Edward Scissorhands Notes

Mise En Scene

Cinematography

Characterisation

Narrative

• Spooky music
• Dark, unwell lit
• Introduced with long-timed shots of props/set that are relevant to the story
• Camera going up the stairs
• Blue lighting in the dark
• Long fade ins and outs
• Moving canted angles
• Juxtaposition of the cold dark blue outside world (the rock hill with Edward's mansion on it), with the warmth of the room (fire as warm lighting)
• Story starts with the grandma telling her granddaughter a story about how 'snow' was created but turns out it was a retelling of history
• As she tells the story, her voice becomes a voice over as the camera moves to outside, through the town and up the mansion.
• Choral music angelic ooh's almost christmas-like
• Town's view of the mansion fades into the mansions view of the town and zooms back to reveal edward looking out
• Complete change in visuals: block colours, bright lighting, happy middle-aged women in the city
• Barely any shot changes when characters in conversation - minimalisation
• ColoursBright pink, yellow, purple, green
• Set: Orange and yellow cars, green houses, full purple outfits
• Women are very perky and happy
• Everything in the shot is in focus
• Dark grey hill juxtaposed with colourful town
• Panning low angled shot to reveal the woman arriving at the huge mansion
• Beautiful orchestral and choral music as she enters the gate, looking at the beautiful large bush carvings, tinkle'''' instrument strings
• Steadicam movements revealing all of the artworks 
• Dark, empty, echoey in the mansion
• Cobwebs and minimal lighting
• No music whilst edward and Peg meet - suspense
• Edward is very socially awkward: doesn't know how to carry himself 
• Harp music as he is admiring the colourful town
• Shots from camera in the car as they drive along
• Mid shot for when people are in conversation
• Edwards awkwardness becomes comedic as he is sort of an 'alien' to this place
• Women constantly using telephones to gossip and talk to each other
• Grand orchestral music when he enters the well lit home
• romantic choral music 'ooh's' when he finds out who Kim is
• Edwards face has several scars from cutting, he is very pale, dark eyes
• Close up pans of the photo frames
• Camera is still as Peg and Edward walk forward into the shot on the hallway
• Moments where there is awkwardness, there is no music at all
• High angle shot of the city
• The cars leave and arrive at the same time: men going to work.
• The women stay home all day leaving a lot of time to gossip and stuff
• The camera shoots from edwards perspective sometimes, as the other characters (husband and peg) talk to the camera and we see what edward sees

• Voicemails left on the lady's phone - use of the telephone as a way of communication and gossip
• Lady in purple dress: first to be sceptical of edward, her face isn't shown at first as she accuses him from being from the flames of hell. She pops up in the background to interrupt the ladies to say 'he's a perversion of nature'
• The automatic can opener reminds him of the factory machines in the mansion he lived in
• Zoom into edwards face before the flashback
• Scary brass and string music during the negative flash back
• Fades from the bright into dark atmosphere of the factory - parallel of the can opener
• Bright wind instruments play as the old man (The Inventor) appears from behind the machines
• Steadicam through the works of the machines
• Pans and zooms through the works of the machines
• People wearing a large variety of bright colours
• The old man (The Inventor) is well lit and coloured compared to the background - dark grey machines
• 'harry potter'-like music during flashback
• Cricket sounds to create the night time effect
• Tension:
• Dark lighting
• Warm lighting on Kim, cold lighting on Edward
• Camera position to see Kim in foreground of the mirror and Edward in the background
• No music at all
• Long timing between the time she enters the room, and the time she realises Edward is there
• She screams and the water from the bed goes everywhere
• Camera follows the movement of Edwards head as he looks up
• Lots of long shots
• People at the dinner table are well lit, but the corners of the small room are still quite dark
• When Edward is cutting something, the camera is in the low perspective of 'whatever he is cutting' and the bits and pieces go flying up in front of his face
• Fast, tense violin music when Ed is cutting the ladies hair, 
• Sexual reference? She is quite 'exhilerated' by the hair cut 'that was the single most thrilling experience of my whole life'
• Hair cuts are quirky
• The focus in the room is well lit but the background is mostly dark
• When Ed is having a little 'day dream' staring moment at Kim at the mall(?) the camera is focused on him and everything else is blurry
• Bright block colours: light blue, bright green
• Zooming into Kim's face when she realises Ed might like her
• Camera following them walking through the mall through a glass window in the shop
• Camera pans across the action in close ups; hand on the stereo, goes up to lady's jacket and pans out as she takes it off
• "Then she took me to the back room where she took all her clothes off" A quotation from Edward scissorhands that shows that he doesn't know what was happening and is socially uneducated
• Block bright vivid colours at the restaurant, block black and white colours for bank
• High birdseye view of the room
• Camera follows Kim and Jim as they run away from the house
• Tension: shouting, music, shouting police man
• Bank, and police department are white and bland in comparison to rest of the city
• Camera following Peg as she paces up and down when on the phone
• Close up of the christmas tree pans to the people 
• Camera moves backwards as Kim walks towards it
• Kim walks from the warm lit house, to the dark balcony then out to the cool lit outside
• Glorious Moment
• Low angle as Kim enjoys the 'snow' that Edward creates
• Choral "ooh"s 
• Camera circles kim at a low angle
• Slow Motion
• Police car - black and white, bland and boring compared to rest of city
• Father isn't portrayed as very smart: he has a loud voice and strong opinion but is quite ignorant and doesn't notice some things
• Tension
• Long-timed shots
• Close ups put together with long shots
• HAPPY MOMENT put right before the SAD MOMENT
• Didn't expect this movie to make me cry WHY TIM BURTON
• Edward gets new hands and it is a beautiful moment but then his creators face slowly starts to drop the he falls to the ground WHY AM I STILL CRYING
• Jim: demanding (i don't like him)
• Lighting as boys walks out of house: house is lit but he is not - silhouette
• Music is indicating he is in trouble
• Cool high angle/birdseye shot as he runs down the street

• Everything bad happens in the night
• The night Jim frames Ed
• The night Edward accidentally hurts people
• Edwards House: dark, only white.blue lighting - very dark, specific lighting choices
• High angle shot of Jim beating Edward up
• High angle shot of Kim beating up Jim beating up Edward
• Point of view shots of Jim killed (silently cheering)

• There is always wind blowing through Kim's hair
• Kim lied saying that Edward is dead
• Flash forward to the present day (it's so obvious through her voice that it's Kim)
• Girl in the bed: she is lit well but the bed around her isn't as bright
• White= innocence
• Beautiful cool sky, compared to warm bedroom
• Motif of snow
• Slow motion shots of Kim when she was younger in the snow
• Choral singing ooh's as the movie comes to an ending