Returning to a more personal scale of filmmaking after the special effects-driven juggernaut Batman Returns, Burton's offbeat biopic, shot in luminous black and white, is a freewheeling adaptation of the life and low-budget times of Edward D. Wood Jr. (Johnny Depp), the Z grade film director and would-be auteur whose name became synonymous with an endearingly disproportionate self-confidence in the face of an acute lack of talent. Martin Landau deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Bela Lugosi.