Sneak preview of 'Corpse Bride' draws large crowd to IMU

Hundreds of IU students lined the corridors of the Indiana Memorial Union Monday night in hopes of getting a sneak peek at the newest creation from the mind of acclaimed film director Tim Burton. Most of the crowd arrived well in advance of the 8 p.m. screening time to grab a good seat.\n"I got here at 6:30 (p.m.) so I would have a pretty good seat and there were already people here," freshman Angela Kilgore said.\nMore than 400 students packed the Whittenberger Auditorium to capacity, as the Union Board presented Burton's "Corpse Bride" with the permission of Warner Bros. Studios. \nUnion Board Director of Films Atticus Westerfeld said bringing major motion pictures to the IU campus for previews is a process that involves cooperation with studio marketing companies. \n"The Union Board has a long-standing relationship with Alloy Marketing, and they send out e-mails to a number of colleges offering films to be shown as a sneak peek preview," Westerfeld said. "We fill out an application, and if they select us, they send us all the marketing material and tickets, and we show the film."\nWhile Westerfeld is a veteran of the preview process, bringing such films as "Constantine" and "House of Wax" to the Whittenberger, he said that "Corpse Bride" was the largest crowd he has seen since becoming Union Board director of films. \nThe large crowd was driven to the IMU on a stormy Monday night by a combination of anticipation for Burton's newest film, word of mouth and perhaps most importantly, free tickets with a student ID.\n"I really like Tim Burton's movies, but free tickets is awesome because I'm a poor college student," Kilgore said.\nThe film uses the same stop-motion animation technique that was employed in the Burton-written and produced 1993 hit "The Nightmare Before Christmas," a technique that drew fans like freshman Logan Sibrel to the screening.\n"I really liked 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' and I thought the art direction and coloring of this film was great too," Sibrel said. \nWith such blockbusters as "Batman," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Edward Scissorhands" to Burton's credit, some filmgoers simply came because they heard the buzz surrounding the movie and wanted to see what it was all about.\n"A lot of my friends were going, and they told me I should go," junior Joel Hernandez said. \nWith more than 400 students in attendance, Union Board took the precaution of hiring an IU Police Department officer for security purposes, and Warner Bros. also provided security to search bags for recording devices to prevent bootlegging of the film. As students entered the theater, they were greeted by two men waving metal detector wands. \nFortunately, Westerfeld said there were no incidents to report, but he noted that studio-provided security was stricter than usual.\n"For this show, they weren't even allowing people to bring iPods into the theater, and next time, they won't allow cell phones to be brought in either," Westerfeld said.\nDespite the security presence, general reaction to the film was overwhelmingly positive.\n"I thought the movie was awesome," Kilgore said. "It was heartwarming and dramatic with a touch of goth."\nTim Burton's "Corpse Bride" opens nationwide Friday.