Tim Burton Article

My latest article in its original, unedited format which will be published (presumably in an edited format) in the fifth issue of my college publication:

(*Picture source below)

The Curious Art of Tim Burton

It would be considered both an impossible task and unique experience for one to have the opportunity to get inside the mind of one of the most imaginative and creative directors of the 21^st century. In the past this would certainly have been impossible for us ordinary members of the public, however thanks to a new exhibition launched by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, (ACMI) we are finally able to get a glimpse into the creative mindset of legendary director Tim Burton.

From June to October 2010, ACMI hosts a unique exhibition direct from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. An Australian exclusive, Tim Burton: The Exhibition is a landmark exhibition charting Tim Burton's creative vision and process from his earliest work to his latest spectacular Alice in Wonderland.

It’s a must for all Burton fans alike. We see material from his early days as an animator at Disney and figurines from his classic short film ‘Vincent’ as well as many never-before-seen drawings and sketches from his personal collection.

Designed in three parts - all revolving around, escaping or depicting the suburb of Burbank - the exhibition contains over 700 objects from Burton's personal collection.

Unforgettable props and set pieces from his films pop out from stairwells or at corners to act as way finding systems announcing the exhibition. There's the low menace of the black mask-style Batmobile at the top of the stairs, the Luna Park-like entrance, and the topiary deer from Edward Scissorhands.

Early drawings depict the "outsiders, oddballs and aliens" that populate his films. While the imagery can be derivative and a little lame in its literalness (a couple holding hands is actually a couple holding sawn off hands), others, such as the elephant sitting on the ringmaster and thinking ''Ta da'', are quite funny. Premonitions of later work are here too, such as the gardener who will become Edward Scissorhands.

Scattered throughout are maquettes (preliminary models) and sculptures: consider Edward Scissorhands' outfits and his cookie-making machine.

Burton has said himself how he always felt “outside of society” and this is a theme in the exhibition and a large bulk of his work. Think of one of his most personal movies ‘Edward Sissorhands’: the moving portrayal of an artistic outsider who cannot touch what he desires without destroying it. Or the under rated gem that is ‘Ed Wood’, again a somewhat tragic story of the worst director of all time, a man who had vision but not talent. (It was not a hit at the box office, but won Burton the best reviews of his career, as well as two Oscars).

Burton’s unique artistic vision means that he has put his own distinctive mark on his work and given the often bland and repetitive films of today a run for their money. He has had critical and commercial success with films such as ‘Batman’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and the gothic musical ‘Sweeney Todd’ as well as the now cult ‘Mars Attacks’, quirky ‘Beetlejuice’ and forgotten ‘Sleepy Hollow.’ He is now moving into animation again with a rumoured Addams Family project and has adapted his early short film ‘Frankenweenie’ for the big screen.

Going back to the exhibition, it's the drawings that dominate. These represent Burton’s “thought process”: “I always think that drawings come from a much more comfortable place for me and that they say more than my intellectual mind can.” Hence ACMI's massive space is brimful of them, all with certain motifs that recur: the scarred misunderstood protagonists, caricatured heads and chequerboard with op art effects. The grotesque figures with their angular lines, gaping mouths and sharp teeth are classic Burton-type drawings and fit right in to the slightly bizarre exhibition.

But that is of course, the charm of the event itself; its odd, touchingly weird and according to Burton represents the “chaos of my mind.” The exhibition never fails to remind us why Burton and his imagination touch many people. It’s a reminder that there is nothing wrong with being a little different to everyone else, just look at Tim Burton. It can only be considered a good thing.

*Sources:

Sydney Morning Herald (Includes Picture Credit)

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image

The Tim Burton Collective

Album Review: Lady Gaga's 'Mons†er' Alter Ego

Another recent review of mine written for one of my college publications (this is my original, unedited piece) when Lady GaGa was just about to re-release her multi-million debut album 'The Fame':

Alter Ego

Lady Gaga unveils her dark side as she releases her eagerly anticipated follow up to her multi-million selling debut album entitled ‘The Fame: Monster’. Much more than just a standard re-release, the double CD collection contains eight entirely new songs marking the start of things heading in a new direction for the megastar…

Whether you love or hate her, there is just no missing Lady Gaga. After taking the music scene by storm a little over a year ago with her debut: ‘The Fame’, her name has practically been permanently integrated into popular culture. Her often bizarre sense of style combined with her ridiculously catchy pop hooks have made her the latest artist everyone seems to want a piece of.

The public seem to be divided in their opinions of the star. She’s either an original that has suitably refreshed the bland music of today or a copycat who’s just taken ideas and looks from various stars and called it her own. Whichever side of the fence your on, one thing that is certain is that she’s going to be around for quite a while.

Born in New York City, the 23 year old, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, originally started out as a burlesque dancer before signing her record deal. The rest, as they say, is history. Her album ‘The Fame’ has gone Platinum across the globe, notched up four hit singles including Just Dance and Poker Face (which has been certified the most downloaded song in the history of the UK singles chart) and sold just over 4 million copies worldwide. Not half bad for the artist who was an unknown a year ago.

Out on the 23^rd of November, I know a lot of you must be thinking that the re-release in question is just a cash-in of The Fame with a few tracks added on at the end. It's not that at all – this is a collection of songs in its own right. When you buy this you will not be buying The Fame again in order to get at a couple of extra songs – you'll be buying a new album which just so happens to have a copy of The Fame in the same box.

Lyrically, sonically, melodically and conceptually it's right up there with its predecessor The Fame, with a definite feel of things moving in a new direction.

First up, lead single off the album: ‘Bad Romance.’ She’s collaborated again with producer RedOne so think Poker Face reinvented. A dark mid-tempo song with a catchy chorus that fits right in with the whole ‘Monster’ theme of the album. A solid first single release.

Next is ‘Alejandro.’ Rumoured to be one of the 3 follow up singles after Bad Romance, Gaga seems to pay homage to Madonna with this modern version of ‘La Isla Bonita.’ It has a definite Spanish feel to in terms of the lyrics and music and marks a change in direction for her. It’d be nice to see more of this from her in the future.

We then have ‘Monster’ - Opens with snatches of dialogue ('Don't call me Gaga') then launches into a story of Gaga pulling a "wolf in disguise". This one has dark lyrics, plenty of sexual innuendos and is almost irritatingly catchy. Produced again by RedOne (There’s a lot on the internet about how he seems to be keeping all this best songs for her which will of course be open to debate for some!) don’t think this one will be a single but an important element to the album and ‘So Happy I Could Die’ - A mid-tempo number with some Tiesto-esque bits thrown in. Again, possibly not single potential but a good listen with some very interesting lyrics.

Next single after Bad Romance is rumoured to be the Beyonce collaboration ‘Telephone.’ I’m not a huge fan of this one but the lyrics are quirky and it’s a definite grower. This duet between the two, will conviently be released after Beyonce’s individual collaboration with Gaga on her song ‘Video Phone’ also out later this month. Neither song has connections to each other in case you’re wondering.

The biggest surprise on this album for me was the Ron Fair produced power balled ‘Speechless’ written by Gaga herself about her father’s heart condition. It doesn’t sound anything like the stuff we’ve heard from her before and is a potential single. It’s going to be huge for her.

Finishing off we have the brilliant ‘Dance in the Dark’ with the super chorus and the Madonna ‘Vogue’ style rap thrown in the middle – my personal favourite off the CD and the downright weird closing track: ‘Teeth.’ A bouncy marching song that hints at the new direction for the third album.

In brief: A worthy follow up to it’s predecessor, with at least four potential singles, some elements of the songs don’t work at times but there are no real filler tracks here. ‘Monster’ and ‘Bad Romance’ have elements of ‘Just Dance’ and "Poker Face’ these being nods to The Fame while other songs like ‘Dance In The Dark’ and ‘Teeth’ hint at what lies ahead for the next Lady Gaga album.

She’s here to stay it seems and even if you’re among the music lovers who dislike her, as the lady herself said: “A good pop chorus never killed anyone.”

Television Stars...

A blast from the past now: a while back I did an interview with Grace, a member of Dublin band 'Television Room.' Check out the interview below:

Following in the footsteps of The Blizzards and The Coronas, Television Room are a newly-formed pop/indie group that are slowly but surely making their mark on the Irish music scene. Jennifer McShane talks to band member Grace Fay about life in the band, making music videos and why she’s more than just a pretty face.

I

n the presence of most members from popular bands one would almost expect to feel a few things: intimidated, nervous and have even a sense of dread at the thought of the upcoming interview. Arrogance is said to be a common trait in some new bands and getting a member to open up can be like pulling teeth. None of this however was the case as I sat down to talk to Grace Fay about her life in Television Room. Not the title of a TV series, but the quirky name of the newly formed band from Dublin.

Appearing fully at ease and very relaxed as we sit in her conservatory at her family home, Grace tells me how the band first got together. “I saw an ad on the internet originally looking for a Bass player put up by Michael (front man of the band) and the other four members we either met through friends or on the internet. So we’re like an internet-based band really.” says the stunning 24 year old, laughing. This happened in early 2007 and the band has been going strong ever since. Consisting of five members: Michael, James, Fergus, Grace and Mia, the band have already gigged all over the country, released two singles and made two music videos. Quite a CV for a band who are still in the early stages of their career.

Grace’s role as a musician is a noted change from the parts that females usually play in bands. She plays the keyboards, glockenspiel, melodica as well as the synthesiser. “I hate that ‘token girl in the band’ label that’s attached to the woman in the group” she says. “A lot of people assume the female is there to just look nice so it’s nice to break away from that.” Clearly much more than just a pretty face all of the instruments Grace plays were self-taught. This brings us to talking about the bands image. Though Grace agrees that image is obviously very important, she says that it was never taken too seriously by all in the band: “It’s always hard to find an image in the first place, but everyone just dresses their own way and it seems to work very well.”

She tells me that all of the members get on great together and have become her best friends. She laughs as she recalls making their first music video for the song Tinabelle: “We had to carry this couch up a hill in Houth and we were freezing!” All didn’t go exactly to plan when a group of German tourists “borrowed” the CD player they were using to play the track. “We just came back from lunch and it was gone!” she says. Luckily they had more or less finished with it and everyone had a laugh about it after. I ask about their first live gig in the Ambassador. She mainly recalls her nerves: “I had never played the synthesiser live before so I was so nervous.” But she says the reaction was great from the crowed and she’s obviously a lot more comfterble on stage now.

The Irish music scene is “stuck in one place” according to Grace. She says the bands themselves have moved forward but because of the large amount of bands coming out its harder then ever for Irish bands to make a break through. “Basically anything that’s big in the UK or US is going to be big in Ireland and that’s part of the problem. I don’t think people are as willing to take a chance with Irish bands.” She says what has really helped the band, in terms of becoming known are sites like Bebo and Myspace. “All our promotion work for singles and gigs are done through those sites. I just think it gets the music out there really well, especially to the younger audiences.” All the work with the sites is done solely by the band who doesn’t have a manager. “It’s really hard to find a manager that has the band’s best interests at heart.” She says. “So until we find the right person we prefer to do it all ourselves.”

I ask what her career highlights have been so far and she pauses momentarily before saying that she’s most proud of hearing their recordings. “It’s something you’ve worked for and it’s great to be able to hear the results of that.” The songs are produced by Tom McFall who has worked with the likes of R.E.M and Wheezer in the past. Grace tells me that “everyone has their own part to play” in terms of the music in the band so it’s all a team effort. The band obviously has a bright future ahead of them and I ask Grace what she’s most looking forward to. “I’m looking forward to the album that will probably be out later in the year and I’d ultimately love the band to be really well known, not just in Ireland but other places too.” As a final parting question I ask if she would ever go as far as to go on a reality show to raise the profile of the band. “God no!” She says, laughing. “I understand why some might be inclined to do that sort of thing but I think the music should always speak for itself.” And it really does.

Television Room’s debut album: ‘House’ is available to download now from Itunes and all other digital outlets. For more information on the band visit there Myspace at: www.myspace.com/televisionroom