Shrek

Shrek is a 2001 film directed by Andrew Adamson. When a green ogre called Shrek discovers his swamp has been take over by all sorts of fairytale creatures because of Lord Farquaad, Shrek sets out with a very loud donkey by his side to persuade Farquaad to give his swamp back. Instead, a deal is made. Farquaad, who wants to become the King, sends Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona, who is waiting for her one true love. But once they head back with Fiona, it starts to become apparent that not only does Shrek like Fiona, but Fiona is keeping something secret.

In chapter 6 of our text, it talks about transitions in the films. The transitional devices include: wipe, flip frame, fade out/fade in, and dissolve. In a wipe, a new image is separated from the previous image by a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line that moves across the screen to wipe the previous image away. In a flip frame, the entire frame appears to flip over to reveal a new scene; it is similar to turning a page. Fade out/fade in is where the last image of one sequence fades momentarily to clack and the first image on the next sequence is gradually illuminated. The last transition described in the text is dissolve. This is where the end of one shot gradually merges into the beginning of the next. Each one of these transitions were used throughout the film.

Chapter 8 of our text talks about sound. A major part of our attention to sound is the dialogue. If we couldn't understand the dialogue, the film wouldn't keep our interest. There were many attempts to make a three-dimensional sound device. In 1974, the Dolby-surround sound system was introduced. It was an audio recording system that reduces background noise and increases frequency range. This system made it easy to hear different sounds in the background during the film Shrek. It made it easier to hear the rolling lava when Shrek and donkey went to rescue Princess Fiona. It also made it easier to hear the roar of the dragon and the fire coming out of its mouth. Sound also builds up dramatic tension to the audience. It helps us determine when there will be a scary part in the film.

Film music especially composed for a film can be divided into two types as mentioned in chapter 9 of our text. The first type is Mickey Mousing. It was named that because it grew out of animation techniques. The rhythm of the music matches the natural rhythms of the objects moving on the screen. This was used throughout the film because Shrek is an animated film. The second type is Generalized Score or also known as an implicit score. It makes no attempt to match the music and movement, instead it emphasizes on capturing the overall emotional atmosphere or mood of a sequence or of the film as a whole. This type was not used in Shrek.

The first time I watched Shrek, I fell in love with it. It is a kid movie, but there were funny parts in it where adults could get humor out of it. The editing, color, and sound all had a major role in the film.