The Odd One Out
People are constantly being judged and pressured to change to fit society’s standards. In Tim Burton films, there is always one character that does not fit the mold. These outcast characters in the movies Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands are strange and isolated from the world. Despite the outcast’s difficulties, misfit characters like Edward and Wonka go on to be the hero of the story. Therefore, Burton uses many different cinematic techniques to illustrate that one does not need to conform to society in order to have a happy and successful life.
The director Tim Burton uses colors to create a happy mood during the scenes in the movie Edward Scissorhands. He portrays the neighborhood and all the people that live there in bright pastel colors which gives off a happy feeling. These bright colors give off the impression that everything is picture-perfect and everyone is content. The whole neighborhood is unchanging and routine. Throughout the movie Burton shows the men have left for work at the same time every day and everything is a lively color. When Edward arrives, he is dressed in all black and is
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very peculiar because of his years being alone in the mansion. The contrast between him and all of the people is noticeable right away. Therefore, showing the difference in colors makes it obvious that Edward does not belong there even though he tries so hard to fit in and live like everyone else. In the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Burton uses lighting to show how Wonka felt about not being able to eat candy in his childhood. During Wonka’s flashback of his father the memory is very dark and grey. Tim Burton used bottom lighting when presenting Willy Wonka’s father because it gives the older man an intimidating, dark look. His father was very strict about him not having any candy which made Wonka the odd one out on Halloween. By using the very dark and grey type of lighting in the flashback gives a glimpse into Wonka’s childhood and lets all of the viewers grasp how authoritative his father was about never letting him eat candy. Since his father had rules about the simplest pleasures, it isolated him from all of the other children. Therefore, it would explain why Wonka is so obsessed with candy and created this candy land fantasy world away from everyone. The editing technique eye-line-match is used to express the feelings that Edward is having when he sees Kim’s pictures on the shelf.
Edward stares at the images of Kim before turning to look at Peggy talk and then gazes back at them again. The way he can’t stop looking at her indicates how Edward admires the young girl. When Peggy starts chatting about how Kim went to the high school prom with her boyfriend, Edward is in a world of his own. He concentrates on her face in the picture of the couple at their prom. Edward gazes at her pictures like she is the most fascinating person ever. Since Edward lived in the mansion with the inventor and unaccompanied for so long it is interesting to see his reaction to Kim. Furthermore, his infatuation with Kim just after seeing her pictures goes to confirm how isolated he is from
society.
Edward would make topiary for every neighbor, give them haircuts, and groom their pets. Before this, Peg’s daughter, Kim, finds Edward in her bed. Edward had seen pictures of Kim and she had instantly become of Edward’s interest.
Tim Burton also uses great Lighting to make Edward look like shouldn't be there, for example, it shows Edward cramped into a small car and with bright colors in the background. In the scene where they enter Edwards garden it seem so beautiful up close, but like hell far away because its very dark over there, then when it enters back into the house it seems like it would be from a horror movie. And the make up on his face makes it more fit with the lighting because of the scars with his pale white face and his crazy black hair.
In the movie Edward Scissorhands, the dark and shadowy castle looks like something out of a horror movie. This is one of Tim Burton’s lighting techniques to make everything look grotesque and ominous. When Charlie’s house was being shown in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the house looked dark and hopeless. Charlie’s family doesn’t look sad at all though, in fact they are happy because even though they live in the worst house in the town, they have a home and a meal every night and they are one big happy
In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton uses a character with a tragic beginning: Charlie. Charlie is introduced as a poor child who doesn’t have anything except the unconditional love and support from his parents. In multiple shots, Charlie is seen in low-key lighting, which make his already meager-looking clothing even more beggarly. All the while, he lives in a rickety and jerry-built house. These details make Charlie gleam with individuality. People
Indisputably, Tim Burton has one of the world’s most distinct styles when regarding film directing. His tone, mood, diction, imagery, organization, syntax, and point of view within his films sets him apart from other renowned directors. Burton’s style can be easily depicted in two of his most highly esteemed and critically acclaimed films, Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Burton ingeniously incorporates effective cinematic techniques to convey a poignant underlying message to the audience. Such cinematic techniques are in the lighting and editing technique categories. High key and low key relationships plus editing variations evinces the director’s elaborate style. He utilizes these cinematic techniques to establish tone mood, and imagery in the films.
Edward Scissorhands is an unfinished experiment that is afraid of the human race. Brought to the town by Peg, Edward is like a tool to the rest of the townspeople. They only accept him for what he can do and prejudice him as inhuman because of his hands. Edward is a caring person but, his wrong actions outweigh the good deeds that he has done in society. The color scheme of Edward compared to society is different, the townspeople all wear and decorate their houses with very vibrant and attention seeking colors (colorful houses, cars, clothing, hair, etc.). Edward, on the other hand, wears very dark and gloomy colors (full outfit is black, black hair, paler than the townspeople, etc.). As Edward becomes more used to society, he starts to wear human clothing like a white suit shirt and black pants but, never anything too bright like the townspeople. Edwards isolation and rejection from society makes it so that he is afraid of humans and how they will view him. When Edward went to jail, destroyed the plant sculptures, accidentally scratched up Kevin and, attacked Kevin, Society shunned him. They think he is a monster and forces him to become alone again. This change in character development proves that society never accepted Edward. The red the townspeople were wearing when Edward scratched up Kevin symbolizes how he is not human with his scissor hands, cursed to destroy
When auteurs craft their work, they provide themes to the audience. These may be about love, death, or the importance for family, among other things. They use these themes to provoke an emotional response within an audience, or send home a message to the viewer. Edward Scissorhands is certainly a prime example of showing how themes influence a film. The themes that Tim Burton addresses in Edward Scissorhands are those of the connections that we have with other people, and the relationships and the bonds that we form with them. Non-conformity is used in the film as a highly prioritised theme, as well as the importance of friendship and the portrayed innocence that Johnny Depp's character reveals to us. Through this film, the themes of relationships
Using the production elements of symbolism; especially hands themselves, and the use of allusion to elements from other genres; particularly those from fairytale and gothic romance/horror films, Tim Burton has directed the film in such a manner to illustrate, emphasise and ridicule the materialism and lack of imagination of society. The film however, is prominently a satire which has certain elements from fairytale, comedy and horror genres. Through the choices made by the director, the audience is invited to become aware of the inhumanity present in the way society functions, especially in its prejudiced treatment towards people who do not conform. The use of allusion in Edward Scissorhands is one of the most important choices in production that has been made by director Tim Burton. In order to fully appreciate and understand the plot, the movie is dependant on the audience being able to recognise certain references and elements emulated from other films.
Individuality is rejection, whether it be a rejection of society or a rejection by society. Burton explores the consequences that can derive from rejection and how appearances may differ from reality. The work of Tim Burton consists of a unique style unlike any other. Not only do his films convey his ideas of individuality to the audience, it is done in a distinctive Burton way. Burton’s style of the formal elements of German Expressionism, gothic horror, and unique characters allow him to convey his ideas. His views of individuality are evident through the work of his film 'Edward Scissorhands' and short film 'Vincent'.
Lighting and color are used to prove the distinction between individuals. In Edward Scissorhands, low key lighting was used to show the illusion of Edward being in isolation. Through this isolation, Edward did not know his place in society. Isolation created Edward to be displayed as a misfit compared to the rest of society. Burton conveys the fact Edward is a misfit by creating a sense of eeriness which shows he is darker coloring while the rest of society seems brighter. To try to fit into society, Edward tried to satisfy everyone’s desires. However through this trial, he could not help but being himself even if that caused society to frown upon him. Even though society frowned
Multiple people claimed they “know a doctor that might be able to help” fix his situation (Edward Scissorhands). At one point, Edward said, “I’d like to meet him” (Edward Scissorhands), knowing if he received prosthetic surgery, he would be accepted as normal and not special. Edward accidently cut Kim and Kevin with his scissorhands, though his intentions were to help them. The incidence leaves the neighbors with an evil impression causing them to chase Edward, though he only wanted Kim’s love. The physical features of Edward and the creature led others to conclude that they were malicious and therefore deemed outcasts, though their intentions were only to find
From the very beginning, Edward is cast as the monster – but is he really? We first see Edward when Peg searches for the owner of a dark, ominous, gothic mansion. She climbs up a set of gigantic spiral stairs that lead to “Edward’s room”. The setting is quite dark and the only lighting is coming through a gaping hole in the roof. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and as she examines this foreign place, we can hear in the bac...
...As we are examining the people on the screen, we are viewing ourselves. Burton produces a “perfect” figure of Edward who is kind, caring, and signifies the most striking feelings of individuals. In addition, his evil appearance exists only because humanity says that he is unusual. Burton wants us, as the audience, to be conscious of ourselves as a part of the social order, and to cautiously consider the realism we decide to accept as true and exist in.
Edward, the android-like being portrayed in Tim Burton’s film Edward Scissorhands, is essentially killed off from society because he falls victim to the malicious lies spread by the community and by the hatred that is cultivated by those lies. Although he never physically dies, Edward’s rejection from society leads to a life-long seclusion away from the outside world. The events that lead Edward into this isolation are brought on by a few misunderstood acts that he commits and the negative reception of those acts by an impressionable community. He is caught committing a break-in (a felony that is not completely his fault yet nobody gives him the benefit of the doubt) and is, from then on, seen as a dangerous criminal. He is also deemed a sexual predator because a townswoman claims that he sexually assaulted her. Also, his attraction to and love for Kim (the Bogg family’s daughter) provokes her jealous and violent boyfriend into harming Edward and trying to turn Kim against him. Edward is never given the chance to explain himself of the accused acts and so he finds himself the target of the town’s hatred; a hatred that is based upon and fueled by jealousy, lies, and rumors. The eventual shunning of Edward by the community is not surprising or shocking because Edward never really fits in with society to begin with. However, what is shocking are the justifications of hatred that are used by the community. Their emotions and attitudes are influenced by the lies and jealousies of a few people and by believing in the religious motivations and accusations of the erratic Christian woman who lives in the neighborhood. By being non-human, Edward is immediately suspected of being guilty of all he is accused of. Hi...
Edward is pretty scary on the outside but like the T-rex his inside is harmless, he's a sweet person who makes bushes into child fantasies, like the T-rex, but you can't see his inside unless you look past the outside. The audience can see that the T-rex is out of place and that edward was the one who cut it to be like that. The audience probably was a kid once, some probably obsessed with dinosaurs making them understand that edward is a kid at heart. It makes them understand he wasn't trying to cut out a scary monster, he was just cutting out a cool dinosaur that is extinct now. His intentions were pure just like when a kid paints a picture of their family on the wall. Its overly obvious that it's out of place which was the director's intention, he didn't want you to have to find a hidden meaning, he wanted it to clearly be seen and make it easy to relate it to edward. We as humans judge people who don't fit in or are different in certain ways. This setting is where they patronise Edward, speaking with kindness yet looking down upon him like dirt, we do that a lot in our society. We always have this feeling that we are superior to everything and anything, even if that's not the