Hi, and welcome back to Education Wise, I'm Taighlor McNally and last time I talked about media products and the institutions that make them, but today we are talking about a media product and analysing it. The film I am analysing is 'The Simpsons Movie' produced by 20th Century Fox.
Purpose:
The purpose of the film is to entertain, it's mainly a comedy containing humour, because of this, the audience like it because it makes them laugh, making it entertaining to the audience. Its mass audience are young as it is animated but 'The Simpsons' as a TV show sometimes contain jokes that adults would understand as it sometimes would include political jokes for example. The film was released on an International scale as 'The Simpsons' is known around the world but especially in America as 20th Century Fox is an American country so would most likely distribute it in the country they are located. The purpose of the film is to gain a profit as that what most conglomerates like 20th Century Fox aim for when making a product, as well as promoting the franchise 'The Simpsons'.
Genre:
The main genre of the film is that it's an animated comedy as it contains lots of comical scenes and jokes such as the Bart skateboarding scene but it's also classed as a few other genres but they aren't as obvious, as it contains traces of family genre as 'The Simpsons Movie' shows what bonds a family together and that selfishness can break it apart. It also contains some aspects of the adventure as they escape to Alaska from the C.I.A, plus a little romance as Homer and Marges' marriage are tested throughout the film. As Barry Keith once said in 1995 "All genres have a sub-genre", 'The Simpsons' does fit into a few sub genres but these can be counted as very mild as they aren't very strongly shown, it is a rom-com as its a comedy with a little romance in the film. It can also be counted as a family-adventure genre film too.
Form:
The form of the product is that it's a feature film as it's 1 hour and 27 minute long, this is about 3 times the length of a normal Simpsons TV Episode. It was distributed world wide as it was released to most countries and on its premiere it was first shown in Springfield Vermont as they were winners of a competition made by Fox to see which Springfield, out of 16 in total would premiere it. It was mostly distributed in America, I know this as The Simpsons is aimed at American families as the movie itself connotes to family values. It's been 8 years since its release and you can still stream it on Netflix, you can watch Netflix anywhere in the world with an internet connection. You could also buy it as a DVD when it was released to shops which again would of been distributed to most countries, for those different countries it may have been dubbed or subbed so that people with a foreign language could understand it. You can also download the films to watch anytime on a mobile device from Google Play Movies and ITunes, there's is also the option of illegal downloads which are copies of films, especially conglomerate movies like 20th Century Fox's Avatar. The reason they are all in different formats is to target the mass audience.
Style:
The aesthetic quality is the way something looks, The Simpsons Movie is set in modern times back in 2007. It also has some verisimilitude even though it's an animated film as it does have some real life issues in he world such as pollution and environmental problems but this is only a small meaning in the film. It also has some verisimilitude in the settings of the film as it depicts Alaska in the film as it really is, which are mountains and snow as well as it's wildlife, even though the film doesn't take it serious by making a polar bear kick a fox across a lake.
Content and Meaning:
Todorov in 1977 said that there is a narrative structure in
every film which consists of 3 main parts; The equilibrium, disequilibrium and
the resolution, in a common film this is the beginning, middle and the end, but
‘The Simpsons Movie’ has a quite complicated Narrative structure which goes
from equilibrium. The equilibrium is when the Simpsons family and the rest of the town are happy
and the town cleans up the polluted lake, but the disequilibrium arises when
Homer drops a silo full of animal waste into the lake and the government agency
EPA dome the town. The Simpsons escape through a sinkhole in their back garden,
which leads to a new equilibrium where the Simpsons move to Alaska, but then
once they are settled they find out Springfield will be blown up and out of
Homers selfishness he stays but the family break apart and Homer has an epiphany
that he needs them, so he goes to Springfield and saves the town in the end
bringing back the family and Homer and Marge ride off into the sunset which
leads to the resolution as a new equilibrium and the town are happy again.
The narrative type of the film is classed as Orpheus which Kate Domaille described as The loss of something personal, he gift that is taken away and the tragedy of loss or the journey which follows the loss. I think The Simpsons Movie is classed as this type as the loss is not just their hometown Springfield been put under a dome, but also the loss of a relationship between Homer and Marge due to him being selfish. Homer and Bart due to him not been a good father and Homer and Lisa because he ignored her warnings of pollution. The journey then starts because they are trying to be a happy family whilst saving Springfield from destruction.
Then there is the binary oppositions in the movie, which Claude Levi-Strauss explained as contrasting object that are opposite in meaning or two opposites which are against each other. So for example the binary opposition of gender is male and female, males being stereotypically described as the dominant people in the world because of past history of men being the hunters whilst woman stayed at home, and the stereotypical evaluation of women are that they are the caring and subordinate to men in the world. In modern day both genders are equal. The Simpsons Movie's binary opposition is mainly antagonist versus the Protagonist as the family versus the president of EPA who is trying to hunt them down so they don't tell people about what's happening to Springfield. It could also possibly be The family versus relationship problems.
Diegetic and non-diegetic are two types of sound found in movie trailers and movie scenes. Sound in a film can create meaning;
the diegesis of a film is the story world which the characters are in. Diegetic sound is natural to the story world like dialogue
and objects inside the film. Non-Diegetic on the other hand is only what the
audience can hear, these are things like voice overs and music. The Simpsons
Movie Trailer has both diegetic and non-diegetic examples of sound.
Firstly, the most notable sound in the trailer is the voice over. This is a non-diegetic sound as the audience or viewer is the only one who can hear it. The denotation of this is a deep voice over that talks about the films information like when it's coming out and what the story is but in very little detail. The deep voice connotes that it's going to be epic and action full, this is because the voice used is stereotypically used in Hollywood action film's trailers, it also connotes drama and it'll make the viewer want to see why 'the family will fall' which connotes that the family is going to fall apart because of a tragedy . Another example of non-diegetic sound in the film trailer is the background music. This just denotes that it is dramatic music, but connotes that it’s going to have drama in the film; this is used with the voice over to create a very dramatic effect. Next is another part of the film's music which denotes adventurous music as to what the other music denotes which is drama, the music connotes that the film is going to have adventure in it as the music's fast paced whilst the dramatic music was slow paced. Finally, there is some incidental music or rather sound effect near the end of the trailer, the denotation of the sound effect is that it’s a drum beat, but the connotation is that it’s there to create tension and build up to the final part of the trailer, but as The Simpsons Movie is a comedy, this is immediately interrupted by an immature fart noise made by Homer and it then goes onto a quick montage of clips from the film.
Diegetic sound is natural to the story world of the film, so this is what the characters and audience can hear. The first Diegetic sound example in the trailer is dialogue, every film in the world has dialogue, and in The Simpsons Movie trailer dialogue is rarely shown due to all the non-diegetic sound in the trailer. One scene's denotation is a crowd of characters from the show are shouting "We want Homer" with pitch forks but the connotation is that they are angry with Homer and want him dead as shown by the nooses in one of the scenes, which also connotes black humour in the film but isn't taken seriously and is probably overlooked by the audience but not the Simpsons family. The ideology of this scene is a bit like Frankenstein's monster as the mob of people chase the monster with torches and pitchforks a bit like the scene from The Simpsons Movie and Homer is the monster as he 'destroyed' the town with pollution. Another widely used diegetic sound example are sound effect as a film without them would just be a blank film with people talking in a unknown setting, but with sound effects it will give you an idea of where you are, a sound effect in the film that helps you know the setting is when Homer falls through the roof and the sound is wood breaking which is the denotation, but the connotation is that there was an accident or injury as something broke it by falling through it on the roof plus Homer is big and clumsy too. On the other hand there is another example of sound effect which is the kind that explains what's going on in the scene, the denotation of one scene is a bullet been shot by a police officer, but the connotation is that there is conflict going on between two people, in the case of the film, Bart on his skateboard and a police officer in a police car, this also shows binary opposition of age as the police officer is much older than Bart who is shown as delinquent and in his youth, this is very stereotypical.
Mise-en-scene is French for "what is in the frame", each part of Mise-en-scene is encoded or embedded on purpose to give meaning or represent stereotypes in the film. There are 5 elements to Mise-en-scene; location, costume, props, lighting, and gestures. Firstly, location is where the film is set and seen as 'The Simpsons Movie' is animated there is undoubtedly going to be made up places, this is like their hometown 'Springfield' in the movie which doesn't represent any real towns in the US under the name Springfield. But the verisimilitude and iconography of Alaska in the film is very familiar, it's stereotypically shown with snow, mountains, lodges and lakes, this connotes that the place is peaceful, natural and in touch with nature and this goes with the narrative structure of the film as this is the resolution, which means that its a new beginning, that happens in the middle of the film before it goes back to problems. Another location in the film is the Simpson's hometown of Springfield, this is the location at the start and the end of the film and this connotes familiarity and comfort for The Simpsons family as it's where they grew up and live so it only makes sense that this is the equilibrium, where there is balance and everything's fine, and resolution where a new equilibrium starts after the disequilibrium is resolved.
The next part of the Mise-en-scene is costume, costume is was the actor is told to wear. In the Simpsons Movie because the characters are animated it crosses between both costume and clothes as they aren't necessarily told to wear it but are designed to wear them. The protagonist who are the Simpsons, are wearing casual clothes you'd expect from a middle class family like t-shirts, skirts, shorts and jewellery, this connotes that they are an average American and this is also because the target audience is an average American. On the other hand, there is a binary opposition of classes as the antagonist is the president of EPA which is a government organisation so he is most likely high working class as they earn more than middle working class, so the antagonist wears a suit and tie which may also connote that he is more educated, important and formal as he would need to be to get a job that the high class people would get, and this contrasts against the Simpsons family which aren't as educated or important as him. The stereotype of a government official, or anyone involved in a big business or enterprise are stereotypically shown with a suit and tie which connotes that they are smart and ready for business.
Then there is also gestures and how people act in the movie, Homer Simpson in the film does a kind of catchphrase-gesture that appears in the TV show a lot, which is strangling his son Bart, this connotes binary opposition of age as Homer is the dominant parent over Bart who is weaker as he is younger. There is also a scene where Homer is walking through Alaska trying to make it back to Springfield to save it as he learnt that he needs them, in the scene he is tired and is determined to get there, this connotes that Homer is strong-willed and determined because if he wasn't he would of just gave up. The antagonist on the other hand is of higher class in society than the Simpsons and he shows this by standing up straight, this connotes that he is superior as he is trying to look taller so that he can look down on people like the Simpsons who are lower class.
Props are apart of Mise-en-scene as it's what's in the scene and can show meaning in the film as well as being an object. One of the props used is a policeman's gun and this denotes a gun but the connotation of
the gun is superiority as a gun is very dangerous and can decide if a person lives or dies which means that it holds power, especially when it's used on Bart, which is another example of binary opposition of age as it shows that the older police officer is more powerful than the child.
Finally, the last Mise-en-scene element is the lighting and colouring of a scene as this can create a mood or feeling of the scene, there are two types of lighting, low key, which is normally used in the disequilibrium of the film and the scene is normally dark, and high key, which is when a scene is well lit and bright which is normally used in the equilibrium and resolution. An example of low key in the film is at the start of the disequilibrium when the Simpsons family's home is getting sucked into a sinkhole, which is also the way they escape the dome and their life's are ruined as they have no one to go to, this makes the audience feel sympathy for the family and worried about them because they don't know how the family is going to get out of the mess.
In films they have many different camera shots, movements and angles and these like the other features can connote meaning. Firstly there is the camera shots, such as Establishing shots that set the scene for the film and a variety of close up shots which can show the expression of the characters. In The Simpson's Movie an example of a Establishing shot is when they first get to Alaska
This connotes the verisimilitude of the state as Alaska is depicted as a peaceful and environmentally friendly place, with Mountains, forests and lakes. It also connotes peaceful as it has a blue taint to it which connotes cool, calm and sedative which means that it's very tranquil. This shot is to establish the new equilibrium in the film as the family find peace their but this quickly goes back to a disequilibrium as Homer and the family fall apart after a dispute.
Next is an example of a close up shot, and this is when the Simpsons find out that Homer is who caused the dome to be put over Springfield and Marge is angry at him.
The connotation of this scene is anger and disappointment as Marge is angry at Homer, close up shots are used to show the expression and feeling of some one by showing the face and this can be hard to do with an animated film as theirs only so much detail can be drawn, especially when that animated movie has a certain art style, but with this scene you can tell Marge is angry because of what her face looks like.
Next is the different camera movements, and these can be used in many different kind of scenes. Firstly there is the tilt which can be used in different ways like introducing a character from feet to head, an establishing shot that tilts down to become an Ariel shot or birds eye view, and to exaggerate an objects movement and in this case is a scene when Marge is looking out to their back garden and then she see's Maggie's ball on the other side of the dome, which it then tilts down with the ball when Maggie throws it up in the air.
This scene connotes freedom as Maggie has escaped, but we soon see that she has just found a sink hole, this scene can be seen as foreshadowing because the family escape from the dome through that sinkhole. Another camera movement example is panning and this is when the camera moves from one place to the left or right which is typically used for a movement. In this case the movement is Bart's head which he turns to look from the right to the left which is when the camera moves.
This scene connotes a little bit of mystery as you wonder what he's going to look at. As he see's it before you, so he knows but you as the audience don't, but it isn't a big mystery as it's shown a second later.
Next is the camera angle, which have the power to connote power or weakness. The first angle is a low angle and his is when the camera is permanently tilted upwards, an example in the Simpsons movie of a low angle is when Homer is being attacked by a pack of huskies.
This connotes power as the animals are overpowering Homer as a pack of huskies are dangerous and can use team work to take down one target, it also shows it from his own point of view which immersed he audience so that it feels they are being overwhelmed by huskies, but because Homer is a main character and because this is also a child friendly movie he was only attacked by them and then left alone.
An example of a high angle in the film is once again when he's being attacked by huskies but this time it shown through a high angle what makes you feel that your looking down on him, or that your one of the huskies about to attack him.
So this scene is connoting that he vulnerable and subjected as he can't do anything to fight off the huskies, it also shows that he's scared because of his expression which Homer screaming which challenges the fact that men are stereotypically subordinate .
The final way you can use a camera is for focusing on an object, an example of this in the film is an over shoulder shot as it shows what a character is looking at or talking to. In the Simpsons movie this is when Marge is talking to Homer about what he's done as she's angry a him.
This scene connotes anger as Marge is angry a him, but also danger as you can se a mob of angry people with torches coming to the Simpsons house, which means that they are planning to do bad things with him, as this links with when they used to burn the witches or even kill the monster, in this case the monster is Homer as he is the one they want.
Next I'm going to talk about the editing techniques they've used in the film, firstly there is the shot reverse shot structure and this is when there is a shot that cut to another shot and back again, this can be used to juxtapose two characters.
In this scene Homer is explaining his feelings to Bart about their relationship and how he wants to be a better father, to transition from one shot to the other they used a clean cut transition, the point of this scene is to make the audience feel sympathy for Homer because he's wanting to spend his last moments with Bart which the characters in the diegesis don’t know that they’ll survive, this scene comes at the end of the second disequilibrium and jus before the resolution, the scene connotes a re-united relationship of father and son which has been lost since the first disequilibrium in the film.
The next editing technique is action match which is basically many different shots put into a sequence that contains action and make sense to the audience.
This scene is an action match because it has plenty of action shots, in this scene they have just saved the city from the bomb and now the dome is shattering because of this, so they have to get to safety. The scene doesn't have much verisimilitude because most of the shots defy physics, but this is expected from an animated film as it isn't filmed in real life. The scene makes the audience feel
The narrative type of the film is classed as Orpheus which Kate Domaille described as The loss of something personal, he gift that is taken away and the tragedy of loss or the journey which follows the loss. I think The Simpsons Movie is classed as this type as the loss is not just their hometown Springfield been put under a dome, but also the loss of a relationship between Homer and Marge due to him being selfish. Homer and Bart due to him not been a good father and Homer and Lisa because he ignored her warnings of pollution. The journey then starts because they are trying to be a happy family whilst saving Springfield from destruction.
Then there is the binary oppositions in the movie, which Claude Levi-Strauss explained as contrasting object that are opposite in meaning or two opposites which are against each other. So for example the binary opposition of gender is male and female, males being stereotypically described as the dominant people in the world because of past history of men being the hunters whilst woman stayed at home, and the stereotypical evaluation of women are that they are the caring and subordinate to men in the world. In modern day both genders are equal. The Simpsons Movie's binary opposition is mainly antagonist versus the Protagonist as the family versus the president of EPA who is trying to hunt them down so they don't tell people about what's happening to Springfield. It could also possibly be The family versus relationship problems.
Diegetic and non-diegetic are two types of sound found in movie trailers and movie scenes.
Firstly, the most notable sound in the trailer is the voice over. This is a non-diegetic sound as the audience or viewer is the only one who can hear it. The denotation of this is a deep voice over that talks about the films information like when it's coming out and what the story is but in very little detail. The deep voice connotes that it's going to be epic and action full, this is because the voice used is stereotypically used in Hollywood action film's trailers, it also connotes drama and it'll make the viewer want to see why 'the family will fall' which connotes that the family is going to fall apart because of a tragedy . Another example of non-diegetic sound in the film trailer is the background music. This just denotes that it is dramatic music, but connotes that it’s going to have drama in the film; this is used with the voice over to create a very dramatic effect. Next is another part of the film's music which denotes adventurous music as to what the other music denotes which is drama, the music connotes that the film is going to have adventure in it as the music's fast paced whilst the dramatic music was slow paced. Finally, there is some incidental music or rather sound effect near the end of the trailer, the denotation of the sound effect is that it’s a drum beat, but the connotation is that it’s there to create tension and build up to the final part of the trailer, but as The Simpsons Movie is a comedy, this is immediately interrupted by an immature fart noise made by Homer and it then goes onto a quick montage of clips from the film.
Diegetic sound is natural to the story world of the film, so this is what the characters and audience can hear. The first Diegetic sound example in the trailer is dialogue, every film in the world has dialogue, and in The Simpsons Movie trailer dialogue is rarely shown due to all the non-diegetic sound in the trailer. One scene's denotation is a crowd of characters from the show are shouting "We want Homer" with pitch forks but the connotation is that they are angry with Homer and want him dead as shown by the nooses in one of the scenes, which also connotes black humour in the film but isn't taken seriously and is probably overlooked by the audience but not the Simpsons family. The ideology of this scene is a bit like Frankenstein's monster as the mob of people chase the monster with torches and pitchforks a bit like the scene from The Simpsons Movie and Homer is the monster as he 'destroyed' the town with pollution. Another widely used diegetic sound example are sound effect as a film without them would just be a blank film with people talking in a unknown setting, but with sound effects it will give you an idea of where you are, a sound effect in the film that helps you know the setting is when Homer falls through the roof and the sound is wood breaking which is the denotation, but the connotation is that there was an accident or injury as something broke it by falling through it on the roof plus Homer is big and clumsy too. On the other hand there is another example of sound effect which is the kind that explains what's going on in the scene, the denotation of one scene is a bullet been shot by a police officer, but the connotation is that there is conflict going on between two people, in the case of the film, Bart on his skateboard and a police officer in a police car, this also shows binary opposition of age as the police officer is much older than Bart who is shown as delinquent and in his youth, this is very stereotypical.
Mise-en-scene is French for "what is in the frame", each part of Mise-en-scene is encoded or embedded on purpose to give meaning or represent stereotypes in the film. There are 5 elements to Mise-en-scene; location, costume, props, lighting, and gestures. Firstly, location is where the film is set and seen as 'The Simpsons Movie' is animated there is undoubtedly going to be made up places, this is like their hometown 'Springfield' in the movie which doesn't represent any real towns in the US under the name Springfield. But the verisimilitude and iconography of Alaska in the film is very familiar, it's stereotypically shown with snow, mountains, lodges and lakes, this connotes that the place is peaceful, natural and in touch with nature and this goes with the narrative structure of the film as this is the resolution, which means that its a new beginning, that happens in the middle of the film before it goes back to problems. Another location in the film is the Simpson's hometown of Springfield, this is the location at the start and the end of the film and this connotes familiarity and comfort for The Simpsons family as it's where they grew up and live so it only makes sense that this is the equilibrium, where there is balance and everything's fine, and resolution where a new equilibrium starts after the disequilibrium is resolved.
The next part of the Mise-en-scene is costume, costume is was the actor is told to wear. In the Simpsons Movie because the characters are animated it crosses between both costume and clothes as they aren't necessarily told to wear it but are designed to wear them. The protagonist who are the Simpsons, are wearing casual clothes you'd expect from a middle class family like t-shirts, skirts, shorts and jewellery, this connotes that they are an average American and this is also because the target audience is an average American. On the other hand, there is a binary opposition of classes as the antagonist is the president of EPA which is a government organisation so he is most likely high working class as they earn more than middle working class, so the antagonist wears a suit and tie which may also connote that he is more educated, important and formal as he would need to be to get a job that the high class people would get, and this contrasts against the Simpsons family which aren't as educated or important as him. The stereotype of a government official, or anyone involved in a big business or enterprise are stereotypically shown with a suit and tie which connotes that they are smart and ready for business.
Then there is also gestures and how people act in the movie, Homer Simpson in the film does a kind of catchphrase-gesture that appears in the TV show a lot, which is strangling his son Bart, this connotes binary opposition of age as Homer is the dominant parent over Bart who is weaker as he is younger. There is also a scene where Homer is walking through Alaska trying to make it back to Springfield to save it as he learnt that he needs them, in the scene he is tired and is determined to get there, this connotes that Homer is strong-willed and determined because if he wasn't he would of just gave up. The antagonist on the other hand is of higher class in society than the Simpsons and he shows this by standing up straight, this connotes that he is superior as he is trying to look taller so that he can look down on people like the Simpsons who are lower class.
Props are apart of Mise-en-scene as it's what's in the scene and can show meaning in the film as well as being an object. One of the props used is a policeman's gun and this denotes a gun but the connotation of
the gun is superiority as a gun is very dangerous and can decide if a person lives or dies which means that it holds power, especially when it's used on Bart, which is another example of binary opposition of age as it shows that the older police officer is more powerful than the child.
Finally, the last Mise-en-scene element is the lighting and colouring of a scene as this can create a mood or feeling of the scene, there are two types of lighting, low key, which is normally used in the disequilibrium of the film and the scene is normally dark, and high key, which is when a scene is well lit and bright which is normally used in the equilibrium and resolution. An example of low key in the film is at the start of the disequilibrium when the Simpsons family's home is getting sucked into a sinkhole, which is also the way they escape the dome and their life's are ruined as they have no one to go to, this makes the audience feel sympathy for the family and worried about them because they don't know how the family is going to get out of the mess.
Then there is the high key lighting in the scene when Homer is having fun with Bart as they try to retain their relationship as father and son, this connotes that everything is fine and nice as it creates the effect of the equilibrium.
In films they have many different camera shots, movements and angles and these like the other features can connote meaning. Firstly there is the camera shots, such as Establishing shots that set the scene for the film and a variety of close up shots which can show the expression of the characters. In The Simpson's Movie an example of a Establishing shot is when they first get to Alaska
This connotes the verisimilitude of the state as Alaska is depicted as a peaceful and environmentally friendly place, with Mountains, forests and lakes. It also connotes peaceful as it has a blue taint to it which connotes cool, calm and sedative which means that it's very tranquil. This shot is to establish the new equilibrium in the film as the family find peace their but this quickly goes back to a disequilibrium as Homer and the family fall apart after a dispute.
Next is an example of a close up shot, and this is when the Simpsons find out that Homer is who caused the dome to be put over Springfield and Marge is angry at him.
The connotation of this scene is anger and disappointment as Marge is angry at Homer, close up shots are used to show the expression and feeling of some one by showing the face and this can be hard to do with an animated film as theirs only so much detail can be drawn, especially when that animated movie has a certain art style, but with this scene you can tell Marge is angry because of what her face looks like.
Next is the different camera movements, and these can be used in many different kind of scenes. Firstly there is the tilt which can be used in different ways like introducing a character from feet to head, an establishing shot that tilts down to become an Ariel shot or birds eye view, and to exaggerate an objects movement and in this case is a scene when Marge is looking out to their back garden and then she see's Maggie's ball on the other side of the dome, which it then tilts down with the ball when Maggie throws it up in the air.
This scene connotes freedom as Maggie has escaped, but we soon see that she has just found a sink hole, this scene can be seen as foreshadowing because the family escape from the dome through that sinkhole. Another camera movement example is panning and this is when the camera moves from one place to the left or right which is typically used for a movement. In this case the movement is Bart's head which he turns to look from the right to the left which is when the camera moves.
This scene connotes a little bit of mystery as you wonder what he's going to look at. As he see's it before you, so he knows but you as the audience don't, but it isn't a big mystery as it's shown a second later.
Next is the camera angle, which have the power to connote power or weakness. The first angle is a low angle and his is when the camera is permanently tilted upwards, an example in the Simpsons movie of a low angle is when Homer is being attacked by a pack of huskies.
This connotes power as the animals are overpowering Homer as a pack of huskies are dangerous and can use team work to take down one target, it also shows it from his own point of view which immersed he audience so that it feels they are being overwhelmed by huskies, but because Homer is a main character and because this is also a child friendly movie he was only attacked by them and then left alone.
An example of a high angle in the film is once again when he's being attacked by huskies but this time it shown through a high angle what makes you feel that your looking down on him, or that your one of the huskies about to attack him.
So this scene is connoting that he vulnerable and subjected as he can't do anything to fight off the huskies, it also shows that he's scared because of his expression which Homer screaming which challenges the fact that men are stereotypically subordinate .
The final way you can use a camera is for focusing on an object, an example of this in the film is an over shoulder shot as it shows what a character is looking at or talking to. In the Simpsons movie this is when Marge is talking to Homer about what he's done as she's angry a him.
This scene connotes anger as Marge is angry a him, but also danger as you can se a mob of angry people with torches coming to the Simpsons house, which means that they are planning to do bad things with him, as this links with when they used to burn the witches or even kill the monster, in this case the monster is Homer as he is the one they want.
Next I'm going to talk about the editing techniques they've used in the film, firstly there is the shot reverse shot structure and this is when there is a shot that cut to another shot and back again, this can be used to juxtapose two characters.
In this scene Homer is explaining his feelings to Bart about their relationship and how he wants to be a better father, to transition from one shot to the other they used a clean cut transition, the point of this scene is to make the audience feel sympathy for Homer because he's wanting to spend his last moments with Bart which the characters in the diegesis don’t know that they’ll survive, this scene comes at the end of the second disequilibrium and jus before the resolution, the scene connotes a re-united relationship of father and son which has been lost since the first disequilibrium in the film.
The next editing technique is action match which is basically many different shots put into a sequence that contains action and make sense to the audience.
This scene is an action match because it has plenty of action shots, in this scene they have just saved the city from the bomb and now the dome is shattering because of this, so they have to get to safety. The scene doesn't have much verisimilitude because most of the shots defy physics, but this is expected from an animated film as it isn't filmed in real life. The scene makes the audience feel
tension as they don’t know what’s going to happen next as action scenes have a lot of unexpected things that happen. This scene again comes at the end of the second disequilibrium and just before the resolution, the scene connotes danger as they are putting their life's at risk when it's the action shots.
Then there is the crosscutting technique which is when a scene is set in the same narrative stage but two different settings.
The cross cutting in this scene isn't like normal cross cutting in films as the second part of the scene is only for a split second, this is when Bart and Homer having an emotional conversation which cuts
to Marge telling them to hurry up in a different location in the town, using a megaphone and then cuts back to the action.This is basically the same scene as the action match as this scene is just before and so makes the audience feel tension as it makes you ask if the bombs going to explode or not. This is the end of the second disequilibrium and just before the resolution like before and the scene connotes reuniting and danger as the bomb is about to explode.
Next, is the insert shot which focuses on an important object which wasn't as obvious in the scene before.
This scene takes place when Bart and Homer are talking, and the bomb is only partially seen in Bart's arm, but then it shows you it as a close up in his arms and you can see there is only 20 seconds left, and because the time is seen the audience probably feel tension as they know theirs only a few seconds so the audience is wondering if they're going to succeed in saving the town, this scene connotes danger as you and the diegesis characters know how longs left and it's very dangerous because, well, it's a bomb so it's between life and death.
The final editing technique is Eye-line match which is when you see the characters face, then what they are looking at.
This editing takes place when Bart is annoyed at Homer and then shows Homer looking up at him, almost showing puppy eyes. The effect on the audience is that they feel emotional because they are trying to fix their broken father and son relationship. The scene connotes re-uniting as they are trying to fix their relationship.
Production Process:
Like any other film whether it be animated or not, they'll have a production process as explained in the previous episode. Firstly when it was the pre-production stage they break down the script that they wrote, which is a feature of pre-production, into a storyboard especially when the film's animated this is drawing of scenes and shots in the film with an annotation describing how long the shot is and what camera work they are going to us in that shot. Another likely thing is that they had to go and do research into some of the locations, especially Alaska as this is the location that has the most verisimilitude and is also the most believable location in the film, this is because they would have researched the location to capture that verisimilitude, which can be difficult in an animated film.Like I said the script is also a part of the pre-production but unlike a storyboard which is more for the visual aspect of the film, the script is for the narrative of the story. Both of these features come into play in the production stage.
The production stage is the making and recording of the film, the first feature is recording of the voices, this is one of the important things about an animated film as it's what the animations are going to be based off. The making of the animation is a key aspect in an animated film like the Simpsons Movie, as it's what the audience is going to see and decide whether or not the film is successful. An example of this in the film is the voice acting they used in the film, it's mostly the same voices as in the TV show, as lots of similar characters appear from the show in the film, this creates familiarity as people will know who that character is. Synergy can also be created through the aesthetics of the film and kind of humour it has in the TV show and film. Finally it's the Post production stage and like I said in the last episode, is the editing and after effects of a film. A feature of the editing is putting the recordings and animation together and is where all the deleted scenes come out of because the company decided it wasn't up to the standards of the film or they just didn't need it anymore. the after effects in the film are things like the titles that introduce the film or even the credits of the film as they aren't really made as a part of the film.
That is all for this episode thanks for listening, today we learned the meaning behind films and the camera works and editing techniques used in the film. good bye.
This scene takes place when Bart and Homer are talking, and the bomb is only partially seen in Bart's arm, but then it shows you it as a close up in his arms and you can see there is only 20 seconds left, and because the time is seen the audience probably feel tension as they know theirs only a few seconds so the audience is wondering if they're going to succeed in saving the town, this scene connotes danger as you and the diegesis characters know how longs left and it's very dangerous because, well, it's a bomb so it's between life and death.
The final editing technique is Eye-line match which is when you see the characters face, then what they are looking at.
This editing takes place when Bart is annoyed at Homer and then shows Homer looking up at him, almost showing puppy eyes. The effect on the audience is that they feel emotional because they are trying to fix their broken father and son relationship. The scene connotes re-uniting as they are trying to fix their relationship.
Production Process:
Like any other film whether it be animated or not, they'll have a production process as explained in the previous episode. Firstly when it was the pre-production stage they break down the script that they wrote, which is a feature of pre-production, into a storyboard especially when the film's animated this is drawing of scenes and shots in the film with an annotation describing how long the shot is and what camera work they are going to us in that shot. Another likely thing is that they had to go and do research into some of the locations, especially Alaska as this is the location that has the most verisimilitude and is also the most believable location in the film, this is because they would have researched the location to capture that verisimilitude, which can be difficult in an animated film.Like I said the script is also a part of the pre-production but unlike a storyboard which is more for the visual aspect of the film, the script is for the narrative of the story. Both of these features come into play in the production stage.
The production stage is the making and recording of the film, the first feature is recording of the voices, this is one of the important things about an animated film as it's what the animations are going to be based off. The making of the animation is a key aspect in an animated film like the Simpsons Movie, as it's what the audience is going to see and decide whether or not the film is successful. An example of this in the film is the voice acting they used in the film, it's mostly the same voices as in the TV show, as lots of similar characters appear from the show in the film, this creates familiarity as people will know who that character is. Synergy can also be created through the aesthetics of the film and kind of humour it has in the TV show and film. Finally it's the Post production stage and like I said in the last episode, is the editing and after effects of a film. A feature of the editing is putting the recordings and animation together and is where all the deleted scenes come out of because the company decided it wasn't up to the standards of the film or they just didn't need it anymore. the after effects in the film are things like the titles that introduce the film or even the credits of the film as they aren't really made as a part of the film.
That is all for this episode thanks for listening, today we learned the meaning behind films and the camera works and editing techniques used in the film. good bye.





















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