film study

Film study

I choose Tim Burton’s movies Edward Scissorhands, I chose this because as an auteur he has visions on how the production and movie should set out to be in his imagination and fantasy. In accordance with the genre and his personal experiences, his heroines are usually different from other people in some way. They are misunderstood by those around them and as a result, they are alienated from others. This is exactly the case in Edward Scissorhands. When forced out of his house and into the centre of town, he is met with hostility because he is different from everyone else. People assume he is mean, violent and dangerous because of his hands when he is the complete opposite.

His films also explore social issues such as peer pressure and conformity. Once again Edward Scissorhands is a good example of this. Society tries to force Edward to conform to their rules, by making him look like them, getting him to go to school and get a job and forcing him to behave the way they do. When he is unable to conform to their rules, he is rejected by nearly everyone in the town and forced back to the outskirts of town (and society).

It includes printed language around the frame which can be presented for the audience to see and read. This auteur has complete control over how his films look and feel. He has a say in everything present in each scene, from the actors to the symbols ever present in his films that help tell the narrative and reach audiences on a subconscious level.

As shown in original sketches he does during the process of making every one of his films, he envisioned the way the characters were supposed to look and feel and translated this vision to those working with him, who were then able to capture this vision on screen. What we see on screen is, in fact, a representation of the thoughts and ideas spilling out of his head.

He uses the set and the characters movements as instruments to send a message that he personally believes in.

In a scene from Edward Scissorhands, Burton shows suburbia as being a mass of houses (in varying colours yet all the same) with green hedges and cars parked neatly in the driveway. Everything is so stripped of individuality, yet the people are convinced that they are ‘unique’. This setting is significant and created for a reason to further the audience’s understanding of the narrative. Burton uses it to make a point about how conforming society is and how very little originality exists within it. These are his own beliefs coming through, and they are important to appreciate the character of Edward and to understand why his unique abilities are looked down upon.

 I chose this movie because it would represent Tim Burton as a auteur where he sees the vision and the imagination comes to life and putting it up on the pictures, with all his methods and skills he surely made the movies entertaining for family and children and not make it scary but more of a gothic and fantasy.