FACULTY OF ARTISTIC AND

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY

FILM THEORY AND APPRECIATION

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

NAME : NURUL FARAHAIN BINTI ABDUL JALIL

NO MATRIC : 2009839598

PROGRAM : CT 227

COURSE : CTS 463

LECTURE : MR. KHONG KOK WAI

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE OF FILM EDWARD SCISSORHAND

A film that was like a fairy tale that lies somewhere between a retelling of Frankenstein and Pinocchio. Directed by a famous German Expressionism director Tim Burton. A Tim Burton’s Dark Gothic Fairy Tale and a romantic fantasy film, Edward Scissorhands. The tale about Edward played by Johnny Depp, a lonely man with scissors for hand it was crafted by an eccentric inventor played by Vincent Price. Unfortunately, before Edward was about getting a new human hand his creator died. After Edward witnesses the dead of his creator he stays locked away inside his mansion all day, which is located atop the otherwise cheerfully picture-perfect local neighborhood community. The story start with an elderly was getting her granddaughter to sleep, instead going to sleep her granddaughter asking her a question that is why is their place is snowing and where did the snow come from. As the granddaughter persuade asking the grandmother the story has begin. The grandmother explain where the snow come from by telling the story about a lonely man named Edward. The story visualize with the arial shot showing a cheerful town and an established shot showing an old castle after that a over the shoulder shot showing a man was starring at the cheerful town with the sad atmosphere.

This film are clearly show that its story had its own set of narrative. Its begin when a local Avon saleswoman Peg Bogs played by Dianne Wiest fail to sell her company product to her suburban neighborhood, after getting in to the car Peg Bogs notice there is one place that she had never visit that is the castle a Gothic mansion on the hill. There where she found Edward living by his own and because of that Peg Bogs fell sympathy to him and decided to bring him home. From that the life that Edward live for long time began to change its like Edward coming out from a dark world to a colorful and cheerful world. Edward a lonely man who live by his own for long time trying to fit in the community, from that many obstacle and type of people Edward have meet. From trying to fit in with the community and want to become a normal person Edward fall in love with Kim played by Winona Ryder. Edward learn a lot of emotion while he was blending with the community, jealously towards Kim boyfriend Jim played by Anthony Michael Hall, made his emotion unstable. Edward became wild when his jealously came to him and by that time the community began to rejecting the existed of Edward. At the end Edward leave the town and returning to the mansion continue the early life style he had before he meet the town people.

Form and feeling

There are many emotion that have being applied in this film. At first scene that show Edward was watching the town far away making us feel sympathize to him for being alone and lonely. With the act that was brought by Johnny Depp feeling was came out fine, he always had fun relishing his over-the-top and absurdly dark roles. In the film Edward Scissorshand he ives the equivalent of a Travis Bickle, a man that who feels shunned by society, just only to open his heart to society finally have it feel crushed. This is probably the reason why the film is able to effect its audience so well. Edward is pure hearted person with no social background, he isolated himself away from community and that make him became a straight person and an honest person. Because of his character are like that, he being played around by the town people after being brought in by Peg. The resident using Edward for their own benefit.

At first Edward enter the town he began learning many new thing he listen to everybody without any argument. There a scene where Kim cannot enter her house at Edward appeared and she ask Edward that he have the key house or not, with the skill and the scissor at Edward hand he was easily open the door. Therefore Jim, Kim boyfriend having a pure evil hearted making a plot to framed Edward by telling Edward that some person have stolen his things and persuade Kim to ask Edward use his skill to open the door using his scissor to steal it back. At the end Edward trapped inside the house and being arrested by policeman. After the arrested people began to think that Edward is a bad person many perception being throw to Edward.

Because of his characteristic his emotion began to shaking and to make matter worst when Edward was busy carve a angle sculpture in ice Kim came and she was impress with his work and began do dance in the snow suddenly he accidently hurting Kim hand and by that time Jim arrive and chase Edward away after that incident Edward anger became rage and he show rebellion towards the town people as result for his act he is being chase by the policeman and the town people. After he realize that the policeman are searching for him he ran back home and meet Kim at the house. After have a long talk with Kim, Edward noticed that a van that being drove by Jim was in a high speed and by that time Kim’s brother was about to cross the street and Edward saw the van was about to bump towards Kim’s brother, Edward ran and jump toward Kim’s brother after success in saving Kim’s brother Edwards was panic and accidently hurting Kim’s brother faces people who saw it assume that Edward was trying to hurt the kid.

Form and meaning

In this film also have shown form and meaning at the particular scene, there are 4 types of meaning such as referential meaning, explicit meaning, implicit meaning and symptomatic meaning.

Referential meaning:

Edward was found alone in the creepy old mansion that by Peg Bogs and being brought to Peg’s town that is cheerful and colorful that is far too different from his old life. At the end Edward suffering in the rejection of the town citizen and ran away from the town and continue living alone in the old mansion again.

Explicit meaning:

Edward first impression towards the town was the town is a very cheerful and harmony place for him to be. After living and blending with the town community Edward realize that there are many type of people with its own attitude and the community in the town giving more bad example than the good and that is the time where Edward became to rebel.

Implicit meaning:

Edward first feel that he need to blend with the community and after a while living with Peg he began to like Kim and that time he feel that he stay at the town for always staying beside Kim.

Symptomatic meaning:

Edward scissorhand show that people are hard to predict and have various type such as there are the kind hearted person, lovable person , hypocrite, busy body and evil kind.

Plot and story

This film have the element of plot and story. Its start with the scene when Peg Bogs arrive at the mansion, a weird and horror felling fill up when it make the established shot showing the old mansion like giving a sign not to come in there because it is scary and a dangerous place for a normal person. There also a low angle shot showing the mansion was big and Peg Bogs was small like giving a sign that the mansion was trying to swallow whoever enter the mansion. The horror stop by the time Peg enter the mansion garden, there is a cheerful scenery and friendly sight like showing a warm welcome to the visitor. The garden fill up with a beautiful landscape with a design tree and colorful flower all over the place. The dark atmosphere coming back once Peg enter the mansion, a dark and gloomy place with dust all over the place. A weird and scary feeling came when a scene where a Peg over the shoulder shot showing the old and rusty mechanism. With the interior design that is more to the gothic style making the scene more horror other than that there is a scene where Edward shadow suddenly appear after Peg notice there are a person at the upper floor she intend to follow. That making the audience feel that Peg is in danger and maybe she will be killed.

At the upper floor there was a roof with a big hole Peg was standing under it showing like Peg was about to be swallowed by the mansion. Other that there a scene where a horror feeling change to warm feeling, when Peg have reach the upper floor Edward was hiding in a dark he came slowly to Peg with a scissors as his hand making Peg scared but by the time Peg was about to run away Edward come in to the light with his pale face and seems like he was unharmed. Tim Burton have play with the emotion creatively, like by the time the audience feel there maybe a horrible things about to happen then came the cheerful scenery erase the horror feeling and then came the horror feeling again to light up again the scene. Tim Burton have make a twisted scene to make the audience confused with the situation and made the audience eager to know what will going to happen next.

Cause and effect

Tim Burton have mixed the classical fairytales themes to create an original and touching character in Edward. Taken from his gothic castle to a colorful and romantic suburban neighbourhood he have changes the live style the town people. At the first half of the film may seem funny, there full of subtle physical comedy and gentle satire on suburban life. Edward

brings his artistic skill to the town and the resident and that make the town people there willing to accept Edward and the people almost ignore his bizarre appearance. Edward had the shallow face, the feeling of tortured emotion to his almost silent character that linger long in the memory.

By the look of the characteristic that Edward have many people will think that Edward was the abnormal person but actually Tim Burton make Edward is the most normal person in the town, many people think that Edward was a monster with a scissors attach at his hand but eventually the real monster in this film is the town people themselves that the reason for his loss of innocence. Other than that, Edward was actually having a characteristic that representing among other things, the unconditional love of an animal, a childlike sense of wonder, an adolescent’s clumsiness and someone who longs to touch other without hurting them.

Time

Temporal order:

In Edward Scissorhand, first the film showed that Kim was a character as an old woman that was telling her granddaughter a bedtime story. Most of the film then showed evebt that occurred when she was in a high school girl. Such reordering doesn’t confuse us because we mentally rearrange the events into order in which they would logically have to occur childhood come before adulthood. From the plot order, we infer the story order. If story events can be thought of as ABCD, then the plot that used a flashback present to future then back to the present-would also be an instance of how plot can shuffle story order. A flash-forward could be represented as ABDC.

Space

There situation that is mention in the film, that is where Edward and Peg have arrive at the house and Peg introduce her family to Edward and said that Kim is not at home because she join a camping with her friend at the mountain and will not be home for 3 days. From that we know that Kim are at the mountain without any visual, at this time audience will imagine by self to visualize the scene with their own perspective ways.

The narrator

In this film there is a narrator behind the story but the narrator only appeared at the beginning of the story and the end of the story. We can identified it when Kim at the beginning of the film was telling the story to her granddaughter after that the scene change and along with arial shot Kim voice act as narrator telling the beginning of the story and at the end of the story the time return to the present when Kim was old she telling about the life of Edward in the present time when a scene show Edward was trimming the plant and carving the block of ice making a sculpture.

The classical Hollywood cinema

This film have show the desire that Edward have, to be love and didn’t want to be alone. It can be see by the scene where Peg visit his mansion and follow him at the upper floor and when Peg want to run away from him he begging Peg to not leave him alone. There also a scene that he always remember the day he with his creator, the creator love him like loving his own son. Because of that desire Edward follow Peg to her home to experience to be love by some once again and by that time Edward fall in love with Kim and try to win Kim’s heart by willing to do everything for her.

BIBLIOGRAPY

DAVID BORDWELL AND KRISTIN THOMPSON.(2008).FILM ART:AN INTRODUCTION.MC GRAW HILL COMPANIES.NEW YORK.

WWW.MOMA.ORG/VISIT/CALENDAR/EXIBITION/313.

CINEMA .COM…/EDWARD-SCISSORHAND-MOVIE-REVIEW-1990.

WWW.INDIE9810.COM/EDWARDSCISSORHANDSPLAY.

WWW.ULIKE.NET/EDWARD_SCISSORSHAND.

WWW.IMB.COM/TITTLE/TT099487/COMBINED.