CORPSE BRIDE
Genre(s): Romance and Drama
Directed by: Mike Johnson and Tim Burton
Produced by: Tim Burton and Allison Abbate
Cast: Johnny Depp as Victor Van Dort
Helen Bonham Carter as Emily
Emily Watson as Victoria Everglot
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Picture
Release date(s): September 23, 2005 (Venice)
October 13, 2005 (UK)
Running time: 77 Min
1. Director
Brief information about our director: Tim Burton
Birth: 25 August 1958, Burbank, California, U.S
Occupations: Animator, director, producer, screenwriter and illustrator
Budget spent on Corpse Bride: $40 Million
2. Plot
This is a fictional movie that targets young adults and animation lovers.
The story is set in an undefined village in Europe; there is a man called Victor Van Dort, the son of a nouveau riche fish merchant. He is arranged for a marriage with a snobbish aristocrat's daughter, Victoria Everglot. This marriage could be seen as a business wedding because both families will benefit from this wedding. Victor's parents can raise their social status, while Victoria's clan can recover their wealth. At first, Victor and Victoria were nervous about marrying a stranger. However, when they met, they knew they were destiny and quickly fell in love. The wedding started soon, but during the celebration, Victor forgot his vows; he felt ashamed and fled speedily to the forest nearby. He practiced his vows and placed his wedding ring on an upturned tree root. Suddenly, the root became the finger of a murdered woman who was in a tattered bridal gown, Emily. She rose from the grave and misclaimed that Victor was her husband, so she took him down to the Land of the Dead, where they would "continue" the wedding. Down there, Victor learned that Emily had been killed a long time ago by an unknown criminal on the night that she tried to do a runaway marriage.
Unfortunately, even though Emily is pitiful, Victor does not fall for that. He has given his heart to Victoria, and he desires to reunite with Victoria, so he tricks Emily in the hopes of persuading her to take him back to the ground. Emily agreed, and they went to meet the region's ruler, who asked if he could bring them up. After being brought, Victor told Emily to wait for him, then rushed to see Victoria and confessed his wish to be her soulmate. Emily discovered that she felt backstabbed and that her heart ached.
Nevertheless, Victoria has been set up to marry another presumed wealthy newcomer man named Lord Barkis Bittern. Victor could not believe what he heard; he collapsed and attempted to kill himself. The story continues with numerous exciting scenes. In the end, Emily frees Victor to marry Victoria, and she transcends happily with no regret.
3. Why did I choose this movie?
I chose this as my research source was because I plan on creating my own opening sequence, which will about romance and drama. This provides me a lot of information that will be useful in the future.
4. Analysis
The opening credit starts with a dark, whimsical orchestral score. It already set the gloomy and mournful mood through music at the very first set. Then, a book was opened, and the production team introduced watchers to their distribution company, Warner Bros. Picture.
Subsequently, the scene continues with the actors' true names in an ancient font. But this time, Victor's hand is visible, and it appears he is trying to draw a butterfly, which is one of the important items in this movie because it represents Emily when she has released herself and turned into a butterfly.
The introduction continues to run, and a medium close-up shot is utilized in this scene to reveal the protagonist, Victor. His facial expression encodes that he enjoys drawing as it is his hobby. However, he looks haggard and skinny. We can predict that he is the type of person who is weak and shows no power to others.
Moreover, depending on Victor's gesture, there could be an upcoming event because he is excited and anxiously looking outside of the window
Following up, a close-up shot is shown to make watchers notice a purple butterfly imprisoned inside the glasses. Then, Victor comes and releases it. It could represent himself when he has found his true love, and they get married, so he feels his freedom is coming, or his parents are rigorous and always force him to follow their opinions without any resistance. Hence, marrying is like a way for him to escape. The title fades in right after that, representing the story's beginning.
In this scene, the sweeping yard action is similar to the clock, or we can call it a juxtaposition technique. This could encode life and death, the clock's ticking can represent life gradually shortening, which is the central theme of this movie when Emily takes Victor to the Land of the Dead.
Another character is introduced to the viewers by a medium close-up shot: Lord Barkis Bittern, a man Victoria later has to marry. We can clearly see that Barkis is a hard-to-please person who leverages their social status to belittle others based on his actions. When the butterfly flies across him, he tries to wave his hand to chase it away because of his grimacing face.
5. Typography
Corpse Bride used a gothic font throughout the sequence. This typography type often reflects dark and whimsical, which suits the movie's mood. Moreover, it creates an immediate sense of mystery and intrigue in the very first scene of the sequence.
6. Conclusion
Overall, a somber color scheme of blue, grey, and blue-black is used throughout the introduction to convey the village's desolation and gloom. A sense of dread is also conveyed by the ominous background music to draw viewers in, but it also carries a hint of enthusiasm because there will be a wedding—a time for the villagers to unwind and bless the bride and groom. In the final analysis, all the details above lead to the primary genre of this film, which is romance, but it contains different kinds of emotions, not just sweetness.
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