My Reflection

Tim Burton, in Edward Scissorhands, used the snow scene to manipulate the storyline deeply and indicate the symbolism in the movie. I believe that the snow scene was one of the most crucial scenes in the movie because the director conveyed the messages through this scene. As Kim walks outside, she hears metallic blade noises and sees the snow that Edward created. In this first shot, Kim wears a pure white dress, which symbolizes lucidness and innocence. Afterward, Kim witnesses Edward curving the angel’s head, and this shows Edward’s capability. It symbolizes competence and aptness. Most of the snow scene is high key because it is about Edward creating snow and Kim gracefully dancing around while swaying her arms through the air. However, when Edward accidentally cuts Kim’s left hand on the palm, the mood of the non-diegetic sound changes and the lighting becomes low key as well. Unlike Kim, Jim wears a dark jacket in the movie. Also, an intensity adds to the song as Jim approaches Edward and thrusts him. This shows Edward’s feeling of isolation. In this low key shot, it indicates the relationship between Jim, Kim, and Edward as well.

In my interpretation, I tried to create my storyboard as similar as possible with the scene because as I mentioned before, we could see most of the cinematic elements from this scene, especially the framing. Even though the characters weren’t really talking except in the last two scenes, I could perceive Kim’s pleasant and enlivening feelings through the cinematic elements, especially the non-diegetic sound in the background. This adaptation from film to visual novel taught me about interpretation, viewpoint, and technical elements. For technical elements, I learned about shots, angles, framing, camera movements, lighting, editing techniques, and sound. For instance, framing and angles are related to a point of view, and the diegetic and non-diegetic sound changes the mood of the film. Thus, throughout this film unit, I learned that the cinematic elements help directors to convey emotions and messages, and the elements add another layer of understanding to the film.