Description of A Series of Unfortunate Event's visual style?

Question

The new Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events has a very distinctive visual style to it. I am, however, at a loss on how to describe it to anyone else. What are the elements that make up the visual style of the show, and how would one describe it?

Answer 1

The show is definitely Gothic, but not directly. The show borrows heavily from the visual style of Tim Burton, who has stated many times that he was influenced by the German expressionist movement (largely from the silent era). Tim Burton's style could be called "American Expressionist" though he often embeds that visual style in the mundane and idyllic visuals of 1950s suburban neighborhoods, largely making it his own. He has had many people try to replicate his style, but I think he's the only one who can repeatedly pull it off successfully. The same thing goes on in this show. You can see this very distinctly in the character design of Olaf and the design of his 'eye' window, but the whole show is steeped in the style. They forego it sometimes for a more 'realistic' approach, especially with the main three kids.

If you want to really show off, you can tell your friends and family about the books too, and how they have an art style (in their covers and chapter pictures) that's a mix of expressionist and pop styles. The show drops the cartoon aspect for real people and pulls in all that other stuff. The books don't place distinctions between characters or locations with its art style, as every person and thing is drawn with the same surrealist approach.

If you don't want to explain all of that to your friends though, you can just say it's German Expressionism meets American Gothic, all because of Tim Burton. If you want the really simple word it's - surreal.