Tim Burton Themes

Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands tells the story of an unusual outsider who is shunned by society due to his physical appearance and unique abilities. Through his character and story, Burton reveals the positives and negatives of being an outsider, highlighting the beauty of individuality while also shedding light on the isolation and discrimination that can come with it. On one hand, Edward's "outsiderness" is what makes him so special and endearing to those who get to know him. His ability to create beautiful, intricate sculptures with his scissorhands is a testament to his creative genius and artistic talent.

Edward Scissorhands is about an animated human, created by a genius, who falls in love with a young beautiful girl, but struggles finding a way to express himself. Then he is soon shunned and becomes an outcast due to his strange hands, which are actually tons of sharp objects. There are many factors that contribute to Tim Burton’s cinematic way of an artistic style. Burton’s unique style is brought into play by his exploitation of bizarre costuming, eerie lighting, and subsequent editing.

The film Edward Scissorhands, directed by Tim Burton, follows the life of a man created with scissors for hands. He is taken into society by Peg, a friendly townsperson. The film highlights the challenges Edward faces as he tries to fit into society. To convey the themes of this movie, acceptance and love, different film techniques are used.

The film Edward Scissorhands, takes place in a suburban neighborhood with colorful houses and stereotypical neighbors who like to gossip about each other. While Edward is often given the impression that he is frightening and threatening because of his appearance, he uses his cursed hands as one his assets by grooming people’s hair and trimming down people’s plants into sculptures. Growing up, Tim Burton knew he had a creative mind and felt as though he was always misunderstood by others. Author Lynn Hirschberg expresses, “Burton has the manner of a precocious teenager who has spent a great deal of time happily alone.” As a kid, he did not have many friends and felt like an outcast (Hirschberg).

Tim burton, renowned for his incorporation of gothic styling into many of his films, throughs characters and themes to establish his noticeable signature in his films. In, Frankenweenie and Edward Scissorhands, the use of socially incompatible characters, unique identity traits, and contrasting a life of one that has conformed gives the both film a gothic identity with a sense of german expressionism tim burton autuer. Burton does this in order to communicate his thoughts on conformity and to

Tim Burton has used many stylistic techniques to give the audience an eerie and out of place feeling. For example in the film Edward Scissorhands, Tim makes suburban life look boring and pointless to the naked eye. In the film, the neighborhood appears plain and boring, filled with homes painted minty green or butter yellow. The castle where Edward thrived for years upon years is full of dust and spider webs as if the building hadn't been touched in years. We see these same style traits in the film Alice In Wonderland.

Tim Burton uses his mysterious and creepy characteristics and expressed it through his film Edward Scissorhands Burton uses his unique style of editing that helps understand the main character’s, Edward’s, background. In comparison with the editing the sound helps understand the meaning of certain part such as the suspense of what would happen to Edward in the end. The costuming was a peculiar choice, it shows how in the town there was a lot of colors, but, Edward wore an all black steam punk like clothing showing how he was different. Therefore Tim Burton’s character, Edward, is a somewhat reflection of himself. Like Burton he has an imagination in order to create “art”, and the style of clothing is alike to that of Burton’s.

What does director Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), directed by Kenneth Branagh, have in common— a mutual underlying story; but their differences are what makes their tales all the more special. Edward Scissorhands is a retelling of Frankenstein, but with a slight twist. In Edward’s case instead of lacking companionship like Frankenstein’s monster, he lacks hands; and is received rather well by the surrounding community. Ironically, in both tales the characters share the same desire to be love; this ignites the question – why do humans want to be love? Are we only important as we are loved?

Tim Burton uses camera movements, camera angles, and sound in Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to create the right mood for the audience to feel. Creating the right mood allows the audience to connect to the movie and to be intrigued by the movie. In Edward Scissorhands, Burton uses camera movements to create a sad mood. In a flashback, the camera moves with the inventor, who made Edward, as he takes Edward's hands out of a box and walks over to Edward before he dies, without getting to put Edward's real hands on.

Springboard’s purpose is to explain how Tim Burton’s films were influenced by and the meanings behind his work in order to make the readers understand

Examples of this are seen in the case of why Willy Wonka became a candy maker, why Batman became the vigilante that he is and why Sweeny Todd is as disturbed as he is. Camera styles that Burton often uses are wide shots and close ups. He uses high angle tracking shots that glide and weave through the environment to show the settings as seen in Beetlejuice and Batman. He also uses cameras attached to a crane, dolly or Steadicam devices.

Well-respected, director Tim Burton has always been credited for the uniqueness of his many films. He has directed, produced, and written many classic films in his life, and there is no doubt he will make any more. Often influenced by Edgar Allen Poe, Dr. Seuss, and Vincent Price, Burton’s films are regularly remakes of well-known tales, reimagined as twisted with dark spins. His films Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Edward Scissorhands all demonstrate how one of a kind his screenplays are. Though Burton uses many meaningful cinematic techniques across these films, his use of lighting stands out.

“Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?” - (Tim Burton) Burton was a very creative director, making odd and different movies to give a eerie and suspenseful mood towards his audience. Along with the mood brought with it, he always created an outsider to his movies to indicate a certain theme.

Throughout his life in making films, Tim Burton has shown his unique talent and vision. He proceeds taking advantage of the cinematic techniques; lighting, sound, and camera movements creating a certain mood/tone. These three techniques are used numerous of times for the duration of each film. Although, many various emotions are constructed, there are feelings that anyone may connect to. Tim Burton is a successful filmmaker and has inspired many with the use of his cinematic techniques.

Tim Burton’s distinct style became evident in his very first films and stayed clear in his later film, while the plot of Burton’s films vary greatly his style stays pronounced. This can be seen across his many movies from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, “Vincent”, and “Frankenweenie”. In all of these films his distinct style is developed through the use of a strong contrast of high and low key lighting to show contrast between characters and circumstances, a recurring motif of mobs antagonizing the antagonist, and the frequent use of shot reverse shots to show the development of the relationship between the outsider and the people on the inside. With the use of a contrast between high and low-key lighting, a recurring mob motif, and the use of shot-reverse-shots Tim Burton develops his hopelessly bleak style. One of the most evident cinematic techniques that Tim Burton uses to develop his hopelessly bleak style is the use of a strong contrast of high and low-key lighting or colors.