Cinematic Techniques Used In Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton once said, “Anybody with artistic ambitions is always trying to reconnect with the way they saw things as a child.” He values various cinematic techniques such as lighting, sound, and camera angles conceive mood, tone, and fantasy in his movies. If he wanted a happy scene, he would make the lighting and music more upbeat, on the other hand, for a dark, gloomy scene, he would have dreary and obscure music. I will further explain how he creates his own world.

Tim Burton used music to create mood and tone. In Edward Scissorhands, he uses cheerful music in the opening scene to make it seem that the neighborhood is “perfect”. Then all of a sudden, it changes to dark, eerie sounds as Peg glances up at Edward’s dark castle that he lived in for many years, alone. To me, I feel that Peg was too scared to go anywhere near the castle and she may have felt a little sorrow for Edward. Another example is when the music

changes from upbeat to pessimistic to establish Edward’s character and relationship between other characters within the movie. This reminded me of the snow angel scene when Edward was cutting the ice and Peg was dancing in the snow, it was light, sweetful, upbeat music, then all of a sudden it cuts out and does into dark music as Jim cuts in. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa Loompas make-up multiple songs. From this, Burton creates mood, all the songs of the Oompa Loompas share a valuable lesson. Along with that, it is humorous, witty, and rhyming. These songs and the Oompa Loompas create a mysterious scene, they don’t really talk, but their performances throughout the movie are immaculate. It shows character and brings amusement to each scene.
Additionally, Burton uses light as a part of his cinematic techniques to create mood and tone. For instance, Burton applies dark lighting to reflect not only on Edward’s isolation, but also on his own admonishment of a prejudiced society. These scenes with dark lighting has many moods and tones along with it, most bring heart-breaking scenes or a feeling of suspense. Burton also applied low key lighting and flashbacks to affect the audience’s mood throughout the entire movie. The flashbacks and low key lighting to me bring a feeling of sad memories Edward had as a child or growing up in the dark castle. In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Burton uses lighting at the beginning of the movie to help create mood in Charlie’s house. It was very dark and gloomy, it gave me a feeling of sorrow and empathy towards his family. I believe Burton showed Charlie’s house this way to show how poor and tragic their family is compared to the rest of the people they show later in the movie.
Furthermore, Tim Burton used camera angles to create a mood because it shows us the perspective of each character and what each seeks in his own eyes.

Like in Edwards Scissorhands when Edward is sitting at the dinner table looking at the family, this was a point-of-view shot. To me, I think Edward was examining his new family that he would be living with and wondering what they would be like. Or when they did a close up on Edward when he was holding the hands, he looked frightful and weak, vulnerable but still powerful. In my point of view, Edward was lost and he didn’t know right from wrong because of being isolated for so many years. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton utilizes a high angle shot to show the 5 golden ticket winners standing with their parents outside to show how small and powerless the people are compared to Wonka’s factory. These camera angles and shots brought mood and tone of these scenes because it shows where the scene is and what the background is or how scenes are close-ups so you can see the details in

subjects.
In conclusion, Tim Burton benefits the advantage of cinematic techniques to establish his astonishing and delusional fantasy world. Without these tactics, his movies wouldn’t be as compelling to others. He valued these skills because he knew that they would later benefit him and his audience. So, many say you should sit back and watch one of his many notorious films.