FACTS:
- The movie is in stop motion animation. Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. (Stop motion – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
- Two items were invented to facilitate the filming of the movie: One was a “light alarm” which would warn the animators if any of the stage lights failed to come on. The other was a system that enabled a puppeteer to seamlessly switch to a replacement puppet if a puppet broke during a shot. Prior to this, either situation, a light failing to come on or a puppet breaking would destroy a shot.
- It is stated in “The Making of…” book that the most difficult shot to film in the entire movie is the shot in which Jack is reaching for the doorknob to Christmasland. Viewers can see the perfect surround reflection of the forest around Jack in the background.
- It took a group of around 100 people three years to complete this movie. For one second of film, up to 12 stop-motion moves had to be made.
- There is something of a controversy over exactly who has the rights to call the story and film their own, Henry Selick is the director and spent more time on the set and production than Tim Burton, however Burton has often claimed he is the owner of the story as it was all his idea, he wrote the original poem and most of the script, created the characters, served as a producer, and even wanted to direct but was simply too busy at the time to do so. However popular culture has long accepted the film as Burton’s as the film heading is Tim Burton’s the nightmare before Christmas.
- In 2001, Walt Disney Pictures began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion, Disney wanted to use computer animation. Tim Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. “I was always very protective of [Nightmare] not to do sequels or things of that kind,” Burton explained. “You know, ‘Jack visits Thanksgiving world’ or other kinds of things just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it,” Burton said.
USEFUL WORDS/ PHRASES
Halloween words:
terrifying
you made my flesh crawl
you made wounds ooze
renowned
a shriek
a moan
I have swept the very bravest off their feet
I am the master of fright
queer
ghouls
witches
scream
scare
ensnare
nightmare
suspicious
peculiar
scary
scull
pox
Christmas words:
roast chestnuts
hand mistletoe
gather around to hear a story
unique
secure in their dreamland
a bow
candy
Christmas carols
jolly
naughty
Christmas Eve
go down the chimney
Other words:
wart
dredge
tantalize
hail
lumplings
patch
brilliant leadership
witch’s fondest dream
deadly nightshade
wear off
curiosity killed the cat
slay
bric-a-brac
bait
trap
henchman
an elected official
make decisions
the fame and praise
an elected official
make decisions
the fame and praise
recite
recitation
restless