My Reflection –
Tim Burton, in Edward Scissorhands, used the Esmeralda bullying Edward in the backyard scene in order to capture the judgement people have towards one another. For Example, Esmeralda barged into the backyard and called Edward “something from the fires of hell” simply because he is different and she didn’t understand him. In fact, Edward didn’t quite understand himself and I can connect to that very much. I think most people can. The feeling of not belonging or negatively feeling “different” than everybody else even though we are meant to be.
I think the way Tim Burton portrayed this form of verbal harassment in a “no big deal” format by leaving high key lighting and not much change from the camera movement or editing was a really interesting cinematic choice. Edward was so different that it makes sense that even Peg and Bill weren’t shocked or too bothered at the fact that Esmeralda was right there bullying Edward. In fact it’s quite a quick scene which I thought was odd since things like these nowadays would be much more unacceptable with all the Mental health and Anti-Bullying Awareness Movements going on. This adaptation from film to visual novel taught me even more how there are two stories in every movie. The story you see when you simply watch the movie, and the one hidden between all the little camera movements/ angles, Editing, Lighting, Sound and etc. If you pay attention to both of these stories being told, the movie is so much more enjoyable and makes you understand and connect to it and the characters 10x better. Learning how to analyze film has taught me to look past the acting and background and truly SEE the movie with all its little details that I failed to pay attention to in the past.
