What is life? Is it electrical impulses that leap from neuron to neuron? Is electricity the key to life? This question is the source of many debates today, and we can see it played out in the differences between two different Frankenstein creation scenes. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, she only gives minimal information as to how Dr. Frankenstein animated the Creature. She says, “I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet (34-35).” This lack of information gives the directors of the 1931 and 1994 movies (James Whale and Kenneth Branagh respectively) much room with which to add their own creative genius to the creation scene. James Whale used crosscutting and…show more content… Parts of the book, such as the “spark of being”(34-35), and the the lighting storm depicted when Victor was a teenager drew the director to create a scene in which the animation of the Creature was fueled by a storm. During the creation scene, when the body of the Creature was exposed to the storm, he used a series of crosscuts, rotating between showing Frankenstein and Fritz, the creature, and Elizabeth, Henry and the Doctor. This worked to show the different reactions to the subject- the creation of the creature. It worked to express the giddy anticipation of Dr. Frankenstein and the horror of the other onlookers. The rapid transition also added a sense of suspense both the characters in the movie and those watching it wondered if it would succeed. In the beginning of the scene, a series of long shots allowed the viewers to see both the subject and the background. Such a shot revealed the setup of Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. This permitted the audience to get a better idea of the environment that he was working in and the crazy, illogical looking assortment of devices gave the views a look into the mind of the