However, in opening the door this tune is changed to include some ghastly howls to continue the strong feeling of mystery with a powerful vengeance. Whilst the sound changes the images do not, the contrast of white on black are still prevailing as the audience is portrayed the very title of the film, “EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.” Tim Burton uses the door opening to imply the beginning of a journey and this is the feeling the audience gets when viewing the opening credits. As the audience is taken on their journey, many images of horror are revealed from: machines that resemble faces, chilling statues, images of scissors and lifeless human faces. The audience would now be feeling much anxiety as to what might be about to happen. At the end of the opening credits the audience is left with Tim Burton’s image of the mansion in mid winter, with snow falling heavily and leaving that Christmas image imprinted on the minds of the audience. Overall, all aspects added, the audience is shown what looks to be a child’s snow globe, to add that last feeling of fairytale.
The first thing noticed in the opening credits of “Hook” is how simply basic it all is. The film opens a simple, and nothing short of ordinary, black background. The typography can only be described as ‘pirate’s writing,’ small but thinly tall, the font often found on a treasure map. For the last and imprinting image of the credits the film title is portrayed to the audience. Again the audience is conveyed the pirate typography but this time with a twist or more appropriately a ‘hook’. The ‘H’ of Hook possesses, quite simply, a hook on the top of the left spike. As well as this the ‘H’ is also, now, coloured red. It is now that we must remember that the target audience for this film is very young indeed; we can now understand that this red coloured ‘H’ is a subtle attempt to provoke thoughts of foreboding danger from the audience, which the character, Hook, may present. There is no music for the opening credits, again possibly to keep the credits as basic as possible, so as not to confuse the audience. Again, we must remember the considerably young target audience. It is important not to confuse the audience, as an audience in confusion is an audience not understanding, and an audience not understanding is an audience asking questions. In providing basic opening credits no one is getting confused unnecessarily before the film has even started. This means that the audience will be paying attention for a longer time during the film. Steven Spielberg uses the uncomplicated eye level angle during the credits along side the mid shot of the text.
The opening is marked with the introduction of colour; an array of green and brown are displayed where black once was. But noticeable, however, is a small, single light of a mansion window. This is symbolic of the Edward’s isolation from the outside world and gives the audience an early feeling of sympathy towards the outcast and sets the mood perhaps for the film. The camera then zooms out to reveal a new contrast-a contrast of warmth and cold and the image of an old woman, supposedly played by the award winning Wynona Ryder. The warmth of the open fire crackling in the background and the wash of orange and red as opposed to the raw black and cold snow outside. Tim Burton is displaying that to every bad side there is a good side in the little girl so young, so innocent and the immense warmth inside the room. The audience is now a lot calmer and settling in to the storyline as the old lady is telling a story to her granddaughter about how snow came to exist. When beginning the story, the old lady pronounces, “A long time ago…” this is so stereotypical of fairytales and easily ties in with the genre. Traditionally, stories begin with, “Once upon a time,” or “A long time ago.”
It is now that the audience is given their first taste of diagetic sound. Equally, the audience is given its third example of the fairytale genre, in the little girl in the huge bed. This is reminiscent of exaggeration often related to fairytales, how the girl is practically lost inside the covers and that there is no less than eight pillows of which she uses one. This ties in with the stereotypical princess. Tim Burton uses the backshot of the old lady to great effect in the opening. It allows him to show both characters on screen and her importance. As the she gets to the heart of explaining her story the camera pans left and tracks over her shoulder to leave as it came in, through the window and diagetic so easily becomes non-diagetic. The camera then proceeds to track over the town at a high angle, as if flying above the below, until eventually it reaches the mansion. It is now that we get our first glimpse of Edward Scissorhands himself but Tim Burton’s choice of camera shot means that the audience does not know if he is a “goodie” or a “badie” so to speak. In doing this Tim Burton has kept that element of mystery that he had throughout the opening credits.
The music in the opening is a change from that of the opening credits also, it is calmer and inspirational, and that stereotypical story telling music that is so often associated with fairytales and the genre itself. It typically suits the new atmosphere of the film with the old lady and the little girl.
The film then goes from the heart of the story to the heart of the girl’s imagination, this is marked with a range of bright colours: from pink and blue to bright green and yellow. Tim Burton uses mid shots of houses to express this.
Tim Burton uses music to its greatest effect in this scene when properly introducing the mansion to the audience. Burton uses an extreme close up to convey how Peg twists the mirror to view the mansion. On the appearance of the mansion a small but significant blunt tune is presented that evokes interest and curiosity from not just the audience but Peg as well. The audience then witnesses a very effective long shot of the mansion. This shot is very effective as it beautifully shows the contrast between the bright coloured town and the dark, dully coloured mansion again conveying that contrast of good versus evil. This strongly implies that whoever or whatever lives in the mansion is an outcast, alienated from the rest of the town and ignored as a whole.
Tim Burton displays a lot of shots which suggest that someone or something is watching Peg as she approaches, enters and wonders around in the garden grounds. This mainly consists of shots from a high angle and shot from behind the lost character. It is these very shots that lock that that feeling of worry within the minds of the audience, makes them just want to scream; “Don’t do it!” and to stop her from going anywhere near the horrid house. The music begins as Peg rather gingerly enters the ground in the innocently coloured pink dress. The music includes the ghostly howls typical of a church choir.
Inside the garden the mood and atmosphere changes very slightly, Tim Burton is still giving out those shots that imply the Peg is being watched but there is a change in music and the bright colours are re-invented. The music is now a strong leap from the music of before, it is now brighter, happier, softer and overall less scary. Tim Burton uses the low and high angle to amazing results. He displays: a low angle shot of the mansion and coincidently portrays its bold and significant importance and a high angle shot of Peg wandering aimlessly around the garden. This particular angle shows Peg’s vulnerability in addition to that felling of worry connected to the ‘spying.’
This whole scene fits in with the fairy tale genre because it is strongly reminiscent “Beauty and the Beast” as the ‘beauty’ is looking for her father and stumbles across the great castle, except this scenario is more realistic as it is an “Avon lady”. This is what Tim Burton was putting across by using all the camera technique; the shots and angles along side the music.
The fairy tale genre is then conveyed through the stereotypical door creak as, finally, Peg enters the house. The music now takes a radical change form the comfortable happy and bright tune of the previous, now the audience can hear a deadly cocktail of howls. To the audience this can easily be mistaken for cries of worry as they sound more like yelps of, “Noooo,” calling Peg back from going any further. The music then quickens and increases in suspense tension and inevitability. The inevitability that something is going to happen, this strangely is not reminiscent of a dairy tale but of a horror film. Peg then proceeds to ascend the stairs after sighting the movement of a shadow which incidentally provokes fear from the audience. There is a strong contrast in the mansion of light, on the outside, and dark, on the inside. This again implying that contrast of good versus evil and portrays isolation and alienation from the rest of the world.
Tim Burton uses the tracking shot to follow Peg. In doing this he is choosing the feelings of the audience, he is forcing the audience to feel scared for Peg. As well as this, Tim Burton is showing her vulnerability, just as Bell was in “Beauty and the Beast,” exploring an unknown place.
Peg continues, regrettably, up the stairs but to good result as she reveals to the audience a ‘wall of disabilities’. This wall captures immense mystery since as yet we have not yet seen Edward. It is clear that in having this wall, Tim Burton is conveying Edward’s loneliness and his need to know that there is other people in the world with the same problem as him. This ‘display’ helps him seek comfort and reassurance.
And now for the true fairy tale, the climax to which the previous two scenes have been working up to, the meeting of this illustrious creature. The music is very intense, building suspense and conveys that there is no going back for Peg. The camera then zooms in to reveal Edward, the music getting louder and out from the shadow comes this creature. In Tim Burton directing Edward to appear out of the shadows implies to the audience that Edward is a “baddy” and that he is in human and someone to be feared. This too is reminiscent of “Beauty and the Beast” as Bell finds Beast huddled in a shadowed corner. When Edward Scissorhands comes into the light, it suggests that he is not dangerous and not a harming creature and, as the lighting/music changes, so does the opinions. Edward is taken home and Peg successfully completes her rescue. This is very typical of the fairy tale Rapunzel, where the princess is rescued from her castle, except a different scenario, she is saving him from the castle.
What will become of this relationship...?
In the opening of “Hook” the shot then fades into close ups of children’s, intrigued, faces, this also portrays their fascination. For the audience the image of children, just like them, provokes interest towards the film.
The sound for the opening begins in the very ending of the credits as the credits fade in. The overall sound mainly consists of a childlike tune, often found in a music box. This technique, you may remember, was also used in the opening of the credits for “Edward Scissorhands.” The ‘music box’ tune creates a calm atmosphere for the audience and mixed with the images of the children's faces gently settles the audience into the film and creates more interest. The music then slowly fades away into the sound of the play itself. Whilst hearing ‘images’ of the play, the sound is constantly switching between diegetic and non-diagetic as the shots alternate between the play and the audience. This allows the audience to view the two very different sides and emotions of the play. The content emotions of the audience, and the nervous but exited feelings of the actors on the stage.
As I stated earlier, the audience is shown images of the play’s audience, in doing this Steven Spielberg is conveying images of family values and capturing the family atmosphere that seems to journey from the film into your front living rooms at home. After all nothing says “family” better than the Christmas play. However, it just so happens that the Christmas play has nothing to do with Christmas at all, but it does introduce the story of “Peter Pan” to the audience, just in case you had forgotten.
After more eye level close ups of children enjoying themselves, the audience is hit with the shattering sound of a mobile phone belonging to Peter Banning, played by the incredible Robin Williams. This breaks the happy, family images and atmosphere bringing the harsh reality of work to rain on the play. The mobile phone symbolises the bad things that so often get in the way of the good things, and implies that work will always get in the way, so to speak. The audience receives a sense of inevitability that work may prove to be a problem later on in the film.
The scene then cuts with the non-diagetic line of;
“Never wanna grow up,”
This is rather coincidental on Steven Spielberg’s part and reminds the audience of the story of “Peter Pan.” In coordinating with this these words also leave a lasting print on your minds. The opening ties in with the fairy tale genre simply because it is Peter Pan.
The colour in the opening mainly consists of different shades of blues; this is perhaps because Steven Spielberg wanted to keep in with the image of it being dark in theatre but without using blacks which may scare the audience unnecessarily. Throughout the opening a range of eye level and low angles are used in cohesion with mid-shots and close ups, again this is so to create a comfortable atmosphere within the film and out. The next scene of any importance is that of when the family arrives in London. The audience is given an image of the famous London landmark, Big Ben. In doing this Steven Spielberg is letting the audience know where the family is without breaking the fairy tale mood. If he had chosen to show the location title and date, this would not be familiar to the fairy tale genre. In addition to this, the majority of the audience probably can not read anyway, and those who can, would know that were in London anyway, because if they are old enough to read they are probably old enough to know that Big Ben is a major English landmark. The weather is conveyed to be snowing, again to give that Christmas feeling.
Inside Wendy’s house the audience gets their first look at Granny Wendy. Granny Wendy is given to be standing against the image of a window and in darkness. This creates a sense of mystery within the audience, they are unable to decipher whether the character is good or bad. Eventually, however, Granny Wendy comes into the light to reveal her face and from this the audience can form an answer. Steven Spielberg uses a low angled, mid-shot to convey her significance and greatness, she is portrayed in a wonderful dress and looks nothing short of a goddess, or perhaps more fittingly a ‘queen of the fairies’. The music now is very inspirational, soft, reassuring and magical to fit in with the general mood. Obviously, this too ties in with the fairy tale genre, as Steven Spielberg is portraying Granny Wendy out to be a fairy herself, not to mention the fact that it is reminiscent of the godmother in Cinderella, except for the cruel attitude.
Throughout the play Steven Spielberg releases many ironic hints. For example, on the plane journey to London Peter “Pan” Branning discloses quite blatantly that he is afraid of flying; this is ironic as perhaps Peter Pan’s most famous attribute was that he could fly. Later on, again on the plane, Peter “Pan” Branning tells his son Jack to, “Grow up” and to “Stop acting like a child.” This too is ironic as perhaps the other most famous characteristic about Peter Pan was that he lived in Never Land, where no-one grows up. Finally, in Granny Wendy’s house itself after Jack informs Granny Wendy of Peter’s job, Granny Wendy replies with,
“So Peter you’ve become a pirate.”
This too, like the previous, contains irony because Peter Pan’s most famous enemies were the pirates.
Steven Spielberg uses the high angle shot to great effect when showing Peter Branning’s ascent to the upstairs child’s bedroom. For Peter it is the first time he has returned to the bedroom since he had left all those years ago. In using the high angle Steven Spielberg is able to show Peter’s vulnerability and victimize him. The shot also implies that Peter is lost and creates a mysterious, eerie atmosphere with a drop of suspension. The music at this point is very spooky with ghostly howls present. When Peter reaches and advances to open the doors he is greeted with a strong gust of wind, this too captures the scary atmosphere produced by Steven Spielberg. On entering the room the sound changes to present images of a rough and stormy pirate’s sea. In the background pirates bells can be heard along with cries belonging to the seagulls. The audience is in Peter Brannings head and are hearing and seeing what he is. Steven Spielberg uses an extreme close up of a painting to evoke tension and to once again rip open a spooky, mysterious and apprehensive atmosphere. Finally, Peter moves to close the windows and disclose the ‘hook’ lock in an extreme close up, this lodges a very distinctive thought of inevitability in the mind of the audience and practically ensures that something grave is going to happen that evening. As soon as Peter closes the doors the music stops and all is calm.
Steven Spielberg uses family values to tie the film in with the fairy tale genre along with the Peter Pan story line. However, the next scene is all about family values in which the audience witnesses them is destroyed and in turn destroying the fairy tale genre, for now that is. It begins when Peter Branning, the pirate businessman, is rushing to answer is phone, on entering the bedroom he dismisses Granny Wendy when asked,
“Do you like my dress Peter?”
After ‘the dismissing’ he then proceeds to have a vicious argument with his children. Steven Spielberg uses the close up and extreme close up to outstanding effect. Spielberg successfully captures immense tension. Then arrives the decisive line,
“Why don’t somebody just shoot me in the head?”
To which unavoidably Jack replies, “Bang, Bang!” Things being what they are the audience sees the family values ripped into pieces. After a series of well chosen close ups Spielberg displays a close up of Granny Wendy and the audience can see that the harsh image of realization has struck her face. Peter Pan has grown up!
To conclude, between the two films, “Edward Scissorhands” and “Hook,” a vast range of media techniques are used by both directors; Tim Burton and Stephen Spielberg. From: significant contrasts and exaggeration to fantasy and family values. Overall, I believe that Tim Burton used more media techniques that Stephen Spielberg, however in saying that the two films are hard to compare they have completely different themes and storylines. Tim Burton used techniques so often seen in fairytales, for example, a significant contrast between good and evil, strong exaggeration and that stereotypical view associated with the fairy tale genre. Where as Stephen Spielberg did not need to use these techniques as he already had his fairytale in “Peter Pan,” all he had to do was keep in with fairy tale genre. He did this in realising and releasing the sheer fantasy adventure linked with “Peter Pan” and adding that twist of irony to bring some humour and to convey that Peter has moved on. Although I have portrayed the two directors to use completely different techniques they did, however, both make great use of sound, colour and camera angles/shots. Burton chose to use quite horrific music and sounds to capture suspense much of the time, a contrast of black on white, to great impact I might add and some very eerie camera angles to show many things from vulnerability, when Peg is entering the castle, to grace, when Winona Ryder is dancing around the flaking ice. Spielberg opted to use more magically inspirational music and sounds to display the children’s emotions, an assortment of bright colours to provoke a large amount of imagination from the audience and some obscuringly simple camera shots to help the older viewers relate to, if not become, the younger viewers.
