Their Holiday Favorites: Brian Satterwhite and the Music of 'Edward Scissorhands'

Their Holiday Favorites is a series in which members of the Austin film community tell us about movies they enjoy watching during the holiday season. Today's selection is from film composer Brian Satterwhite (Artois the Goat) whose work on the local project "Cell: The Web Series" was nominated for Best Original Score in this year's IAWTV Awards (honoring web programming). Satterwhite's "Cell" compositions really set the tone and engaged me emotionally. Don't miss the brilliant and compelling score he created for Man on a Mission, which is scheduled to be released in theaters and VOD on January 13, 2012. Here are his thoughts on a certain Tim Burton movie:

One of my favorite holiday movies is Edward Scissorhands (1990). Aside from being the film (and the score) that made me want to become a film composer, this modern-day fairy tale evokes many of the emotions, sounds and images I crave at Christmastime.

What is especially appealing to me is how successful the music is at painting such an overt wintery landscape even though the actual setting of the film takes place in a rather tepid climate. There is really no visual evidence to support the chilly crisp air the music is constantly evoking. This creates a miraculous component to the narrative when it's revealed that one of Edward's hidden talents is ice sculpture. This notion reaches its climax when Kim (Winona Ryder) dances underneath Edward's ice shavings as he passionately toils above her on a new sculpture which is revealed to be a portrait of Kim.

Not only does this music reflect the cold wintery palette of Edward's art but it conveys innocence (from the children's choir), magic, passion, wonder, beauty, and most of all love. Without quoting a carol or hearing the sound of jingle bells, composer Danny Elfman weaves into an entire score everything I want to see and feel at Christmastime.

Edward Scissorhands remains one of my all-time favorite films.

Want to watch? Edward Scissorhands is available at local video stores, including both Vulcan Video locations. In addition, you can watch it streaming through Netflix Instant and Amazon Instant Video.