Edward Scissorhands Lighting Analysis

In the movie Edward Scissorhands, a lot of different cinematic techniques are used. This movie mostly focuses on lighting, usually using darker low-key lighting throughout most of the film to create a darker, creepy tone. Low-key lighting is used mostly in scenes with Edward scissorhands in them, not as much with the girl. A good example of these low-key lighting scenes are the beginning ones, when the girl first enters Edward’s castle. The atmosphere inside is dark and creepy, adding to the already mysterious and dark tone of the movie. Another example of a scene with low-key lighting is the very beginning of the credits screen. The words are displayed in white with the rest of the background as a dark and evil setting. This already gives

us an idea of how the movie is themed. Contrary to the amount of scenes with low-key lighting in them, there is also a fair amount of scenes with high-key lighting. Most of the scenes without Edward, for example, are mostly shot with high-key lighting. An example of this is the beginning scene when it shows the neighborhood, and the scenes where it shows the girl trying to sell her makeup products to her neighbors.
Another technique that is used a lot throughout the movie are the camera angles. Throughout the movie there are several scenes in which the conversation between two characters is very important. When this happens, a lot of two shots occur. An example of a two shot scene is near the beginning when Edward and the girl are talking and she is introducing him to her family through pictures. Another good example of a two shot is later on in the movie when the neighbor girls are speaking with Edward. It shows the camera switching back and forth between the characters as they speak with each other, showing that the conversation they are having is very important. A second camera angle that is used a lot are close ups. A lot of times throughout the movie the camera will zoom in close to Edward’s face. An example of this is the scene where Edward just got done trimming the plants and is exchanging conversation with the father. The camera zooms in on the two’s faces as they each share words across the yard with each other. Lastly, a lot of establishing shots are used. For example, at the beginning of the movie when it showed the neighborhood that Edward lived in. Another example is the beginning scene when the girl was looking out her rear-view mirror and saw Edward’s castle for the first time.