Another presentational device is the music—slow but dangerous. Ginger is imprisoned, the limit is the fence and she has to get through it somehow, which makes it unsafe as the dogs can sense her from any place. The music shows that this is risky. This connotes that Ginger may lead into a tragic accident. The children would become tense and this intensity of the music would make the children wonder if Ginger is in any kind of danger which would make them sympathetic towards Ginger.
The next scene shows Ginger giving a speech to the chickens about freedom. The camera shot used here is a mid-angle shot. This not only shows her body but also allows other characters into the scene. This is a more sociable event, which involves more character interaction. When Ginger speaks you can see the other characters reactions. It shows their admiration towards Ginger and the ‘thrill’ of freedom. Ginger is making other characters feel joyful which makes her a good chicken. The mid-angle shot can show the children the enthusiasm of the chickens and realise how they adore and respect Ginger, so if the other chickens would listen to her as well as respect her then this shows that Ginger is a good character.
Filmmaker’s have used presentational devices also to show Ginger’s kind-heartedness. The character’s hand gestures were very motivating—her determination impressed everyone as she had everyone’s attention. Her inspiring speech was about the free land behind the mountains. Ginger wanted to design an image inside their minds plus in the children’s mind. This allows the children to see she can influence the other chickens and know that she has a good dream. This speech describes how the chickens can do anything when they are released in addition, how peaceful and beautiful it would be. The children might like her talk about a peaceful life which emphasises she is good. The music is very ‘dreamy’ and also very romantic. It creates a sensational atmosphere. The music is also pleasant, calm and delightful. It symbolises the mood; it also makes the audience feel cheerful. This displays that Ginger is a good character. However, even though Ginger sometimes does bad things e.g. blackmail Rocky, the children can forgive her. This is because she only uses these bad alternatives if it is the last resort. She also does this in order to help herself and others — she had to blackmail Rocky so that he can help them escape by teaching them to fly. Ginger uses these options in order to gain something good, which shows that she is a good character.
At the start of this film, there are barely any colours but the establishing-shot in this scene shows that all you can detect is colour. The whole cabin is crammed with diverse coloured chickens. There are also bright pictures around the room. This distinctive background would make the children more comfortable and it would brighten their day! One picture is shown while Ginger is hugging it—it contains a green-land area including the sun. This simple sketch would be found lovable by the children because it shows her hugging the picture like a child hugging his/her teddy bear, this would make her seem childlike as well as safe — her naïve actions would make the children believe that she is good.
Nevertheless, the scene after this shows that Ginger, after attempting many methods of persuasion has been unproductive loses her spark of hope. Alone, Ginger has doubts about escaping as she says to herself-“There’s no hope.” Ginger is outside in the dark; she is shown behind the fence from waist up-wards. This camera shot is called a mid-angle shot. This allows the children to see the way Ginger is holding on to the fence — she is very weak and her position shows that she is in need of support; otherwise she might fall. The children can also see her facial expressions through a close-up shot. This shows Ginger’s emotions — she is feeling low-spirited, alone furthermore, she is desperate to find any way to escape but she knows that there is no hope. The impact this has on the children is that they will feel sorrowful and they might say, “Why is Ginger sad, mummy.” These camera shots create an atmosphere of pity towards Ginger which gives the children the impression that there is no one to help her through this friendless situation which makes Ginger a good character.
The devices used in this scene also unveil the good in Ginger. Ginger’s position shows that she is gripping on to the fence or else she might fall. But she does not fall physically although; she does fall emotionally. This is because all faith is lost within her self; there are no more creative ideas in her intelligent mind. She then closes her eyes and lowers her head. The effect this has on the children is that they too might lower their head’s, as they might be able to feel her pain. They might ask, “Why isn’t anyone helping her?” This emphasises that Ginger is a good character.
Another device that is mise-en-scene (French term for ‘put on stage’) is the colour. The background, which is the sky, is a dark blue colour. Ginger’s eyelids are purple (similar to the background colour). These colour’s signifie the mood of Ginger — dismal and solitary. The colour of the sky could also represent that Ginger has the blues! These colours show the sadness surrounding her, which makes Ginger vulnerable and dim (not bright as first seen). The children might feel grievous towards her, as the colours make her look meaningless. She is behind the fence and the camera is facing her through the fence — it portrays that the children are free and are looking at a prisoner chicken. They will feel sorry that this chicken is imprisoned. It would seem to the children that they are unable to help this poor chicken, as they are powerless, it makes them wonder; what has this chicken done to deserve this? They will realise that Ginger is innocent — this demonstrates that Ginger is good.
The reason that Ginger is out alone in the cold dark night is because her friends won’t believe that they have any chance of escaping. But she is not angry, or else she would be shouting, kicking props about and yelling foul words! Instead her voice is low and gentle, which doesn’t frighten the children. This proves that she is calm as well as a tolerant person, which means that she is a good character.
There was no music used to produce this exact scene — there was only silence to show Ginger’s mood. It also shows the children’s reactions, they will be silent too as there is no humour in the scene which means they won’t be laughing. After Ginger has completed her dialogues, there is a three second pause — then suddenly a big explosive sound changes her state of mind and startles the children. This sound connotes that there is going to be change, the hope of the children and Ginger rises. This sound could connote a change in the atmosphere, meaning that something good is going to happen. The children would be anxious to see what happens to Ginger. They will be delighted to see an alteration of Ginger’s emotions. This suggests that the children are happy for Ginger, which illustrates that she is good.
Mrs Tweedie
Mrs Tweedie is first shown at night, in the middle of her door way. The camera dramatically reveals her from toe to head. It is a low-angle which means that Mrs Tweedie is first shown in a powerful way, making the audience seem weak, this is because the camera is facing upwards which means the audience also have to look up to her. The children might not like looking up to her, which makes her seem bad.
Mrs Tweedie’s costume didn’t show her as a negative character. Her colourful outfit, which included; an apron (a apron signifies her as being motherly) also didn’t show that she is evil. The bright light around her made her look less villainous. However, the bright light also made her appear supreme then anything else even the children. Her facial expressions showed her more evil as she has her eyebrows in an angry frown and her eyes make her look gloomy. Her large teeth remind you of the two dangerous guard dogs. The position she is standing in — her hands on her hips, legs spread out, make her look strong, fierce and violent (like a man). When she speaks, she speaks through gritted teeth with a sharp tone, which makes her seem less intelligent as she has a northern accent. Her position, her expression as well as her voice make the children feel powerless because from the camera angle view it seems that she is towering over them — this gives the impression that Mrs Tweedie is grim.
In one scene Mrs Tweedie is inspecting the chickens to see which chickens haven’t laid eggs. She stops at one chicken and grins evilly. The camera shot here is another low-angle shot. This makes the children feel like they are that chicken, which makes them both petrified. This makes them dislike Mrs Tweedie.
The shaky actions of the chicken would make the children be repentant towards the chicken, this would make them speculate what this evil…. evil witch would do to the defenceless little creature. The chicken then prays for her life, which indicates that this chicken is half scared out of her skin! This indicates that Mrs Tweedie is evil.
The filmmakers have made Mrs Tweedie anonymous by casting her head off the screen. This permits the children to concentrate on her hands instead of gazing at her fearful face. The tape measure seems like a rope that Mrs Tweedie is going to use to strangle someone. When she leans forward, the music becomes even more tense and dramatic — it looks like that she might strangle the chicken after all, this causes a murderous atmosphere — the children who are already frightened, would jerk back or hide behind their parents. This all points out that Mrs Tweedie is evil.
The next scene Mrs Tweedie is shown in is when her oafish husband - Mr Tweedie- is spying on the chickens — he thinks they are organised but Mrs Tweedie thinks he is ludicrous. Mr Tweedie still carries on spying through his binoculars and still saying that the chickens are up to something, this makes Mrs Tweedie lose her temper. This shows that she is not a tolerant person like Ginger. She starts to shout at him while she is soaring over him. The camera shot used her is another low-angle, it makes the children seem trapped and afraid just like Mr Tweedie. Her colloquial language would make the children feel uncomfortable — which shows that she is evil.
The devices used in this scene also reveal her evilness. The reaction of other characters – meaning Mr Tweedie, who is horrible to the chickens, is instead terrified of Mrs Tweedie. This shows that she is in power and in control. This is also shown when she is rolling up the paper like she is twisting someone’s neck! This makes the children uneasy which suggests that she is evil. Mrs Tweedie starts to bang on the table – this might frighten the children causing them to back away from the TV screen. The background is fully empty; no pictures are on the wall or any bright wallpaper. It is absolutely dull and unattractive, this suggests that her life is uninteresting plus she doesn’t have any family photographs to stick up on the wall. The children probably can imagine her as an old woman in an old house without any relatives and with a ‘No Trespassing’ sign on her fence. This would make the children think that she is a witch. This thought would make them uncomfortable towards her. Her dress is a dark red colour – red signifies anger, which is the mood that she is in. However, Mrs Tweedie wears bright coloured clothes e.g. pink& yellow, but yet doesn’t seem feminine enough. Her hair and make-up also make her look less female. They are supposed to make her look more attractive whereas, they sardonically make her look more ugly as well as frightening. This proves that she doesn’t have many woman-like qualities and this would remind the children of a witch, again. This would make the children feel insecure which emphasises she is evil.
Finally, this last scene is the only scene; which shows Mrs Tweedie as well as Ginger together for more then 30 seconds! These two characters are shown hanging by a rope – in the air! While hanging on to dear life, Ginger is trying to get rid of Mrs Tweedie and Mrs Tweedie is trying to destroy Ginger. The long-shot shows the setting as well as the two characters. This allows the children to spot the contrasts between them both. This also enables the children to notice the characters mood. They can see Mrs Tweedie’s anger and frustration, Ginger’s troubled but wilful expression. They can now see that Ginger is obviously the ‘goodie’ and Mrs Tweedie the ‘baddie’. The contrasts of the colours used are that on Mrs Tweedie’s side they are black, dark blue or grey. All these colours are signifiers that signified the meaning of evil whereas on Ginger’s side the colours are much more brighter. The prop used by Mrs Tweedie is a dangerous axe and the prop used by Ginger is a harmless pink scissors. The expression Mrs Tweedie has on her face is a frightful one on the other hand Ginger has a fearful look on her face. This scene compares both of these characters. The children could easily distinguish the ‘goodie’ (Ginger) from the ‘baddie’ (Mrs Tweedie). The children can also notify this when Mrs Tweedie tries to cut off Ginger’s head.
In conclusion, Ginger — as a colour symbolises hope and determination, Ginger as the character is just the same. Mrs Tweedie, the only word that can be used to describe her is – evil. Her witch like features and her voice as well as her behaviour will remain in the children’s nightmares!
I have learned that films are not only shown for entertainment but to convey the filmmaker’s point; which I think is that animals shouldn’t be kept in cages. They want the younger generation to learn this along with things like: the world is cruel and that there are bad people out in the big world and that bad things happen to bad people. The children as well as the adults can learn from the messages or morals in this film. I have also learned that it is not only the actors that signifie the meaning across to the audience but various presentational devices. In most children’s films the ending is predictable by the adults, who know that the ‘goodie’ is obviously going to win, but the children do not know this. This is why the children are able to enjoy the film more then the adults. The children would expect the ‘goodie’ to win in films like this, but the anxiety of just waiting for the ending and the anxiety of the plot as well as the excitement of the narrative makes the film all the more enjoyable. In films, some parts show the ‘baddie’ winning and the children would say, “oh no the goodie is supposed to win, not the baddie.” This explains that at times the children do expect the ‘goodie’ to win and not the ‘baddie’. This film can also be enjoyed by adults,
From now on I will look out for any film language used in a film as well as try to figure out how the maker’s have emphasised that this character is good and that one is bad (if I can, I will try to watch the making of the film).
