12 March 2015

Task 3 - Film Analysis (Film Animation)

Task 3 - Film Analysis (Film Animation)


1.0 Introduction: Spirited Away


Fig.1 : Spirited Away Poster

The title of the movie is called Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli from Japan, it is a supernatural fantasy kind of movie that shows a family that when on a vacation but was somehow teleported to another dimension where spirits and gods lived. The family somehow finds themselves in a somewhat abandoned town and they started to eat the food there because they were hungry. As time goes by and night arrived things in the town began to turn into a more dark turn as spirits began to emerge from the darkness and weird things began to happen, the main character was scared and return to her parents only to find out they have become pigs and soon she was dragged by a friend and tells her to escape, only to find herself trapped in the bathhouse belonging to a witch. The main character then slowly work her way out of the world with a little help here and there. The entire experience is a roller coaster as the movie shows what happens to the main character during her stay in the enchanted bathhouse.

2.0 Character Design
The movie character design is unique in a few ways, one is the drawing style that Studio Ghibli has that is different from the Japanese anime drawing. Their own distinctive drawing style has a very special feel, the drawing style is very hand drawn like and they gives a very good expression of mood and emotion and the drawing style does not goes outdate.


Fig.2: Spirited Away Character

The main character Chihiro, is very down to earth girl that is like any normal girl but that changes as her parents are gone and she has to live in a harsh condition. The character development of the main character is very good as the movie shows a normal little girl grow into an independent and strong girl.


Fig.3: Chihiro Drawing

Studio Ghibli’s drawing style is very unique and they hold out through time, the drawing style never feel old and its distinctive different than the common anime style drawing in Japanese animation.

3.0 Narrative
Narrative is also known as genre in movie field, but here the narrative part of the movie is how the story is conveyed and how it is put together. Spirited Away is a movie about a girl diving into an unfamiliar world where all the logic and senses she knows does not apply, a world where she is alone with no one to help her or comfort her.
The story begins slow as the movie introduces the characters at a soothing pace as the story unfolds as the characters drives and talking like a normal family


Fig.4: Spirited Away Opening Scene

Then as they found the abandoned village the story starts to pick up the pace and starts to speed up as Chihiro the main character finds weird happenings occurring in the village as night falls. The movie then speed ups the plot by sending her into danger and increasing the tempo for a certain time length then slow it down. The movie has a very good atmosphere and good pacing like a wave

4.0 Miss-en-scene
Miss-en-scene is considered the lighting, costume, background of the animation/movie that adds in the atmosphere and feel (David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson, 1979). In Spirited Away it give a bright and joyful lighting in the beginning where Chihiro and her family are on vacation and are enjoying themselves, as the plot began to delve deeper the lighting changes from bright to dark to convey the nightmarish atmosphere that Chihiro will face as night falls all sorts of weird activities began to emerge.


Fig.5: Spirited Away Opening Scene


Fig.6: Spirited Away Night Scene

It has a very good vibe during the night time as it feels freaky and scary at times, plus with the animation and expression of the characters it give a very good live like feeling. The drawing of the eyes, mouth and facial expression are so well done they looks very real even it is on a fictional character.


Fig.7: Spirited Away Chihiro Screaming

Crying scenes in the movie is very emotional and very convincing thanks to the well done, atmosphere setting, animation facial expression and voice acting.

Cinematography
In movies camera angles determine what the audience could see, it also the way the movie is being shot from the camera. In Spirited Away, cinematography is not difficult to do as it is a drawing animation therefore the shots such as Long shots, Close ups are done nicely that not many scenes audiences would actually ask themselves what is happening.


Fig.8: Spirited Away Close up shot


Fig.9: Spirited Away Falling shot

The shots are done properly and not many confusing elements like modern action movies where the action are too close to the camera and the audiences can only see fragments of the movements


Fig.10: Action Movies Fighting Scene

Modern movies fighting scene are fast and certain points the movements becomes blur and addition to the shot being too close the audience have a hard time to grasp what is happening it is like looking at a whole picture using a magnifying glass. Spirited Away doesn’t have this problem because even during fast movements the shots are done so that the entire movement is captured at a distance but not too far away that it becomes small and hard to see.


Fig.11: Spirited Away Action Scene

Conclusion
Almost all of Studio Ghibli’s animation films are widely considered to be a great success Spirited Away is no exception, from drawing to cinematography Studio Ghibli knows the way of striking the audience in heart and emotion. Story wise they always try to do it very closely towards humanity making audiences able to relate with themselves. However even with all the good points that was stated, Studio Ghili is still struggling with culture acceptance as the animation are all very heavy influenced by Japanese culture and the animation is still having troubles being accepted in the western cultured countries. Even so the positives of the animation are not missed by most and their animation are widely loved by all.



Reference
Spirited Away,  Google Images, [Online],  available at: http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/0dcfe3c2c4aac937273d5563ca9a029753f1acb6.jpg

Spirited Away Chihiro, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://d12vb6dvkz909q.cloudfront.net/uploads/galleries/25465/spirited-away-2a.jpg

Chihiro Drawing, Google Images, [Online], available at http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/273/0/6/Spirited_Away_Chihiro_by_Confetto.jpg

Spirited Away Opening Scene, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://cmsw.mit.edu/angles/2013/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pic6.jpg


Spirited Away Night Scene, Google Images, [Online], available at: https://swilliamson94.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/bhjm.jpg

Spirited Away Chihiro Screaming, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/043/5/9/spirited_away__stairs__by_nearinsanity-d4pjdps.jpg

Spirited Away Close up Shot, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/043/5/9/spirited_away__stairs__by_nearinsanity-d4pjdps.jpg

Spirited Away Falling Shot, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://moviemezzanine.com/wp-content/uploads/spirited-17-1024x552.png

Action Movie Fighting Scene, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://www.toplessrobot.com/co4.jpg

Spirited Away Action Scene, Google Images, [Online], available at: http://japanfocus.org/data/Screen_Shot_2014-09-29_at_2.56_.31_AM_.png






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