Design I Like

As most film lovers have noticed over the years, Tim Burton's opening sequences to his films often take you through something. For the "Design I Like", I have chosen the opening sequence to Edward Scissorhands. From the 20th Century Fox shot, it begins to bring the viewer into the world of Edward. It has a dark, blue tint to the shot with snow. The color portrays the creepy theme of the film and the snow plays a big part of the film and why the story of Eward is being told in the first place. From there, the camera brings the viewer to a house and through the door. Then, the title shows up as the words open to resemble a scissor. Throughout the rest of the sequence, Burton shows the viewer things inside the house, such as inventions, and other parts of the house. The colors used are the same blue and black background, with white for the text of the credits. This keeps the ominous feel throughout the first 3 minutes. The font used is all uppercase letters with a creepy feel to the way the letters are shaped. By using this particular font, the gloomy tone is once again enforced. The text also moves a little as it begins to fade and the next name appears. This fits with the tone and goes along with the music composed by Danny Elfman. The overall product lets the viewer know and feel that this is going to be a creepy, maybe even sad story. At the end of the sequence you see a set of hands which fades out and then Vincent Price's face appears, as if to look like he is sleeping or dead. This is done to give the viewer more insight into the story and how Edward came to be. The composition in each camera shot is well balanced and and the close-up's show great texture in the object being shown. For example, the shots of all the inventions are close enough to show the texture of the metal, especially with the way the light hits it. The shot going up the stairs also has great depth of field. Great use of lines are also used in shots of  the house and on certain inventions. The last image shown in a zoom out of the mansion as it snows outside. This shows the viewer a wide shot of where they were and leads into the first scene of the film. Below you can view this opening sequence and see for yourself that the introduction to Edward Scissorhands does in fact succeed in giving the viewer an exciting, yet creepy feeling, and some insight as to what the film will be about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ixJu2YvZQ