Presentational Devices of Shrek and Reversal of Traditional Roles

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Presentational Devices of Shrek and Reversal of Traditional Roles

In this essay, I am going to analyse the characters in 'Shrek'. I will

mainly focus on Shrek and Lord Farquuad. I will also write about how

the film makers use different presentational devices to create an

unusual film. Stereotypically the prince is good and the ogre is evil.

In traditional fairy tales ogres are pictured as man-eating beasts,

while the Princes are tall, handsome and save the Princess. One

example of a fairy tale where an ogre is mentioned is 'Jack and the

Beanstalk'. In the fairy tale the ogre is a man-eating giant. The

giant ogre chases Jack down the beanstalk. An example of a fairy tale

where a prince is mentioned is 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'. In

this fairy tale the Prince frees Snow White from a spell by kissing

her and they live happily ever after.

The film stars the famous voices of, Mike Myers supplying the rough

Scottish twang for 'Shrek', Eddie Murphy's motor mouth 'Donkey',

Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, and John Lithgow as 'Lord Farquaad'.

The directors of this film were Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jensen and

Victoria Jenson.

DreamWorks (the distributor) has tried to poke fun at Disney wherever

possible. 'Shrek' has won many awards such as Best Musical, Best

Comedy, Best Animated Film etc. 'Shrek' shocked the world when it sold

$110 million in DVD and Video sales in just it's first three days of

release. The 'Shrek 2-Disc' DVD is now the #1 selling DVD of all time.

'Shrek' still remains the #1 grossing movie in 2001 at the U.S. box

office. 'Shrek' cost approximately $70 million to make, but this does

not include DreamWorks marketin...

... middle of paper ...

...an-eating beasts and princes are good. In

this film their roles are reversed. The ogre is portrayed as evil. The

princess is not seen as a conventional princess as she fights Robin

Hood and his Merry Men. This is an unconventional film. To make a good

film you don't just need great characters but you also need great

presentational devices to influence the audience and capture their

attention. The filmmakers have done a great job in making the film

into an unusual, unconventional film. The presentational devices help

the audience to learn more about certain characters. 'Shrek' has been

such a successful film that there has been a sequel made. The makers

of 'Shrek' have now made the second sequel to it 'Shrek2. Meet the

parents'. This film follows how Shrek meets Princess Fiona's family

and how it goes all wrong for him.

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