Film Essay
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es indeed, animation is fun for children, but it also expresses important ideas for people of all ages. In some ways, ‘Shrek’ is your classic fairy tale for example, it has a hero, a beautiful Princess, and a dastardly villain. But unlike the traditional fairy tales, the hero is an ugly, ill-tempered ogre, the Princess is not all she appears to be, and the villain has some obvious shortcomings. The award-winning animated film, ‘Shrek’, is directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the viewers learn that being a good person is more important than just being good-looking. It also shows that true friends help each other in difficult situations and that women can be equally as strong characters as men. These ideas are portrayed through characters such as Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey. The directors use camera angles and dialogue to express their ideas.
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A few of the camera angles used are long shot, medium shot, high angle and bird’s eye view. A long shot to show the link between characters/subjects and their environment and draws the audience’s attention to a particular aspect of the surroundings. It can also indicate the atmosphere of the film. A medium shot shows a characters facial expression and body language, and for us to get to know the characters and how they relate to each other more closely. A high angle shot makes the person or object look weaker, inferior, under pressure or vulnerable. Lastly, a bird’s eye view gives the audience an overview of where the character or subject is positioned and enables the audience to see what is going on away from the characters immediate
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.
In this essay I am going to analyse the characters of shrek and Lord Farquaad, and write about how filmmakers use different camera angles, lighting, music and setting to create an unusual fairy tale. The giant in jack and the beanstalk is what we expect of giants/ogres. In traditional fairy tales ogres are normally man-eating beast, at the beginning of shrek, shrek is what you expect him to be like. When the farmers go to his swamp and the meet shrek. When shrek is shouting at them the low angle camera shot makes shrek look intimidating to the crowd and audience.
In the making of the film “Gattaca”, the director Andrew Niccole has used the film technique: camera angles to represent the theme of the film. The definition of camera angles is the position of the camera to allow the viewer to understand the relationships between the characters. I found this definition by searching on the internet and comparing the definition in the dictionary.
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
How the Makers of Shrek Subvert the Usual Conventions of a Fairytale Using Presentational Devices
The first animated movie produced by Pixar, a famous space ranger named Buzz Light-year said, “To infinity and beyond!” and that is exactly where Pixar has taken the animation industry. The success of Pixar is duly noted worldwide and they remain a leader in the animation industry. The company reeled in more than 100 awards and nominations for their work on animated films, commercials, and technical contributions to the animation industry. The trials and triumphs of this company have earned it its spot as one of the leading animation companies in the entertainment industry today. With all this success it is hard to think it was almost over before it ever began. Pixar’s history of trials and triumphs starts with a group of men and their ideas that would revolutionize the entertainment industry.
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
...le. Movies like this resist gender stereotypes that say women have to be beautiful and ladylike to live like a princess. There should be more films like Shrek because it breaks norms and teaches people that the only thing that matters is what’s on the inside.
The widely popular film Shrek, produced and distributed by DreamWorks in 2001, grossed a total of $484,409,218 in worldwide sales (Box Office Mojo). The success of the film has led DreamWorks to create several shorts, companion films, and sequels. From its memorable characters to its whimsical, edgy humor, Shrek was an amazing, highly successful animation that would pave the way for DreamWorks to make billions off the franchise. Shrek’s success can be attributed to three main factors: the range of ages it appeals to, its creative use of intertextuality, and its ability to cover a wide range of the fairy tale functions proposed by Vladimir Propp.
Produced in 2009, The Frog Princess is a Disney animation inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale, The Frog Prince. Both The Frog Princess and The Frog Prince deal with a multiplicity of issues, all of which contribute to supporting positive messages and morals (Ceaser, 2009). However, though The Frog Princess is based on a classic fairytale, it is far from being the same. The writers at Disney have taken a classic fairytale and created a “Monster” (Prince, 2001). This essay will examine the evolution of the original Grimm Brothers’ fairytale, the messages both main characters represent, and how the adaptation to fit a modern child readership diminishes a classic fairytale. Through discussing these arguments, this paper will prove that Disney’s adaptation into The Princess and The Frog is counter-productive in representing the original story’s messages, morals, and values.
The animated film Shrek is a Dreamworks fairy tale that teaches us to look beyond what we expect to see, by completely subverting the traditional fairy tale concepts of gender, appearance and beauty. The characters in Shrek are vastly different from what we would expect to see in their appearance and behaviour. With unexpected plot twists, the directors of Shrek create important messages and morals that would not usually be conveyed, using techniques such as humour. The techniques have been placed strategically to result in an entertaining and educational film.
One popular camera technique used in films is panning. Camera panning can emphasize emotion in films. According to a writer on camera techniques, "Following the subject's gaze down to the floor may symbolize rejection or desperation and loss. The moves work because they are related to your story" (Stevenson). In the movie Requiemfor a Dream, panning came into play in a particularly important scene. Marion, a main character, was walking down a hallway. She just had sex with someone she didn't like to get some money for drugs. The camera was right in front of her face, and portrayed the emptiness in her eyes. She was glancing towards the floor and looked like she was going to throw up. The camera also followed her face so closely, that you could tell how fast she was walking. The panning portrayed her feelings and actions so well, that it made the scene more interesting. It was a lot better than just seeing a view of someone head-on.
When the word “fairytale” is mentioned, nearly everyone thinks of light-hearted stories with friendly characters and happy endings. However, these are not the ideas that classic fairytales originally sparked. In fact, numerous modern Disney movies were based off stories that were not so sugar coated. In the 19th century, the Brothers Grimm were responsible for multiple of these popular children’s tales. The Disney remakes of classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Tangled, and Snow White exclude the dark, twisted themes that are significant in the Brothers Grimm fairytales, because society tendencies continue to evolve toward sheltering and overprotecting young children.
In today’s modern age, young children are being raised by their TV screen. Reining from the original tales of Perrault and the Grim Brothers, the Disney princess line has been a staple on the screens since the 1930s (Do Rozario 1). However, these princesses have gone through dramatic changes to remain relevant to todays youth. The effects that can be influenced by the roles expressed in these types of films send mixed messages to the audience, causing them to ask themselves whether or not they should believe what the princess is expressing on the screen.
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.