Analysis of Mise-en-Scene

in Edward Scissorhands

Kieron Barrett & Joanne

Lamberti
 Introduction – Why Edward
Scissorhands?
 Itfollows a classic narrative structure
and is therefore easy to understand
as a ‘mainstream’ viewer (decoder).

 There is obvious use of conventional

codes and a ‘signature’ twist
(common in Tim Burtons films) which
allows us to apply the term ‘auteur’
 Plan of Action!
Aspects Analysed
Analysis Scene 1
Common theories/debates
applied
Analysis Scene 2
 Aspects Analysed
 Camera angles
 Props
 Lighting
 Mood
 Verisimilitude
 Characters
 Theories/Concepts Applied
Throughout:
 Binary Oppositions – Levi Strauss
 Signifier/signified - Saussure
 Denotation/connotation/myth -
Barthes
 ‘Otherness’ – Bahktin
 German Expressionism (chiaroscuro
lighting, abstract shapes etc…)
 ‘Auteur’ debate
Just some examples of other VERY
similar Burton characters…
 Tim Burton describes
Vincent Price as an
inspiration in many
ways in his book ‘Burton
on Burton’.
For this reason, it could
be argued that the cogs
in the background are
symbolic in the way of
thought process
For example!
•That Vincent Price
influenced Tim Burtons
ideas
OR EVEN!
•Vincent Price’s character
contemplating breathing
life into a machine