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
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available at: http://japanfocus.org/data/Screen_Shot_2014-09-29_at_2.56_.31_AM_.png
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