"Edward Scissorhands"- Background for Oral Part 1: Historical and Sociocultural Context

Institutional factors as a production of Tim Burton that may be important are that Burton is known for creating dark characters, which creates the look of Edward and where he lives.

The film's significance as a document of its time is that in the 1980s people started supporting gay rights and AIDS was first discovered in the early 1980s. This relates to the film because Edward was seen as an outsider at first, but people started to accept him as being different, like how gay people were rejected, but people started accepting them as equals. Also, he has a deformity that leads him to disaster when he hurts Kevin and kills Jim, much like how AIDS destroyed its victims.

The film's historical significance as a part of history of film is that Edward is, as Entertainment Weekly put it, "Pinocchio with Freddy Krueger's hands" with his inventor (Vincent Price) as "Gepetto." Edward can be taken form many different characters because, despite being artificial, he is as gentle and curious as a little boy. However, he has the potential of the well-known villain Freddy, which many people (e.g. Jim) indirectly associate him with despite his Pinnochio-like personality. It also relates strongly to the established scary castles in old horror films. It fits in with Edward's past, but is ironic when we discover what Edward is really like. Nevertheless, the sight of the scary castle brings up memories of old villains like Dracula. Also, there is the '60s style "pastel" neighborhood that can be incorporated into its place in film history because the 60s was known as a "cultural revolution" (Wikipedia). It demonstrates the "revolution" Edward experiences as he moves from his "gothic" (EW) castle to the bright, colorful neighborhood.

America was still undergoing sociocultural changes in 1990 with the supporting of gay rights and their incorporation into society. For example, on October 27, 1990, Congress repealed a law prohibiting gays form being admitted into the US (Wikipedia). This relates to Edward because he remained an outcast for who knows how long, but Peg "admits" him into her home despite his differences.

The cultural aspect of this film can be summed up as being lively and colorful. This pertains to the socio-cultural context because Edward is the one person who has to try especially hard to become one with society and the colorful culture, like how gay people had trouble integrating into society and joining its culture. Becoming one with a colorful culture is especially difficult given Edward's potential dangerousness and his scarred, pale appearance, like how gay people had a secret that some people wouldn't accept.

Burton got the idea for the film from his childhood in suburban Burbank (Wikipedia). This specific part of society is full of middle-class/high-class folks. Perhaps Burton's past can relate to Edward because he felt like an outcast. Burton revealed that his parents bricked up his windows as a child, so he had only a slit to look through (femalefirst). According to "The Independent: UK" parent spent 3 times less as much time with their children in the 1970s (Burton's preteens/teens), so this would make children very lonely if they had no friends, like Edward before he finds Peg. This further relates to a specific part of society in 1990 because Edward never learned to go outside and make friends since his father figure was absent.

The film's sociocultural context as a work made for a specific audience is that there are so many people who are never noticed because they have no friends or are too shy to integrate into a gossip-filled and loud culture. This film would connect to them since Edward goes through the same situation, but he begins to find a place for himself as he becomes less shy. It may also be for those who are well-integrated into society because then they can see and recognize the other side of the story.

The sociocultural context as a work made for a specific reason is that there are always those living outside of the mainstream culture and as an average member of society, such as gay people who are just beginning to get used to integrating with everyone else. The reason it was made was to demonstrate that there is beauty in the most unexpected people, and it represents the context that some people begin to stop judging them, and at least get to know them first.

Jenna Fontaine and Jenevieve Rantisi: Sound Design- Short Film Treatment

Let Me In...title still in progress

Log-line: A girl who is home alone becomes a victim of her own mind when she hears a strange voice beckoning her to “let go of the fear.”

General Flow/Scipt:

The screen is black. We hear a furious tapping noise. Then there is a hand, white against a dark table and casting a shadow. We see a multitude of fast angles, but never the face of the person whom the hand belongs to. The tapping stops, and the camera lands on a girl’s face. We see a close up of the girl’s face, with wild eyes searching. We hear her thoughts: She left me for one night. Just one night...

We see a full shot of

Girl: the small, dark room she is in.

...And now I’m here. Now I’m here...

There is a dull office with a man at a desk sitting across from a woman. The man looks tired and is dressed in a suit. The woman looks distraught and her eyes are looking into space.

Girl: ...At least it’s quiet now.

The man is writing on a piece of paper. He looks up.

Detective: [bored tone] What were you doing while your daughter was at home?

After a moment, the detective coughs. We see the lady close up jerking her head to look at him.

Woman: I left her for one night...

We zoom in all the way into the girl’s eye. We still hear the tapping

Woman: ...Just one night.

We zoom out of a clock set at an evening time and track over to the same woman preparing to leave a house. There is a still soft tapping of the girl’s hand on a table in the background.

Woman: I know I don’t usually go out at night, but work’s been so hectic. I really need a break.

Girl: It’s alright, Mom. I understand.

Mom: Are you sure? I know how you feel about being home alone at night.

Girl: [whispers] It’s alright.

Mom: [sigh] Okay. Hey I’ll order you a pizza! Just cheese?

She puts some money on the banister.

Girl: [quietly] Thanks. [frantic whisper] Lock the door!

Mom: Will do. Love you!

The girl, fear in her eyes, nods in reply. We hear the mother’s footsteps going down a flight of stairs as we linger on the girl’s face. She walks over to the top of the stairs when it closes, listening. She hears the deadbolt click and smiles a bit.

She is sitting cross-legged on a couch with all three lights on. She is absorbed in the television, but her expression is neutral. She jumps at the sound of some people chatting next door. She shakes her head and returns to the TV. Then there is an unintelligible whisper. The girl sighs and turns up the volume on the TV. But the loudness of the whispering dominates the TV. She presses mute, and the whispering stops.

The girls face twists in confusion and she turns off the TV. She gets up and walks over to the next room, a dark portion of the house. The whispering continues.

Voice: [voice of girl, distorted] Come. Come. Let the fear go and be free. It’s easy.

The girl turns on the light, but the voice stops. She turns it off again and the voice starts again, repeating the previous lines. The girl steps out into the dark room and continues, looking for the source.

Girl: [franticly] Mom. Mom! Is that you? Stop it and come out.

Voice: Forget about Mom. You don’t need her. Just come. Come. Let the fear go. Let me in and be free. It’s easy.

The girl runs to her room, turns on the light, and locks the door behind her. The voice begins to overlap. She sits in the corner, eyes shut, hands over her ears, rocking back and forth.

Girl: [frantic whisper]: Shut up. Shut up! [she begins to cry] Shut up! Shut up! Shu...

There is a loud knock on the door. The girl jerks up, alert. The whispers stop. Then there is a single whisper.

Voice: Just do it! Stop the fear for once.

The girl, neutral-faced, stands up, goes into another bedroom, opens a drawer, takes out a gun (fake no worries!) and walks slowly to the door, hand trembling. She slowly turns the deadbolt, opens the door, points the gun at the pizza man,

Voice: Let me in and be free.

Pizza man: Hey, wha...

Bang bang. The girl smiles madly.

Girl: [distorted voice] See, it’s easy.

Zoom in to the girl’s wild eye.

Zoom out of her eye in the dark room again. The girl is still tapping furiously.

Voice: You thought I’d gone. [tapping stops] Wrong. You live your life in fear, so I’m taking it.

Girl: [desperate]: Leave me alone!

Girl: [distorted voice]: [chuckle] Never.

The girl smiles madly. Fade to black.

Sound Design plays and important role in the development of the conflict/character because the distorted voice is what leads the girl to go crazy and kill. The interior monologue is also meant to give a sense of intrigue. It is important to the setting because the girl is alone in the house and the dark room. The subtext is emphasized with the italicised words as well as the captions, especially with the frantic whispering that demonstrates the girl’s fear. We will have foley sound effects for the pen scratching, the deadbolt locking, some of the tapping, the TV, the distant chattering, and the (fake!) gun going off. The rhythmic match will be associated with the opening shots when we see the girl at different angles, but not her face. The sound bridge will be used a few times, such as when we hear the girl finishing her thought in the beginning when the girl says “At least it’s quiet now,” when the mom says “Just one night,” and the tapping noise during flashbacks/forwards. The most obvious leitmotif is the evil twin’s voice. We also associate her with the tapping of her hand because of her anxiety. When there is tapping, we know it’s the “good” girl, but otherwise we depend on the distorted voice to know for sure she’s not. Music will also be added to accompany the different personalities: evil or good. For example, sad music will fade in after we are shown the first shot, but during the very last shot there will be dark music. That will be added in the 2-column script (dialogue was just really important, so we put it in the general flow).

"Edward Scissorhands"- Oral Component Part 1: Genre and Audience

This film can be placed in both the fantasy and romance genres. One feature that contributes to the fantasy genre is the music. It is orchestrated, often with a choir of voices singing enchanted tunes. Sometimes it is fast-paced and high-pitched (at 3:04), but at others it is slow and child-oriented (here's the main theme). It can even be thought of as sad when associated with images of Edward (Johnny Depp). Sometimes it is quiet and simple, and others it is loud and actually really breath-taking (two thumbs up to composer Danny Elfman). Another feature demonstrating the fantasy genre is the character of Edward. He was invented, and instead of having hands, he has scissors. Also, the opening and closing scenes show that it's snowing because of Edward carving ice blocks, but it is impssible to generate that much snow form a block of ice and send it all the way from the castle to the town next to the mountain. Therefore, it is fantasy. It is also a romance because edward falls in love with Peg's (Dianne West) daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder). The music also suggests this with the song "A Portrait of Kim," which is hear din the scene when Edward first sees the aforementioned portraits of Kim. Toward the end of the film, Kim tells Edward that she loves him, but they can't be together because he is linked with injury of Kim's brother, Kevin, and the murder Kim's ex-boyfriend, Jim.

It can be connected to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" because like Edward the Beast is isolated from society at first and not particularly pleasing to look at, but like Kim, Belle falls in love with him anyway. Also, there are Gaston in Jim, who both supposedly love Belle and Kim, and both Gaston and Jim die in the end because they try to kill the Beast and Edward, respectively. However, "Beauty and the Beast" has a happier ending because in "Edward Scissorhands," Edward returns to isolation and never sees Kim again while in "Beauty and the Beast," Belle and the Beast get married. The movies can also relate to the fantasy genre because the characters of Edward and the Beast are both impossible.

Tim Burton produced, directed, and wrote (with Caroline Thompson) the movie. Tim Burton may have made this film because of how personal it is. It is all about how people begin to accept him, but the only one aside form Peg who really cares about him and never doubts his motives is Kim. It is definitely one of Burton's most emotionally captivating films.

Tim Burton can be associated with many dark fantasies, such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Batman Returns," "Corpse Bride," and "Beetlejuice," so we can tell that Burton enjoys child-friendly stories with a dark twist to them. Therefore, this movie fits well with his other work. There are certainly significant similarities in theme and narrative. For example, in "Corpse Bride," a woman's (Helena Bonham Carter) fiance is killed on her wedding day. Years later, when a groom (Johnny Depp) is preparing his wedding vows, he puts the ring on a branch, which is really the corpse bride's finger. When they go to her home down below, she is so excited that she is finally married, and the man finally accepts her as a friend. However, he has his real marriage to worry about. She sadly lets him go. This relates to "Edward Scissorhands" because she is different from the world above, but the man sees her for who she really is. She and Edward both led tragic lives, but everything turns out fine for them in the end, even though they can' have what, or who, they sought to get."Corpse Bride" is animated, while "Edward Scossorhands" is not, but I do see a visual similarity in that the corpse bride and Edward are both pale, but dark and scarred in appearance. There is also a similarity in the style of music, which is orchestrated once again by the fabulous Danny Elfman. It is fast-paced at times, such as when the corpse bride is chasing the groom, and slow and sad at other times, such as when the groom rejects her as his wife.

The theme of "Edward Scissorhands" is that a a misunderstood man falls in love with a woman he can't be with because he is different, even though he is very gentlemanly, kind, and innocent.

The target audience includes teenagers, older children/preteens, and young adults. However, even adults may enjoy its whimsical charm and brilliant score. It addresses the audience with the sweet character of Edward, the fairy-tale-like music. the magical ice and hedge sculptures,

the occasional humor as Edward tries to fit in with society (here's one of the funny scenes), and the drama between Edward, the town's citizens, Jim, and Kim.

Sources: google (images), youtube (see links), IMDB, The Tim Burton Collective, and my memory.