On Tim Burton and Post-Holiday Anxiety
The two things in the title of this post are unrelated, so I'll address them separately.
On Tim Burton: many of my friends will tell you that I'm an unabashed Tim Burton fan. I always have been. I love how brash and bold his work is. Even when it isn't wholly successful, it's dynamic and interesting and visually stunning (an overused phrase, but perfectly suitable to this particular artist). Edward Scissorhands is a beautiful film, perfect in its small scope. I could go on about many of his other films, but after seeing Sweeney Todd this weekend, I keep coming back to how impressive Tim Burton's films are as a body of work. Again, not perfect, and the past few years are littered with some high profile "misses" (i.e., Planet of the Apes). But, overall, that's a career I'd love to have. It's just so highly individualistic -- love him or hate him, you always know when you're watching a Tim Burton film (or a Terry Gilliam film, or a Martin Scorsese film). That's some thing to strive for. It makes me feel more secure in my desire to not waste time trying to make films that will somehow build some sort of credibility for me with decision-makers. I'd rather stay true to my purpose and make films that are somehow uniquely mine.
On Post-Holiday Anxiety: now that New Years Day is upon us, I am weeks away from starting to hear back from film festivals regarding Clean Freak. I'm not nearly as anxious about Clean Freak as I was about American Messiah, but if I get rejected by the first dozen film festivals, I may adjust the anxiety level a bit. My point is just that, now that the new year has rolled around, the thing I was able to put off thinking about is no longer in the back of my mind but has moved to the front.
On Tim Burton: many of my friends will tell you that I'm an unabashed Tim Burton fan. I always have been. I love how brash and bold his work is. Even when it isn't wholly successful, it's dynamic and interesting and visually stunning (an overused phrase, but perfectly suitable to this particular artist). Edward Scissorhands is a beautiful film, perfect in its small scope. I could go on about many of his other films, but after seeing Sweeney Todd this weekend, I keep coming back to how impressive Tim Burton's films are as a body of work. Again, not perfect, and the past few years are littered with some high profile "misses" (i.e., Planet of the Apes). But, overall, that's a career I'd love to have. It's just so highly individualistic -- love him or hate him, you always know when you're watching a Tim Burton film (or a Terry Gilliam film, or a Martin Scorsese film). That's some thing to strive for. It makes me feel more secure in my desire to not waste time trying to make films that will somehow build some sort of credibility for me with decision-makers. I'd rather stay true to my purpose and make films that are somehow uniquely mine.
On Post-Holiday Anxiety: now that New Years Day is upon us, I am weeks away from starting to hear back from film festivals regarding Clean Freak. I'm not nearly as anxious about Clean Freak as I was about American Messiah, but if I get rejected by the first dozen film festivals, I may adjust the anxiety level a bit. My point is just that, now that the new year has rolled around, the thing I was able to put off thinking about is no longer in the back of my mind but has moved to the front.
posted by Chris Hansen at 7:48 PM
2 Comments:
I'd rather stay true to my purpose and make films that are somehow uniquely mine.
Amen!!!
I wish you the best of luck with that. And also a wonderful 2008. A very happy new year, Chris!
Thanks, Jonathan. Believe me, I'm not saying I wouldn't jump at the chance to make a larger budget movie -- but I admire Burton because, even as he's achieved those budget levels, he's still managed to remain very much the artist he wants to be.
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