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Tim Burton is one of the most extravagant directors in Hollywood. His films are easy to recognize in 10 seconds by their characteristic characters, pictures, colors. This is an example of a story where individuality allows you to succeed, enter a major film distribution and collaborate with great actors.
The lead role in Edward Scissorhands can be considered one of the milestones in the early career of Johnny Depp. The film itself is a gem in Burton’s film library. That is what we will be talking about today.
Image: neoclassica.ruThis is another text of a permanent column in which I analyze the work with color, light and framing in cinema. The previous one can be read here.
For those who care: there may be spoilers in the text
COLOR
The film revolves around the fate of Edward. The character was created by a scientist who lives in a secluded house on a mountain. On opposition, Burton builds the entire drama of the plot, including with the help of color.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonEdward is alone, abandoned, he is inside a huge house as if in exile. Below was a city of brightly colored houses, gossiping housewives and children’s laughter. The director created a contrast between these two worlds with the help of color.
Edward’s world is dark, gloomy, painted in blue tones. This color is often associated with lonely, renounced characters who are opposed to the rest. The motley palette of the antagonist city also works on the archetype: the city and the characters themselves are bright, but empty inside.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonThe further the story unfolds, the more obvious the double bottom becomes. Everyone wants something from the hero of Johnny Depp: to make a hairdresser, use it for their own purposes, get it as a lover or as a partner in crime. But no one asks what Edward himself wants. Almost Chekhov’s play.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonDespite the colorful shades in the frame, Burton skillfully arranges them, playing on the field of classic combinations. Including due to the items and clothes of the heroes: here is green with red, here is turquoise with pink, yellow with purple, etc. Special attention deserves a couple of housewives of the town, who are in the frame in multi-colored outfits. Again confirmation of the hypothesis above.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonCuriously, Peg, who finds Edward, also wears bright clothes at the beginning of the film. But the further the plot goes, the closer Depp’s character gets to know her family, the more the director uses the colors of the costumes, emphasizing the difference between these people and the bulk of the townspeople. See for yourself, in many scenes Peg, her husband, children are all in plain light clothes. No fancy colors. They even dress Edward himself in a plain white shirt and plain trousers.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonA few more interesting scenes are lined up on a palette of the same color. They are also a rare exception when Peg is wearing bright outfits: in one scene the frame is tinted in a pistachio shade to match her shirt, in another the red stretches through clothes, Christmas decorations and lights, and in the last the red color of her dress is in harmony with the orange fire in the fireplace. . Take note of such a monochrome trick with color stretching along the plane of the frame: not only exposed light can play with shades, but also characters and details in the frame.
Frame from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonOne of the final scenes deserves special attention. Burton framed Winona Ryder’s character in radiant white. It seems that not only did she not belong to this world of Chekhov’s caricatured characters, but she was the only one who really felt Depp’s hero and fell in love with him. The white color of her dress is almost like a ray of light in the scene of the dark house on the hill.
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES
Tim Burton is a non-conformist filmmaker. You should not expect from him the constant filming of the dialogue of the eight, which can be found in mainstream cinema. He also does not have a contrasting light in a close-up to emphasize the emotion of the character. In a word, there is not everything that can be seen in mass films. But there is a lot to learn in Edward Scissorhands: the director uses a couple of interesting visual tricks that are definitely worth paying attention to. Perhaps again with a double bottom clause?
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonBurton plays on the opposition “colorful city — Edward’s lonely house on the mountain” not only at the expense of colors. Pay attention to the plans that appear in the frame when the viewer sees the town. A minimum of details, monochrome, different shades and shapes. It can be assumed that this is an Easter egg, strengthening the image of the inhabitants of the town. They are multi-colored, colorful, but all empty, with a minimum of detail inside. And Edward’s house is much more diverse, and all the intricate figures of plants or ice are his work.
Photos: matthias-heiderich.de
Photo: matthias-heiderich.deSpecific frames were chosen not only to confirm this hypothesis. From a visual point of view, such a picture would ideally fit into a selection of shootings of architectural minimalism. There is a whole line of photographers who work in this style. Suffice it to recall Mattias Hadris. His works are an indicator that such forms can be found not only in the scenery of the film.
Frame from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim Burton
Paintings by Edward Hopper. Source: Losko.ruAnd from the category of hypotheses. The evening scene on the street of the town may well be an homage (a tribute in art) to the paintings of Edward Hopper. And even if the director himself did not mean this, then what is not proof that it is possible to competently shoot in the style of the work of this or that artist, without repeating specific pictures.
Frame from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim Burton
Scenes from the films of Quentin Tarantino. Source: virtudesvirtuais.wordpress.comAnother Easter homage lies in the scene at the bank. The operator does not take the most typical angle from the bottom up, and above the heads of the heroes, the sign “Bank” symbolically flaunts. Almost a joke about Bonnie and Clyde or some typical scene with a similar angle from Tarantino’s crime films.
Frame from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonAmong Burton’s techniques in the film there are also well-known lighting schemes. So, for example, backlight from the headlights of a car, which is directed at the hero. It is not very easy to work with the light in the lens, but it is with its help that you can beautifully outline the profile of a person and catch beautiful glare in the lens. Keep it in mind for future shoots! And if your shooting in this style is also on an anamorphic lens, then you will get the most cinematic picture.
Stills from the movie “Edward Scissorhands”, 1990. Director: Tim BurtonAnother massive technique that can be found in the film is the game of plans. A well-constructed shot looks much stronger if you have worked out both the foreground and the background. It is not necessary that the heroes of the shooting or people in general are on the plans. You can play with any details in the frame, including them in a visual game. Signboards, inscriptions, architectural forms or topiary trees.
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