The filming of clay setting and models is called Claymation. Between each frame of film, the models are altered very slightly to create the effect of a smooth moving piece of film. Every second of film, there can be up to twenty-four movements of the models, which takes a great deal of time and effort. It creates an effect, which is between animation and reality.
Wallace is a typical Yorkshire man who has a close relationship with his dog, Gromit. He likes to live an old fashioned life. We can tell this from his choice of clothes and expressions. They live together in a town house until Penguin moves in and dominates the household. When he moves in he takes a liking to Gromit’s bedroom. Wallace and Gromit grow apart even more as Gromit is forced into the ‘dog house’. Wallace and Penguin grow closer as Gromit is displaced completely. He packs his belongings in a handkerchief and leaves. Wallace does not appear to notice that Gromit has left, until the next day when the wrong trousers went wrong! “Gromit, help!” Gromit goes back to the house as his new capacity as a detective, which illustrates his affection for Wallace. After the chase, their relationship returns to normal.
Gromit sometimes suffers for his inability to communicate, for example, when he was given a lead and collar for his birthday his facial expression suggested he was not keen, but Wallace did not understand. If he could talk, he would have told Wallace about the evil plot of Penguin. This is a good way of showing the audience what is happening without informing all characters. The creator uses personification to make Gromit more appealing such as when he sits down to read the paper. It does not occur to the audience that a dog is incapable of reading because they are also able to read the headlines, which relate to past or future films. Gromit shows his expressions through his face because it is more effective than if he talks, as that would seem too unrealistic. It is quite easy for the audience to interpret and requires minimum effort for the claymators.
When Penguin comes into the story, he purposely distances Wallace and Gromit as part of the plan by taking Gromit’s bedroom and playing music really loud. This leads to Gromit leaving home, which helps Penguin develop his plan. Personification is used when creating the character because penguins generally cannot operate electronically configured machinery such as ‘The Wrong Trousers’. Also, they do not usually rob museums, or listen to music, or pretend to be chickens.
The Wrong Trousers are also an important character because they assist Penguin to steal the diamond. Personification is not used to compare them to a person because the trousers are an inanimate object controlled by electronics and then Penguin. At the end ‘The Wrong Trousers’ walk off into the sunset, an example of unreality but also shows that they lived happily ever after.
Old-Fashioned language is used throughout the film. The language is significant because it shows where and when it was set. Wallace speaks with a Yorkshire dialect because it seems more comical. Phrases such as ‘tyke’ and ‘rascal’ shows that he is from northern England and does not seem well travelled. Archaic terms show that he uses language typical of before his time. Wallace always tries to be courteous and uses polite phrases even when he had been locked in the cupboard by a penguin., ‘Excuse me….’.
Wallace is the only character in the film that speaks. He is responsible therefore for all the verbal communication to the audience. However, the story is not told through Wallace’s point of view, as there are other characters. Gromit and Penguin are unable to speak but can communicate to the audience through actions and expressions.
The music, camera movement and the camera angle create the mood. For example, in the opening sequence, the orchestration was brass therefore giving a punchy and upbeat beginning. This suggests to the viewer that the film will be light hearted and happy.
The camera films slowly along the corridor of their home, which acts as an introduction to their lifestyle. In the first few seconds, the audience already knows that the film is about a man and his dog. The frightening music when it comes to the wrong trousers suggests that it is dramatic.
The mood is expressed also by the speed of camera movement. For example, if the camera was moving slowly (Gromit discovering Penguin operating the trousers) the atmosphere would be tense. In the climactic finish (the chase scene) the camera was moving fast with the figures to portray the exiting action taking place. Music is a key factor for conveying the action.
Music and sound effects are important when creating the correct mood for the scene. To illustrate this, when Gromit is in the kennel contemplating whether to leave home, the pace of the music was slow. This creates an emotive impact on the audience. The music was in a minor key, which makes it depressing and had a small range, which focuses the mood. The visual effect of Gromit’s eyes watering worked with the strings to produce a maximum impact on the viewer. A happy tune is played at the beginning to show that the film is easygoing.
The opening tune is played by brass instruments typical of northern England. This represents the humour to come. In the robbery scene, various sound effects are used. When Wallace is entering the building through the metal tunnel, the audience can hear the ‘clank’ of the metal but are unable to see the clay figure moving. This saves time and effort on the claymators behalf. When the alarm in the museum sounds, the atmosphere changes from tense to frantic as Penguin tries to control the trousers and escape. The sirens alert the audience to potential danger. In many cases sound effects are used to make actions seem lifelike. However, in some parts of the film, reality cannot be saved by them.
The chase scene is packed full of actions which would not normally happen. When the train track runs out, Gromit scoops up a track piece box and rebuild the track while the train is still in motion. The box oddly never seems to run out of track pieces. At one point in the chase, the miniature train is supporting the weight of a Penguin, a man and a dog without slowing down or showing any signs of strain. Penguin managed to balance himself on a single carriage whilst travelling at full speed before catapulting himself into the air and landing in a milk bottle. The amount of unreality in the film should not be able to make it seem real although the audience will not rationalise because of the action. In the chase scene, with events happening so quickly, it is easy to not notice the unreality.
There are various types of humour used in the film to make the audience laugh. There is adult humour, “A touch painful on re-entry, Gromit”, when Wallace fell down into the trousers. The majority of humour in the film is aimed at a wide range of people, which made it suitable for family viewing. There were occasional moments of childish humour such as when Gromit gets squirted in the face with jam. The creator chose to make the film suitable for all by using different levels of humour to satisfy people of different personalities. He does this because he wants more people to enjoy the movie.
In conclusion, the text communicates with the audience with the assistance of Claymation, musical backup, sound effects and humour as well as straightforward oral approach. Claymation is appealing to the creator because it can add comical value to the text and is effective in communicating action. The text is backed up by other devices to clarify the points and improve the level of communication via claymation, so that the movie is appealing to the audience.
