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Tim Burton's Use Of Flashback In Edward Scissorhands

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Tim Burton is an extraordinary film director of playful yet frightening movies that revolve around a character that is different from the rest. In a Burton movie, the audience will find most characters wearing bright colors with an almost perfect life. However, the character that experiences a significant and prominent adventure is often the protagonist who is different than the other characters, based on their dark and eerie past. Burton is able to smoothly transition from a joyous mood, to a suspicious and creepy mood. For example, Edward Scissorhands is a story about a man named Edward, who has scissors for hands and is brought into the “real world” for the first time in his life. Big Fish focuses on the unbelievable and incredible stories …show more content…

Burton manipulates shots/framing, editing, and music/sound to enhance the perspective of the audience and give them a meaningful and relevant story.
Tim Burton utilizes editing to connect and amplify his story plot and present a significant and important moment with the characters. Burton accomplishes this with flashbacks. Burton uses a flashback smoothly in Edward Scissorhands. When Edward hesitates to hug Kim, but finally has the courage to do so, a flashback intrudes the scene to signal the audience the reason as to why Edward is so shy. The flashback sets a sorrowful and heartbroken mood after Edward’s father, The Inventor, dies suddenly. The audience experiences the grief Edward has, through a dark flashback and conveys Edward’s connection and affection to Kim. During the flashback, Burton also uses eye-line match when Edward looks at the broken hands on the floor after The Inventor dies. The broken hands demonstrate the damage that Edward has received. Edward’s reaction to his ruined present reveals his innocence to the tragedy. Because Edward could not comprehend what has taken place, the audience feels sympathy for Edward’s …show more content…

The use of music/sound annotate the mood and help create the feeling that Burton is trying to deliver to the audience. Burton adds tranquility to his films with non-diegetic sound in Edward Scissorhands. When Peg enters through the gates of a dark, sinister looking mansion, she unexpectedly finds herself in a beautiful garden with bushes that have creative and incredible designs. After Peg notices the decorative garden she is standing in, nice calming music plays in the background. The sound of the angelic and harmonious chorus relates to the peaceful and serene garden. The music notifies the audience that although the mansion looks terrifying, the beautiful garden indicates the contrast between the two. This gives the audience a sense of tranquility as Peg reaches the door. However, once Peg enters the mansion, Burton returns to the eerie and creepy non-diegetic sounds. The chorus begins to get louder while repeating the same beat to add tension and anticipation on what will happen to Peg. With the help of the piano, Burton establishes the new frightening mood after creating a cheerful mood. Peg’s adventure to the mansion is much more exciting for the audience, with the use of non-diegetic sound. Burton utilizes music/sound in Big Fish as well. When Edward takes a shortcut to Spectre through an odd looking path in the woods, Edward suddenly finds trouble along the way. Burton

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