSB2OFVig_S8/edit?usp=sharing
    Happy New Years!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2021 at 8:13 PM

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r7pfQQ9ANbzAhAKlntfpInhyGEHp03wOmvtq84Oyhgc/edit?usp=sharing

    ReplyDelete

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