Edward Scissorhands life Essays

Edward Scissorhands life Essays Edward Scissorhands life Paper Edward Scissorhands life Paper Essay Topic: Citizen Kane Edward Scissorhands is a typical Tim Burton and Johnny Depp film. Tim Burton is a director; he has directed and produced many films which are strange and out of the ordinary. The films, including Batman and Beetle juice have a distinctive genre, fantasy. Johnny Depp is renowned for his extraordinary parts in films, but he is at his best here playing a role he understands as well as anyone, an outcast. From past films we the audience can expect a film with a fantasy storyline. The film promises a magical, but weird experience. We can expect the Burton film to be very fantasy like with a character who does not appear to be like a human (Batman, Beetle juice). Before either the film or the credits start we see a 20th century fox advertisement. The advertisement is different to past adverts. The logo is the same, but we see snow falling around it. I acknowledged this and I believe it has a connection with the film by the indication of the snow. This also sets the tone. Its different and unconventional.  When the film starts we see the credits of the entire cast, which run over the beginning of the film. The credits are scissor-rific which hints at whats to come. They are also in an italic, thin font, like the writing for Citizen Kane. This also suggests and hints at horror because of the dark background and the scissor like credits. Scissors propose to me danger and implicate cutting whether to paper or something else. Whilst all this is going on we can hear a non-diegetic sound, which sounds eerie, but fantasy like. This gives a small clue in establishing the genre. The start of the film, in which the credits run over, is the establishment of some of the environment. Upon entrance to an unknown building it is as if we are going to be told a story (fantasy like). We see inventions, a staircase and a pair of scissors. The inventions are a point-of-view shot and also a tracking shot. This is because us, the audience has been introduced into a new environment and we are constructing a visual image of our surroundings. It gives us information, which later on in the film helps us to understand what has been going on in Edward Scissorhands life. The editing is straight cut and dissolving. This makes the audience keep guessing at whats to come. It also keeps the audiences interest because they want to know what happens. It is dark in the building, with low-key lighting, which produces a sharp contrast of dark and light areas on the screen as very deep, distinct shadows are formed. The effect of this is we become aware that there is a hint of horror in the film. The dark lighting effects cause the awareness.  Stars and other shapes appear on the screen one by one. They look like biscuits. The sound when the biscuits appear on the screen is unfriendly and unfamiliar. It is a non-diegetic sound. The biscuits on screen are fantasy like and the sound is horror like. This makes us wonder what is going to happen and keeps our interest because we think it is very odd that biscuits are appearing on the screen. What have biscuits got to do with anything? We are then focused on a pair of hands and the camera then gradually zooms away from them. They are pale and look set. The hands are gradually faded out until we can see them no more. The consequence of the hands is it leaves us the feeling of cold and death that has happened or going to occur.  Our attention is then drawn to an eye. It is a close-up shot and once again the camera moves away from the object it is focusing on, but this time in a spiral way. As the camera moves progressively outwards we can see the face of an old, pale, lifeless man. Once again horror is suggested here. Next, as the man fades and dissolves into the background, snow appears at the foreground. After a few frames of snow, the snow starts to fade and from the background appears a house on a hill (horror). The house looks haunted and later on in the film we discover this house, or mansion is where we saw the inventions and the old man. The view of the house, hill and snow looks like a snow dome. The fading and dissolving, and the background and foreground effects create a mysterious tone, once again keeping the audiences attention and interest. The house on the hill is another example and theme of horror. The distance from the house and the camera increases and we are now in a room. We know this because in front of us is a window with a woman looking out at the house. This is a point-of-view shot. We are now introduced to a character. It is the woman looking out of the window. We hear her speak for the first time. Her voice is friendly and aimed towards another new character. The voice of the woman speaking is diegetic and on screen. We now feel safe and secure in the house and our interest is kept by us wondering who these characters are and what they have to do with the film. The mise-en-scene of the room in which we are in with the two characters is brightly decorated, in vivid yellows. This is a contrast to the view of the house outside the window. The yellows make me feel that the characters in the room are nice and friendly, because if they werent I think the room would be decorated differently, perhaps in black.  In the room are a fire and a lamp. These are two light sources. The fire creates a sense of warmth and friendliness by the glow, which is also in contrast to the house outside. The camera follows the old woman to the bedside of our second character. The second character is a young girl. She is tucked in a double bed. The girl looks lost in the bed. This is ironic because the bed suggests security to the young girl. We learn of the relationship between the two characters when the little girl says, Why is it snowing Grandma?. The woman sets about telling the child about Edward Scissorhands. The audiences interest is still kept because we are now finding out about whom we think the film is all about (because of the name of the film).