Nightmare Before Christmas Film Analysis

In Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas a pivotal change in way animation is performed and viewed takes place. The film epitmozes the use of stop motion animation and created the standard of all stop motion from then and into the future. Nightmare Before Christmas is regarded as an iconic movie and is the basis of the stop motion, gothic animation, and the entire stylistic choices that are associated with Tim Burton. Stop motion animation remained widely unused until Nightmare Before Christmas due to the lengthy and tedious process of shooting the film. Nightmare Before Christmas took three years to shoot, with just one minute taking up to a week to make. The choice to use stop motion animation was ultimately made by Tim Burton, as he thought

This allows the creators to move freely throughout the world that they have created. With the freedom of the camera they also fully control the way their world looks in light. Throughout Nightmare Before Christmas, there are many extreme forms of lighting that is reflected throughout the three-dimensional set. Notable examples being when Jack is walking through the forest and it becomes morning. The shadows on the ground from the trees and Jack himself are fine and detailed, indicating an intense light and an intense moment as Jack realizes he’s become bored of everything he knows and that he wants something new. Another clear example is during Oogie Boogie’s Song, when traditional lighting is discarded and a black light is instead used. The black light giving the feeling of darkness and unfamiliarity, similar to the situation that Oogie Boogie has put Santa Claus

Although creating a film picture by picture may seem redundant and tedious, if it was not for that animation as it known today would not exist. Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas allowed for a future of animation and film that was not even conceivable at the time. The animations allow for a freedom in film that had not been accomplished yet. A freedom that was able to truly give life and personalities to the characters and the world in which they live. The world and the life of everything is what makes this film stand out against other gothic films, other animated films, and all other films as a whole. Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas changed the way that animation is looked at and changed the way that animation advanced with technology. Nightmare Before Christmas signified a change in an era that ended traditional animation and led the way into a three-dimensional world of animation with its own character and its own