ES+Analysis

**The opening scenes**
The opening credits are shown against a dark and shadowy background, the only colours being blue and black. The music is similar to that used on films such as Harry Potter. The **colours**, **music** and **lighting** create a mysterious and sinister atmosphere.

In the background are images are of machinery; cookies (in the shape of people, hearts, animals and stars); a pair of hands; and an old man, dead or asleep. These **symbols** and images **foreshadow** important events and ideas in the film, such as love, Edward’s longing for hands, and the death of the inventor.

The writing also reinforces the ideas in the film, by the **title** “Edward Scissorhands” being animated to appear like the blades of scissors.

These opening scenes are important because the foreshadowing and air of mystery hooks the viewer into the film and makes us want to keep watching, to find out why these things are important.

The film itself starts with an **establishing shot** of a dark, gothic castle on the top of a mountain. The camera **zooms** out to an **over-the-shoulder shot** of an old lady looking at the castle through a window. This camera movement links the castle and the town. This scene is like a prologue; the main action of the film is told as a **flashback** of the old lady remembering the story from when she was a girl. This makes the story seem like a **fairy tale**; something that contains elements of fantasy, something that would be told to children.

As we hear a **voiceover** of the grandmother telling the story, the camera moves up over the town back to the castle. This **pan** or **tracking** movement is another link between the castle and the town. There is a clear **contrast** between this prologue and the main section of the film in **colour** and **lighting**. We go from a dark, shadowy, gothic mansion to a bright, colourful suburban street. The sinister **music** stops, and an air of normality is reinforced by the **sound effects** – dogs barking, a workman hammering, a hose spraying water. Now that our interest has been aroused in the prologue, the director can safely establish an atmosphere of normality without boring the viewer – instead, the contrast makes us even more curious to see how these two plot lines will intersect.