Edward Scissorhands Recap Task (SPOILERS)
Edward Scissorhands recap task
Todorov's theory of narrative development (NARRATIVE)
Todorov's theory is a linear storyline. Todorov's theory has about 5 steps:
1) The equilibrium, in Edward Scissorhands the equilibrium is a perfect town with all the same house and everyone wears about the same clothes, and everything is how it normally is.
2) The disruption, in this film the disruption is Edward coming into the families life and entering to town. Edward is different so he's not excepted and he does cause as bit of chaos by being new.
3) the realisation, the people of the town realise Edward is different and try to help him but some people use him and things take a dark turn quite quickly and the police and the people try to arrest him or send him back to his house upon the hill.
4) restored order, Edward is sent up to the house but Jim try's to kill him and Jim ends up getting killed and everyone is scared of Edward and he lives alone in the house.
5) The new equilibrium, everyone is aware of Edward but yet he never comes out of his house and whenever it's winter/ Christmas it never used to snow and every year there is snow coming from Edwards window.
The clip above is the scene I'm using to explain the mise en scene, cinematography, editing and sound. It's often referred to as the 'Ice dance scene'.
Mise en scene:
This scene is set in Kim's back garden of her house in this town she's helping hanging up Christmas lights upon the house. Kim has natural make up and an angle like styled hair to show she is very angelic and graceful. Kim also has ice shavings falling gently around her and on her hair and face, this creates a halo look on the top of her head. Kim has the big eyes and plump lips, narrow nose which a lot of people say is 'the perfect features'. However Edward has scares all over his face and very messy black hair. Edwards make up is very pale face with very dark lips, a purple colour. His hair looks like it’s never been brushed or combed, it also is very ruffled looking. Kim's costume is basic she is wearing a white satin (or silk) dress. I think the reason for Kim wearing a white dress is to show she is innocent and very angelic and what Edward sees as an angle. Edward is wearing the clothes Peg (the mum) had given him. As Edward is making the ice sculpture of an angle his clothes he’s wearing slowly start to come off (not all the way) to show his true self and the guy Kim fell in love with. Jim is seen wearing a black leather jacket and his style is edgy, biker look and he looks like a bully. Jim and Edward's costume is very dark and 'bad boy look'. in terms of props the beginning of this scene Kim is unpacking Christmas decorations. Edward is standing on a ladder to make the ice sculpture. I think the director, Tim Burton, did this to show people he has gained more respect from the people of the town. In the back garden there is a bush carefully shaped into the family Edward is staying with, also outside of there garden is other masterpieces Edward has created. There’s also houses with decorations and street lights to give this scene some extra light. The scissors on Edward hands seem to be scary and frightening but they produce something incredible, an angel I think Tim Burton did this to show not to judge people by there appearances also think Edward does an angel because it reminds him of Kim. When Kim is inside the light is artificial. At the beginning when Kim is unpacking Christmas decorations the lighting is light then as she walks into the doorway is goes dark until she’s outside, this makes it look like she’s gone into a different place where there’s everything different; for example, it’s snowing and it had never snowed before. When Kim is dancing she has a really faint white line appears around her, to show the angle Edward sees her as. There’s Christmas lights hanging up around the house, this adds colour and extra light to the scene.Kim dances and smiles to show she’s happy and comfortable around Edward. When the ice shavings fall down onto her hand this makes her look graceful. Edward is trimming his sculpture quickly to show he is very talented and doesn't need to go slowly. Edwards facial expressions show he is really concentrating. When Jim comes along and all the soft gracefulness goes and aggression starts.
Cinematography:
the cinematography is all about how the camera works. In this scene there is a lot of panning shots to make Kim look elegant and made her look like she's spinning around or it looks like 'she makes the world go round'. There is a lot of close ups to really focus on the emotion of the character the camera angles are also either eye level or low angle so the audience is looking up at therm. Especially when Edward is on the ladder.
Editing
The editing is fairly simple. It's just cutting from Edward to Kim and maybe to the ice sculpture. It creates a magical affect as you have non diegetic sound edited overt the top.
Sound
the sound is non diegetic so the actors cant hear it and it's only been edited in over the top. The song is an instrumental piece other than an actual song.
All these things add up to a very magical scene for these two characters and create a lovely meaning for the audience to watch. It creates a nice atmosphere or the two extremely different characters falling in love and it's just very special.
Apply these theories to the whole film:
- Laura Mulvey - male gaze (REPRESENTATION)
- Henry Jenkins - genre constantly breaking the rules (GENRE)
- Blumer and Katz - Uses and gratification theory (AUDIENCE)
- Todorov's theory of narrative development (NARRATIVE)
In Edward Scissorhands the representation of age is the young teens (Jim) wears a black leather jacket and does what he wants when he wants and he also is rebellious and he is horrible to Edward. However the mum is more accepting to Edward and wears colourful clothing and takes pity on him. The dad he is into the idea of Edward staying with them but he tolerates it. Kim is scared at first and does judge him but she becomes more accepting as time goes on.
I personally think the genre of Edward Scissorhands is a fantasy as it's not real and it could also be a romance as of the story of Kim and Edward falling in love and their story.
Laura Mulvey - male gaze (REPRESENTATION)
Laura Mulvey has a theory based on the fact that females are seen as objects and often not the hero or they are not very smart. Mulvey changed that by her theory of equality and that the males aren't always the hero's and that females can be hero's and that the males need the females. In most of the film Kim is shown as a pretty young girl with a boyfriend who is over confident and fears of loosing kim as he wants to be popular and have a pretty girlfriend. half way through the film Kim starts to have feelings for Edward and not her boyfriend Jim. This links to the theory because its all about the males being more dominate than females.
Henry Jenkins - genre constantly breaking the rules (GENRE)
Edward Scissorhands I don't think it breaks the rules and it's a fantasy romance and I don't question it.
Blumer and Katz - Uses and gratification theory (AUDIENCE)
This theory is about how it makes the audience feel when their watching the film. I personally didn't feel much emotion as it wasn't my type of film but my friend Carys felt sorry for Edward when watching the film and she was relived when Jim died because he was the bad guy but she still didn't think he should have died even though it was good for the film.
Todorov's theory is a linear storyline. Todorov's theory has about 5 steps:
1) The equilibrium, in Edward Scissorhands the equilibrium is a perfect town with all the same house and everyone wears about the same clothes, and everything is how it normally is.
2) The disruption, in this film the disruption is Edward coming into the families life and entering to town. Edward is different so he's not excepted and he does cause as bit of chaos by being new.
3) the realisation, the people of the town realise Edward is different and try to help him but some people use him and things take a dark turn quite quickly and the police and the people try to arrest him or send him back to his house upon the hill.
4) restored order, Edward is sent up to the house but Jim try's to kill him and Jim ends up getting killed and everyone is scared of Edward and he lives alone in the house.
5) The new equilibrium, everyone is aware of Edward but yet he never comes out of his house and whenever it's winter/ Christmas it never used to snow and every year there is snow coming from Edwards window.
The clip above is the scene I'm using to explain the mise en scene, cinematography, editing and sound. It's often referred to as the 'Ice dance scene'.
Mise en scene:
This scene is set in Kim's back garden of her house in this town she's helping hanging up Christmas lights upon the house. Kim has natural make up and an angle like styled hair to show she is very angelic and graceful. Kim also has ice shavings falling gently around her and on her hair and face, this creates a halo look on the top of her head. Kim has the big eyes and plump lips, narrow nose which a lot of people say is 'the perfect features'. However Edward has scares all over his face and very messy black hair. Edwards make up is very pale face with very dark lips, a purple colour. His hair looks like it’s never been brushed or combed, it also is very ruffled looking. Kim's costume is basic she is wearing a white satin (or silk) dress. I think the reason for Kim wearing a white dress is to show she is innocent and very angelic and what Edward sees as an angle. Edward is wearing the clothes Peg (the mum) had given him. As Edward is making the ice sculpture of an angle his clothes he’s wearing slowly start to come off (not all the way) to show his true self and the guy Kim fell in love with. Jim is seen wearing a black leather jacket and his style is edgy, biker look and he looks like a bully. Jim and Edward's costume is very dark and 'bad boy look'. in terms of props the beginning of this scene Kim is unpacking Christmas decorations. Edward is standing on a ladder to make the ice sculpture. I think the director, Tim Burton, did this to show people he has gained more respect from the people of the town. In the back garden there is a bush carefully shaped into the family Edward is staying with, also outside of there garden is other masterpieces Edward has created. There’s also houses with decorations and street lights to give this scene some extra light. The scissors on Edward hands seem to be scary and frightening but they produce something incredible, an angel I think Tim Burton did this to show not to judge people by there appearances also think Edward does an angel because it reminds him of Kim. When Kim is inside the light is artificial. At the beginning when Kim is unpacking Christmas decorations the lighting is light then as she walks into the doorway is goes dark until she’s outside, this makes it look like she’s gone into a different place where there’s everything different; for example, it’s snowing and it had never snowed before. When Kim is dancing she has a really faint white line appears around her, to show the angle Edward sees her as. There’s Christmas lights hanging up around the house, this adds colour and extra light to the scene.Kim dances and smiles to show she’s happy and comfortable around Edward. When the ice shavings fall down onto her hand this makes her look graceful. Edward is trimming his sculpture quickly to show he is very talented and doesn't need to go slowly. Edwards facial expressions show he is really concentrating. When Jim comes along and all the soft gracefulness goes and aggression starts.
Cinematography:
the cinematography is all about how the camera works. In this scene there is a lot of panning shots to make Kim look elegant and made her look like she's spinning around or it looks like 'she makes the world go round'. There is a lot of close ups to really focus on the emotion of the character the camera angles are also either eye level or low angle so the audience is looking up at therm. Especially when Edward is on the ladder.
Editing
The editing is fairly simple. It's just cutting from Edward to Kim and maybe to the ice sculpture. It creates a magical affect as you have non diegetic sound edited overt the top.
Sound
the sound is non diegetic so the actors cant hear it and it's only been edited in over the top. The song is an instrumental piece other than an actual song.
All these things add up to a very magical scene for these two characters and create a lovely meaning for the audience to watch. It creates a nice atmosphere or the two extremely different characters falling in love and it's just very special.
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