In Alan's Narrative lecture this week, he showed us 'Ed Wood', a film chronicling the life of a renowned awful film-maker, Ed Wood. Played by Johnny Depp in the film, Wood created some of the worst films of the 1950's which have later become cult classics. These include 'Glen or Glenda' (1953) which Ed not only directed, but also starred in as the main character who secretly cross-dresses, hiding it from his fiance. For the time, this film was based around huge controversial subject of men wanting to become feminine, but this didn't prevent the film from being seen as a terrible production, in editing, dialogue and acting.



The film shows Ed Wood's life and his struggles to finance and produce the films he so desperately wants to be known for. Using original scenes from Wood's 1950's movies, Tim Burton re-created many of the classic sequences, showing clearly just how bad the scenes really were. Along with 'Glen or Glenda', Burton shows more productions throughout the film such as 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' and 'Bride of the Monster'.


Overall, I really enjoyed the tone and humour of the film, it was both heralding Ed Wood for his originality and pure passion for his terrible films, as well as poking a bit of fun at the attitudes and releases of the time it was set. With our narrative unit being targetting towards producing a story and script which is worth making, studying Ed Wood is very helpful, it shows just how bad a production can be if it is rushed, with no effort and poor story.