For the plot to progress it is essential that characters are introduced to the audience. We are introduced to all of the main characters one at a time in the first 15 minuets. At the beginning of the film we see the characters of the old woman and the child although we don’t now who they are yet and after the first scenes the first character introduced is “Peg” A door to door seller of makeup. We are also introduced to many of the minor characters (The Neighbours) in the first 15 minuets as Peg visits their houses. After Peg has her first meeting with Edward (Who is the next main character to be introduced) she is instantly motivated to bring Edward to her suburban home despite being so disfigured and different. This seems like the last thing someone from Suburbia would want to do and oddly the whole of the street are welcoming to Edward. Edward is represented in many ways by what we see. The mansion that stand over the houses is a dark dilapidated building that the people living in the houses below don’t seem to take any notice of in the same way that these people don’t except who Edward is on the out side (A disfigured man who looks like a dangerous “freak”) which is an odd thing for people living in such a formal area to do but in time these people will start to see who he is on the outside but will let there judgement of what he looks like cloud there judgement of who he may be on the inside (A innocent child like person with feelings). The motivations of Edward are made clear in the first 15 minuets of the film. When Edward is shown a picture of Kim (Pegs daughter) the use of panning and Non diagetic music really show the fact that Edward is transfixed with her, There is then a cut to show the expression on Edwards face which isn’t much but with the music we can see what Edwards goal will be (It is not obvious yet) even though Edward may not know it yet himself. We are also introduced to an obvious obstacle seen in the picture (Kims boy friend) and again although not even the audience can understand the man in the picture is going to become a problem it is there to set Edward A goal and what he has to over come to reach this goal. Also the first 15 minuets are giving us a setting and characters, at the same time we are slowly being set up for a conflict. The characters create the fairy tail feel with Edward being the hero, Peg being the queen or just the mother, Pegs husband being the King or just the father, Kim will become the princess and carols boyfriend will be the Evil duke/ Bad guy. If this wasn’t seen as a fairy tail then there are obvious elements of a grim folk tail and Levi Straus theories within the plot.
This film begins with an old lady telling the story of Edward to her grand child which is probably set in present day and after being given a shot from the mansion looking down towards suburbia and then cutting to a sunny day in suburbia which is set around the 70’s (roughly) we are taken back in time to tell a story which adds a real feeling of a fairy tale effect to the film. This first scene and a few flash backs later on in the film is the only thing that makes it non-linear but not in any large way. There is very little that isn’t actually shown to the audience instead of just having characters talk about key events that may have happened off screen.
Certain events that happen in the first 15 minuets are created so they can be relevant to events later in the film. These events could be warnings of things to come or they could show characters weaknesses and how they will effect them. When Edward sees the picture of Kim it is obvious this is going to come up later in the film or when Edward is first discovered by Peg he briefly mentioned how his “Father” (His inventor) didn’t wake up which adds mystery to the story. There are other times we are given warnings of things to come, E.g. When Edward is riding in the car with Peg he tries to put his head out of the window but ends up hitting his head on the glass, A sign that Edward cant deal with this life style that he has been introduced to. This theory is backed up when Pat shows Edward to his room that consists of a water bed, Obviously this is maybe the worst sort of bed Edward could sleep in (The bed could represent the suburban life style) and secondly Peg doesn’t even seem to think about the fact that Edward may have problems sleeping on the bed (In the same way she doesn’t think that maybe Edward wont fit into the suburban life style).
The way space is structured in certain parts of this film is very important, The Scene where Peg finds Edward in a Giant loft starts with her entering the loft there is a cut to a wide shot of the whole loft which makes Peg seem very small. These sort of shots continue until Edward begins to approach Peg and as he does the camera pans towards him creating even less space to be seen in the shot, After Edward reaches Pat there are no more wide shots as before and also Edward never really leaves Pegs side for the rest of the 15 minuets which confines them both to a very small space. E.g. when they are in the car together. In some ways when all of the close up shots begin we are shown that now Edward is in suburbia he is no longer Free in the same way he was in the empty loft even though he was alone.
In conclusion this first 15 minuets is what creates the plot, Atmosphere and characters for the rest of the film and must be done correctly to inform the audience of what they need to know for the rest of the film. It also sets the path for a non-conventional ending.