Assignment 1 Task 1 (Contemporary)

Tim Burton

Burton spent the majority of his childhood drawing cartoons and watching old movies. His first job was an animator for Disney, his early work was very successful, films like ‘The Fox And The Hound (1981)’ and ‘The Black Cauldron (1985)’ due to these creations Disney recognised his pure talent and allowed him to go on and create ‘Vincent (1982)’ this was an animated short about a boy who wished to be just like Vincent Price, obviously taking inspiration from his own childhood. ‘Vincent’ Was a critical success and won many awards. After this Burton went on to make ‘Frankenweenie (1984)’ a tale loosely based on Frankenstein, at first it wasn’t released due to being deemed inappropriate for children.

Burton’s first full-feature film ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure(1985)’ was a success and Burton became popular, just like that, He then went on to make ‘Beetlejuice (1988)’ which was another big hit. Other big hits were films such as ‘Batman (1989)’, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)’, ‘Sleepy Hollow (1999)’ and ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)’. With such a big list of successful films, Tim Burton is surely one of the most celebrated and recognised directors/contemporists.

Burtons audience is typically people of either gender, middle aged (20-35) however this could vary due to the darker nature of some of his films compared to others, for instance ‘batman’ compared to ‘Mars Attacks!’. As for class it’d most likely be people in middle to lower class. However, this is just an average, people of all ages and classes have enjoyed Burton's’ work for years now.

Tim Burton's unique art style in his animated work has pushed the boundary for modern animation, also his advanced skill as a director/writer has furthered film expectations 

Nick Park

Nick Park is a writer and also a producer, who is most famous for ‘The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)’, ‘Chicken Run (2000)’ and ‘A CloseShave (1995)’.

Park joined Aardman Animations in 1986, shortly after joining he animated the dancing chickens and bumper cars in Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ music video. This music video is widely considered one of the greatest music videos ever made.

Park has also unintentionally saved a small British cheese maker from bankruptcy when he made Wallace reference wensleydale cheese in ‘A Close Shave (1995)’

Park’s animating skill for Aardman is revolutionary and considered, world wide, some of the best animation made, he really developed animation, especially clay mation.
Chicken Run is Nick/Aardman's highest earning film in the box office, costing a total of £22.83 Million and earning a large sum of £176 million. meaning a total of £153,170,000 was earned, thus proving Nick Park is a talented director with a tendency to produce well earning blockbusters. 
Nick Park's target audience is very different to Tim Burton's, Tim goes for a variety of audiences but typically people of an older age, as shown by Vincent, this character is quite creepy and within an animated horror movie, as opposed to Nick Park who's characters are likeable and fun for a younger audience.