- Darkness in the early shots illustrate that Prince Charming is evil.
- Long shot is used to show the setting e.g. a long high angle shot of the stage in which Shrek and Fiona are about to step onto.
- A long high angle shot of the a boat getting ready for sail illustrates the theme of adventure as Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots prepare to go on a journey and find Artie ‘King Arthur’.
- A long shot of the boat in the moonlit night and fog around creates suspense and mystery. Whilst the boat. The use of showing that it is night sets up the next scene in which Shrek has a nightmare.
- The use of Shrek’s dream about having a baby and the prospect of being a farther which is causing him chaos and stress illustrates the reality of having a baby.
- The shot of the teenagers in the bus passing by Shrek yell out an ‘yuk’ at the sight of Shrek. This illustrates that he is judge by others before they even get to know him.
- A low angle shot of a man in armour on a horse combined with dramatic music illustrates power, dominance, brave, hero etc.
- Close up shots of Shreks and Artie’s faces are used whilst their having a heart to heart. This is because it allows the audience to see how they are feeling whilst talking about how they both are similar to each other in that they both have not had a good farther like figure to aspire to and how both know what it is like to be alone or left out of society.
- When Shrek sees the Cyclops with a child, it makes him think about fartherhood and how wonderful it would be to have a child changing his early negative views.
- The medium shot of the fairy tale princesses ready to save Shrek illustrates the idea of 'girl power'. The use of the female characters posing like the Power Rangers ready for action demonstrates that they are ready to fight. At the same time it also shows that girls have power and this is reflecting society today and how women have more power in society.
Editing
- The ‘DreamWorks Animation SKG’ title is covered by clouds. Then a pan is used and using the institution title clouds, it blends into the first scene of the film as thunder clouds. This in turn gives the onlooker the feeling of suspense and danger which engages the audience from the beginning.
- A close up shot of the newspaper which blows into Prince Charmings face states that ‘King Royalty Sick, Shrek and Fiona fill in for King’. This sets the narrative for the film in that ‘Far Far Away’ needs a new King. Also good vs evil is shown as Prince Charming who wants to be king is shown to be evil also by saying ‘and this time no one will stand in my way’, whereas Shrek (and later we learn Artie) are the rightful king, not charming.
- After King Harold’s death, somber music combined with shots of empty streets and sad people at the funeral illustrate the sad loss of the king.
- A long shot of the kings castle and a man in a hood looking at the castle creates mystery. Also by the hooded character (prince charming) facing the kingdom it demonstrates that he’s coming to the kingdom. Also the use of a hood makes the character mysterious which in turn engages the audience to find out who it is
- Darkness combined with some low key lighting within the pub full of fairy tale villains is used to create danger and suspense.
- When Fiona is about to say what Shrek reaction to having a baby was the dragon lets out a roar of fear. Although the roar from the dragon is to signal a warning that danger, in the form of prince charming and his evil fairy tale friends are coming, the roar also represents Shrek’s reaction to being a farther. The director has used the roar to signal danger ahead and Shrek reaction to having a baby.
- A montage is used at the end of the film showing Shrek and Fiona enjoying parenthood.
- Lots of fast cuts are used when Prince Charming and the evil fairly tale creatures attack to create action, suspense, danger which in turn keeps the audience gripped.
- As the gingerbread man is threatened by Captain Hooks’ hook, a montage of his life is used from when he was created to school, graduation, love, marriage etc.
Sound
- Mysterious non-diegetic sound is used to set the tone and atmosphere.
When Prince Charming says ‘One day you’ll be sorry’, this shows that he is evil in that he will seek revenge, which is something associated with evil. - ‘An ogre as king, I don’t think that is such a good idea’. This illustrates that he lacks self confidence in himself as it is irregular to have an ugly creature such as an ogre running a kingdom (society).
- As Charming enters the small pub with all the evil fairy tale characters, contrapuntal music is used. This then suddenly stops when Charming says ‘to all my friends’, however the response to this is ‘we’re not your friends’. At the same time dramatic dark music is used to tension is created.
- ‘Happily ever after’ is what Prince Charming and the other evil fairly tale people want as in the normal fairly tales they were the ‘losers’.
- “People used to think that I was a monster, and for a long time I believed them, but after a while you learn to ignore the names people call you and just trust who you are”.
- “Once Shrek arrives in Far Far Away, he’s doomed”. This sets up the ending of the film where the princesses are trapped and Shrek (proppian hero) has to come and save them.
- “Ok girls, from here on out, were going to take care of business ourselves”. This demonstrates that the female characters are taking charge/control of the situation. This illustrates female power and equality with men.
Mise-en-scene
- Costume-
1. Puss in boots wears boots - Lighting-
1. Low key lighting is used in the pub filled with the villain fairly tale creatures.
2. Low key lighting is used when Shrek and Artie are having a heart to heart next to the fire whilst sitting outside in the night sky. - Acting-
1. Prince Charming riding a horse and setting of to save the princess - Make up-
- Props-
1. horse
2. stage
3. Puss In Boots sword - Setting-
1. theatre
2. Palace (Kingdom) Woods
S.H.E.P
- Society-
1. Appearance is important within society. E.g. you cannot have someone ugly running as prime minister and a similar chase for Shrek, you cannot have a ogre running a kingdom.
2. Having a baby can be a handful
3. Pregnancy is both joyful and stressful
4. Parenthood is tough
5. The medium shot involving two teenage girls gossiping and talk about boyfriends etc. “So then I was all like I’d rather get the black plague and lock myself in a iron maiden then go out with you”,” Eh Totally” relates to the stereotype of teenage girls in high schools and colleges at our current time and how they tend to gossip and talk about boys, dating, proms etc.
6. This shot is then followed by Shrek going up to a pair of ‘nerds’ who make a ‘nerdy’ joke, with Shrek saying “I know your busy not fitting in”. This demonstrates that smart people in school who tend to be called ‘nerds’ do not fit in within the other students at the school as they are ‘not cool’.
7. The medium shot of the crowd laughing at Arthur in the assembly illustrates how Arthur is embarrassed in front of the school and show he does not fit in as he is referred to as “the mayor of loserville”.
8. Having a baby can be stressful. When Fiona receives presents from the other fairy tale princesses, Snow White gives her one of the 7 dwarfs who is the babysitter because having a baby “You know what happens (having to look after a baby), your tired all the time, you’ll start letting yourself go, scratch marks, say goodbye to romance”. This sends out the message to the audience (adults) that having a baby is tiring, hard work and you have to sacrifice a lot as it takes away a lot of your life. At the same time a baby is also shown an s a way of keeping a marriage strong as “having a baby is only going to strengthen the love Shrek and Fiona have’.
9. Taking slang is associated with the youth of today. “If you think that this mad scene ain’t dope, I feel you dude, I mean I’m not trying to get up in your grill, or raise your roof or whatever…”. When Shrek tires to get onto Artie’s good side he communicates with him using slang as it is associated with teenagers. This is because Shrek feels this is the best way to get on Artie’s good side.
10. By Fiona and the princesses becoming the all action heroes in attempting to rescue Shrek, it reflects in our current society that females have more power than before and that they are equal to men. - Historical-
1. A Viking is used to sail Shrek, Donkey and PIB (Puss in Boots) to the place where King Arthur can be located. - Economical-
1. The third SHREK movie has shattered the opening weekend record for an animated film after raking in over $122 million (GBP61 million) at the U.S. box office. Shrek the Third has exceeded expert expectations by scoring the third-biggest opening of all time - easily taking over the U.S. number one spot from another second sequel, Spider-man 3. Analysts expected the film to gross between $80 million (GBP40 million) and $110 million (GBP55 million), but the film streaked past the record set by Shrek 2 to make animation history - Policitcal- 1. Females in society have more power/equality which is similar in Shrek as Fiona has power as she is a princess
Other Notes
- Institution- ‘DreamWorks Animation SKG’
Comedy is a central element to the films success e.g. - you really need to get some pyjamas’. - A wide variety of fairy tale creatures and characters are used throughout the whole film.
- The film tends to use intertextuality e.g. Donkey refers to Worcestershire sauce. By Donkey having said Worcestershire sauce “Worcestershire, like the sauce, mmm, it’s spicy” in an aspect the sauce brand have sublimely promoted and advertised their sauce within a summer blockbuster film. In addition the use of intertextuality adds to the comedy in the way it is embedded into the script.
- The use of Merlin and his magic spell illustrates fantasy.
- When Shrek (the hero) is locked up, it makes the audience feel that if the hero has been beaten which is going against Props theory of good vs evil and good always winning, who will save him or how will the film end. However, the film challenges the female’s power by making them the heroes as they attempt to rescue Shrek.
- There is cohesion within the film. At the beginning Prince Charming was on a show in which ended horribly and he was left embarrassed, however in the end Charming is repeating the play and this time he is getting his revenge on Shrek. However just like the first play Charming is left beaten and embarrassed
- Ideology/message- Artie: “Just because people treat you like a villain, or an ogre or just some loser, it doesn’t mean you are one. The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself, if theirs something you want or someone you really want to be then, then the only person standing in your way is you.” As this film is primarily aimed at children, it contains ideologies and values in which the children can learn. One message is that if you are someone who is always lonely and left out because your different to everyone else, you should not take heart to what people say about you or how they treat you and that if they say your something, “it doesn’t mean you are one” and the most important thing is what you think of yourself and “if you want to do something you want or someone you really want to be then only person that’s stopping you from doing it is “you”. In addition, earlier Charming made an dramatic and inspiring speech to persuade the villains to join him to live out their happily ever after, similarly Artie does the same but to change the villains minds/views that Charming injected into them and to save his friends.
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