TIM BURTON — all episodes — Fantasy/Animation

Episode 51 - Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988) (with Jingan Young)

Episode 51 travels back to the late-1980s to look closely at Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988), a film that uses stop-motion, practical effects, prosthetics, make-up and bluescreen to complete its fantasy story of netherworlds, outsiderdom and life after death. Joining Chris and Alex is special guest Jingan Young, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and academic who is the editor of ‘Foreign Goods’ (the first collection of British Chinese plays published in the UK) and a regular contributor to The Guardian and Hong Kong Free Press, who has recently completed a PhD in Film Studies at King’s College London.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJuly 6, 2020TIM BURTON, FANTASY, HOLLYWOOD, GOTHIC, MUSICAL, STYLE, STOP-MOTIONComment

Episode 32 - Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, 2005) (with Emily Mantell)

Halloween is well and truly upon us for Episode 32, with Chris and Alex getting to grips with spooky stop-motion feature Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, 2005). Joining them is animator Emily Mantell, Storyboard Staff Assistant on the film and currently Head of Animation at University of Wolverhampton. Expect proceedings to take a turn for the ghoulish - if not become a little ‘topsy turvy’ - as they discuss the art and labour of storyboarding within animated feature-film production; vocal performances and animating to the voicetrack; the role of ambivalent feminine unruliness embodied in the eponymous corpse bride; themes of outsiderdom and the grotesque; and the broader creative messiness of stop-motion.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantOctober 21, 2019TIM BURTON, STOP-MOTION, HALLOWEEN, CREATIVITY, PRODUCTIONComment

Episode 28 - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton, 2005) (with Stuart Messinger)

Episode 28 sees Chris and Alex joined in their world of pure imagination by Stuart Messinger, VFX Coordinator on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton, 2005), to discuss the part-musical, full-fantasy and live-action/CGI adaptation of Roald Dahl’s popular story. Topics include Stuart’s work on the film in digital visual effects at the Moving Picture Company; the collaborative nature of multi-studio effects production on feature-length blockbusters; the practical and artistic challenges of animating live-action plates; the combination of 2D (matte) and 3D (sub-surface scattering) technologies; and the integration of realist aesthetics together with the surrealistic imagery and fantastic stylisations conjured by Dahl’s original 1964 story.