In Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish And Home For Peculiar Children

Compare the ways in which the authors of two texts explore how society treats people who are different.

Edward Scissorhands explores how difficult it can be to fit in. To what extent do you agree?

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton can be seen as a modern day fairytale. However, there are many important themes that make the film richer and deeper in meaning. The film is not simply entertaining, because the director examines the importance of individuality, love and appearance and reality.

Edward Scissorhands, written by Tim Burton, tells the tale of a young man who is lovable, childlike and sensitive, bewildered by the humanity around him, yet is terrifying- someone who has scissors, the deadly weaponry, for hands. Many viewers may read this film as a “Tim Burton” type of fairytale which includes both an alternative aspect and romance. However, through the presentation of mise-en-scene in this film, Burton drives in a much more serious subject of social criticism by establishing two different understandings of life in the movie.

The film Edward Scissorhands is a contemporary archetype of the gothic genre exploring themes such as unrequited love, social rejection and human creation as defined by Tim Burton. Feature films explore different ideals that can be categorized into different genres that create expectations among audiences about characters, settings, plots and themes. Edward Scisscorhands directed by Tim Burton in the year 1990 is described as both a dark romantic fantasy and a gothic horror film. The film tells a story about Edward Scissorhands, the creation of an elderly inventor who dies before he can give Edward his normal hands in place of his scissor hands. Edward is taken from the mansion he lives in by a suburban family in an attempt to live a

In usual fairytale movies, filmmakers intend to make films that give happy endings with simple miraculous entertainments. However, in the fable movie, Edward Scissorhand, the director, Tim Burton, positions the viewers to understand the significant meaning of particular issues. “E.S” is can be seen as a story of stereotypical suburbia with social criticism. In this essay, starting from analysing this film and providing dominant discourse, the use of characters will be discussed followed by debate of technical and symbolic codes which help to put up the discourse. In particular, this essay will consider the technical code of camera angle and symbolic codes of colour which emphasize the dominant discourse.

Tim Burton’s gothic drama film Edward Scissorhands explores what is immoral with our society. A present issue with humanity is people who are different are encouraged to conform. In addition, society plays by the rules and follow societal norms rather than listening to their hearts. Most importantly, humans are cruel and exploit those who are vulnerable for their own benefit. Through the use of film techniques, Burton proposes the faults in humanity and the brutal nature of humans.

During the film Steve Spielberg uses music, a mysterious shark and camera techniques such as simultaneous track and zoom, long shot, close up shots and medium shots to build suspense, tension and scare the audience.

When a person watches a movie, and a scene with dim lighting shows up on the screen, that usually makes them feel tense and scared about what is going to happen next. Directors use cinematic techniques to convey feelings or connect with the viewer. In the movies Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, and Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton uses flashbacks, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, and high key and low key lighting to show a characters’ thoughts or past, create the mood of a scene, create suspense, and let the viewers know about the characters’ as if they personally knew each other.

How would you feel if you had scissors as hands? In the beginning of Edward Scissorhands, Edward wasn't finished so he was left with scissors as hands. During the movie Edward goes through a journey trying to fit in and be accepted by everyone. In the film Edward Scissorhands, director Tim Burton uses the stylistic elements of juxtaposition and symbolism to develop the theme, never judge someone by their appearance.

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton is a story about a lonely boy with a unique disability: scissor hands, it follows Edward as he experiences life outside of his isolated home and through his hardships of dealing with prejudice and people treating him differently. It also follows him when he makes judgments of others wrongly and shows the consequences to both parties from those decisions made on them.

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton, is a modern day fairy tale which follows the story of Edward, a young man that is taken out of isolation and introduced into a new way of life. Although the film is for entertainment, that is not its sole purpose. The film has deep and rich themes, which convey many important messages to the audience. Some themes of the film include; conformity, appearances versus reality and individuality.

Does abnormal people like the way they are - hated by the “ordinary” people? The movie “Edward Scissorhands” directed by Tim Burton, is about a man named Edward who has hands that are scissors. He was fabricated by the inventor who lived in a mysterious, gloomy castle. The reason why his hands were scissors, was because the inventor died before he replaced it with human hands. That the inventor was dead, Edward was left out and living in the castle all by himself; until, when a local Avon saleswoman, Peg Boggs went into the castle and saw Edward. She felt frightened of his hands at first. However, she realizes that Edward is harmless and lonely so she decides to take him to her home. Once Peg introduced Edward to everyone in Peg’s neighborhood, most people got along with him. Edward was also recognized as a talented, trustworthy person once he proved his skills on hedge-trimming and hair-cutting. However, not everyone accepted him and at last, the whole neighborhood start to reject him. As a result, Edward ends up living back up in the castle, his home. In the movie Edward Scissorhands, Tim

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

In my essay I am going to reference two films, Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Vincent (1982), directed by Tim Burton. Edward Scissorhands, is Tim Burton’s take on the Frankenstein story. We can clearly see the influences that have appealed to Tim Burton in the classic Frankenstein (1931) was not the character’s monstrousness appeal but the sense of sad sorrow that audiences sympathized to in Boris Karloff’s performance. Whereas in Tim Burton’s vision, we see a “Special” character as the Frankenstein Monster, in the similar way that we call people with disabilities Special. And then we have Vincent, a short stop-motion animation. The short film itself is an entertaining aspect of a suburban boy named Vincent who recites Edgar Ellen Poe and categorizes with Horror film star, Vincent Price. With similarities to Edward Scissorhands, the main character is a chance for Tim Burton to represent himself on the screen as a tortured boy, outsider and artist. I am going to discuss how cultural and psychological concerns are represented through characterization, art direction, cinematography, and sound. I will support my discussion by analyzing a reflection on both the similarities and differences between the two films, and whether a distinctive “Burton” signature (aesthetics, cultural and psychological concerns) is evident.