Edward Scissorhands In your daybooks, answer the following: What are your feelings about genetic engineering? Cloning? And/or stem cell research? If you do not know what one of the above is, write about the others.

Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 American fantasy film, written by Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson, and directed by Burton.

The film is a comedy-drama set in an exaggerated and highly stereotypical vision of American suburbia and the typical families that inhabit it. It intentionally combines clichés and styles from the 1950s, early 1960s and the late 1980s.

The concept, and many of the motifs of Edward Scissorhands can be compared to the English Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the French legend of Beauty and the Beast.

The director cites Edward Scissorhands as epitomizing his most personal work.

Genesis of Edward Scissorhands came from a childhood drawing of director Tim Burton, which reflected his feelings of isolation and being unable to communicate to people around him such as family and friends.

Influences Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Kong, and Creature From the Black Lagoon

Cast and crew spent twelve weeks filming in Florida, where they found an occupied community to film in, Carpenter's Run subdivision in Lutz, Florida - painted all the houses in faded pastels, and reducing the window sizes to make it look a little more paranoid "[

Sixty different houses were to be repainted for Tim Burton's vision of suburbia, all of them occupied, and only changed for the garish exterior paint.

Edward Swissorhands depicts in both humourous ways and dark ones, how life can be if you are different, with Edward on the far end of the scale.

Edward is looking for love and understanding something that becomes difficult if you are unusual and something that you long for.

It is also a story about someone who cannot physically touch anything or anyone without destroying the thing itself through no fault of his own.

The film is truly wonderful modern fairytale, the gothic mansion is hauntingly beautiful and scenes with Kaye dancing in the snow from Edwards Ice Sculpture's is mesmerizing. The story of snow is a rare jewel in filmmaking.

The dominant discourse of Edward Scissorhand, namely conformity is carefully constructed by Burton in order to confront the viewer with an ironical aspect of being fitted in society.

The symbolic code of color and technical code of camera angles are not only used to support the dominant discourse, but also to make a clear aspect of Edward’s difference to the society.

Burton uses a technical code in which the camera is shotted from the castle windows showing all of houses look same and insignificant.

Use of color such as the repetition of all the houses' yards as greenish color and houses being in one color encourage viewer with the conformity of the town. Furthermore, the bright color of suburbia and dark and doomed image of Gothic castle present how awkward the individual can be seen in such town

Parallels to Frankenstein (the novel) Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a novel written by the British author Mary Shelley. Shelley wrote the novel when she was 19 years old.

Frankenstein is considered the first fully realized science fiction novel

Influence of Vincent Price on Tim Burton Trade Mark Often played in horror films with a sense of black humour Playing an anti-hero who wants revenge on those who wronged him Frequently played villains who died screaming Distinctive low-pitched voice and atmospheric narration. Often played imposing, menacing villains.

Vincent Price in “Edward Scissorhands” His role in Edward Scissorhands (1990) was intended to be much larger, but since Price was very ill from emphysema and Parkinson's disease he was only able to appear in two scenes.

American Gothic Michael Jackson’s Thriller http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8&feature=related

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