Donkey and Shrek are on their way to Duloc to confront Lord Farquaad, about the unwelcome visit from the fairytale creatures. Donkey says that Shrek should pull some “Ogre stuff” on Lord Farquaad. Donkey tells Shrek that the swamp was his in the beginning anyway and he is too soft. Donkey sees that Shrek is actually the exact opposite to what people think he is. Donkey feels that he is a bit of a pushover but has a soft heart. Shrek asks Donley if he should “decapitate an entire village… cut open their spleens...” he feels that by saying this he would not let his true self show, and become what everyone’s always thought of him. A hard and ugly murderer. By putting on an act he feels he can protect his self from more pain, if people think they are right about him. Like the layers on an onion protecting the core.
By this point in the film viewers know that Shrek isn’t capable of doing that even if he wanted to. As we watch the film we see Shrek’s character and are not “blind” like most of the other characters that cross his path and watch it with our minds open. Donkey persists arguing with Shrek, saying that Shrek isn’t even vaguely frightening. Instead of accepting the challenge with Lord Farquaad’s knights, Shrek offers to “settle it over a pint.” This tells us that Shrek is a very peaceable creature and probably the most passive person in the entire film. As the film progresses we learn that the events occurring are not unlike the bible stories; When Shrek appears to fight Farquaad’s knights the crowd starts booing. As soon as Shrek wins the battle, there is a little pause but then they applaud him! This is not unlike: When Jesus entered Jerusalem, seated on His donkey, 2000 years ago, and made a show of his power-hungry enemies in public; they derided Him to tell the crowds off and hush them from calling Him "Hosanna! The Christ!” the true Champion! He answered them: "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out!" So sure He was that what was written in the prophets would be fulfilled! But even Jesus could not rely on the popularity of the fickle crowds, who only 3 days later cried, "Crucify him!"
Shrek finally reaches the Princesses castle, a scene we see a lot in fairytales. A handsome prince rides up to the castle slays the dragon, then kisses the beautiful princess and they live happily ever after. However Shrek has other ideas. Instead of going over to Princess Fiona and gently kissing her, he shakes her violently. “Wake up now let’s go”. The princess (who’s had a lot of time to prepare this moment), is very disappointed, and wants it all to be done properly and romantically. After all this time waiting for her knight in shining armour, she wants a “romantic moment”. Princess Fiona is shocked that Shrek hasn’t slain the Dragon. Shrek replies “It’s on my to do list”. This is extremely un-orthodox, and the Princess is very disenchanted by all this. Shrek exclaims that cannot slay the Dragon because “he has to save his ass!” To begin with Shrek tries to behave in a threatening manner, mainly because it has been an unnecessary chore to rescue the Princess and she is not very grateful as he has not conformed to her outdated traditional ideas of proper rescuing. Shrek also behaves in a threatening manner because to put up a “protective shell”, like Shrek says “Ogres have layers, like onions” and is protecting himself from any hurtful feelings. Other characters see Shrek as frightening because they do not look past his Ogre exterior; Donkey and soon the Princess however see the “real Shrek”. He has to continually remind them that they should be scared because he is a “terrifying Ogre!” Shrek isn’t fooling anyone anymore as Donkey and Fiona know his true colours.
When we first see Lord Farquaad, he is torturing a gingerbread man. Because he seems to hold the key to finding the magic mirror, an allusion to “Snow White” (but reversal of gender). This is supposed to stroke the vanity of this would-be ruler, the little man of a 'Lord Farquaad.' Gingerbread man refuses to help him find the magic mirror that would show him the Bride that should give him the right of ruler ship, as without the love of this real princess, he is no king! Lord Farquaad tortures the poor gingerbread man saying “run, run, run as fast as you can…” as he tries to pull his buttons off.
The gingerbread man shouts “you are a monster!” Lord Farquaad replies to this "I am no monster! YOU are, and the rest of that fairy tale trash poisoning my perfect world!" We see a sort of Hitler stereotype here, a very racist man. It makes the audience hate him immediately and know he is the villain in the story.
When the magic mirror is finally located, Farquaad speaks to it: "Mirror mirror on the wall? Is this not the most perfect kingdom of them all?" To which the mirror replies, "Technically you are not a king yet, until you marry the princess!" The mirror then shows three beautiful princesses to choose from (a parody of “Blind Date”), and lets Lord Farquaad chose one of them. The effect of this is seeing Lord Farquaad’s true character; he is a mercenary rather than a romantic.
When Lord Farquaad comes to collect the Princess, after all Shrek’s work on rescuing her, says “Beautiful fair flower Fiona will you be the perfect bride for the perfect groom?” From this line we really see just how arrogant and vain this tiny little man is. He is prepared to conform to the stereotype when it suits his own interests.
At the end of the film, the un-holy wedding is interrupted by Shrek, Donkey and the besotted Dragon. When “true loves first kiss” transforms Princess Fiona into an Ogre, Lord Farquaad orders the knights to “get that out of my sight.” This shows he really didn’t care about her at all and just wanted to become King. After this he proclaims himself King, even though the marriage has been abandoned. In this film we quickly learn that the Prince is not like a traditional fairy tale character because; First of all he’s a coward. He gets someone else to do the hard work (rescuing the Princess), then waits for her to come to him. Second he’s not at all like we’d expect him to look, he’s ugly and short. He’s not the hero of the story he’s the villain.
Part B-Presentational Devices
When the fairytale characters appear at Shrek’s swamp, he tries to scare them away, the directors portray this by doing a close up shot on Shrek’s mouth. This gives the impression that Shrek is going to eat them. The darkness around Shrek creates further unease, as this happens before we get to know the real Shrek; it makes us feel that Shrek is the villain.
When the fairytale creatures arrive, telling Shrek that Lord Farquaad banished them to Shrek’s swamp, the low angle shot used makes Shrek seem intimidating as he looks down on them, towering over the characters. They then run away, as Shrek seems very frightening to them.
When Lord Farquaad is introduced, we see his guard is wearing a balaclava, and then we see Lord Farquaad’s hands, not his face. He is putting on gloves as if he means business.
The camera moves slowly from ground level upwards to reveal Lord Farquaad’s tower. This high angle shot makes Shrek and Donkey seem more vulnerable and Lord Farquaad seem superior.
Low angle shots are used effectively to show Lord Farquaad looking down on Shrek and his subjects, even though Shrek is so much taller than him. This shows us that Lord Farquaad seems more superior to Shrek.
When Shrek and donkey are relaxing together, and when Shrek cooks Princess Fiona a meal, mid angle shots are used. These shots let us know that the characters are on the same level. They are socialising with each other and no person is better than the other one.
Close-ups dramatically intensify a character’s emotional reactions. When Princess Fiona and Shrek finally realise their true feelings for each other, close ups are used on both of them smiling. The camera moves from one character to the other.
When a character’s solitude and separation needs to be focused on, the character’s back is shown rather than their face. This highlights their isolation. When Shrek sits by himself on the edge of the cliff, with his back to the camera, this shows us his feelings of rejection and that he doesn’t feel that Princess Fiona will ever be interested in him. He turns his back on the fire, and turns his back to Donkey to indicate the demise of their friendship. Shrek feels betrayed by the world; this is why he is turning his back on his problems. "Look! I am not the one with the problem. It's the World that seems to have a problem with me! They judge me before they even know me!"
In this film the way camera shots are used portrays the character’s true feelings and status in the film; high angle shots- to illustrate a feeling of authority and superiority, low angle shots- to portray a feeling of inferiority and weakness, close ups- to show the character’s true emotions, medium shots/mid angle shots- this shows the characters connections to one another (showing they are on the same level), long Shots- this emphasises the powerlessness of a character compared to their environment, zoom Shots- this brings us closer to (zooming in) or farther away from (zooming out) the subject.
The film is partially set in Shrek’s swamp. This is traditional for an Ogre’s home, to be secluded and unappealing. Yet Donkey and the fairytale creatures follow Shrek into it, Donkey even tries to set up home there. This is not as unwelcoming as we would expect. The film is also set in Lord Farquaad’s castle. This is where the torture of Gingerbread men, the presence of hooded figures, and the fight where he tries to defeat Shrek takes place. This is a place of violence and secrecy, not what we would expect. The prince’s castle should be a place of respect, magnificence and integrity. This is the complete opposite to what you would find in traditional fairytales. The settings in this film are not traditional because there are usually two distinct opposing characters (the hero and the villain). The big, ugly character is usually the villain and lives in a place where no one would ever want to step foot upon. Unlike Shrek’s swamp where the fairytales want to seek refuge and Donkey wants to live. The prince usually the hero, living in a beautiful, respectable castle. A place of decorum. This is the complete opposite. This is a place where evil takes place, not kindness.
When Princess Fiona leaves Shrek at dusk, he feels very rejected and alone. His isolation is emphasised by Shrek sitting away from the fire with his back to the camera. He is staring into the black of night, looking at the moon. The dark lighting all around represents his sadness. Once Shrek and Princess Fiona had discovered their true feelings for each other, they are pictured together in very sunny, light surroundings. Shrek and the Princess walk together through the woods, on a beautiful sunny day. The birds are chirping, Fiona is singing. This shows us how content they both are and how happy they are to be together.
At the end of the film, there is a brilliant light around Princess Fiona and Shrek, this suggests goodness and is a traditional magical fairytale ending, (probably the only traditional thing in the film!). Lighting in the film is used to show emotions, bright lighting to portray happiness and dark lighting to reveal sadness.
When we are first introduced to Lord Farquaad and see the hooded figure, there is marching music in the background. This builds up anxiety and puts us on edge. This is generally the sort of music that is played when a fight is about to take place, so we know there is going to be a battle. As soon as Shrek enters the arena, organ music starts playing (which usually represents an important event that is about to take place). This shows us how important this fight is and that Lord Farquaad is of a high status. When Shrek overhears Donkey and Princess Fiona’s conversation, he misinterprets what they say. He thinks that Fiona is talking about Shrek and how ugly he is, but really she is talking about her self (after her night transformation). He is very disheartened by the thought that Princess Fiona betrayed him and the sad music playing in the background reflects this. When Shrek goes home, a song about broken dreams and promises is playing. This really reflects the way Shrek is feeling, he feels let-down by Fiona and by the world his misery is captured by this song. Even Donkey and the dragon start crying by the impact this song has on them. The film makers use music and sound effects to emphasise the dramatic result of the event that has occurred. Like when Shrek overhears Princess Fiona and Donkey talking, and the sad music starts playing, this really exaggerates the misery.
Donkey follows Shrek back to his swamp and ignores the “beware of Ogre” sign. He obviously sees the real Shrek and doesn’t see him as any kind of a threat. Donkey refuses to listen to Shrek’s advice to leave him alone. Donkey knows that underneath all the “layers” of Shrek he is really a nice Ogre and doesn’t really mean it. At the tournament Donkey teams up with Shrek and helps to fight off Lord Farquaad’s men, he lightens the atmosphere by rolling barrels into Knights. He not only shows us that he would stand by Shrek through anything but makes us laugh and takes the seriousness out of the event.
When Donkey returns after finding flowers, he notices Shrek and Princess Fiona smiling at each other. He says “my, isn’t this romantic?” Donkey is used here to expose Shrek and Fiona’s feelings. Because Shrek and Fiona find it hard to share their feelings and hide behind all their layers, Donkey helps to peel off some of these layers. Donkey is the complete opposite to Shrek and Fiona, as he is not to express what he feels. Donkey acts as Shrek’s advisor, as Shrek has been cut off from humanity for a while, he needs guidance sometimes in wooing Fiona etc. Shrek actually listens to Donkey, which shows that he cares about what Donkey thinks and has respect for him. The donkey is an important character because he; exposes the genuine Shrek, gives Shrek insight to his own feelings (Donkey knows Shrek, better than he does), brings humour into the most serious of situations, makes Shrek realise that not all people will judge him for his looks.
The makers of Shrek use presentational devices to reverse the tradition, to reveal the Ogre as good and the Prince as evil. The makers not only use brilliant characters, but; camera shots (to reveal true feelings or exaggerate a situation), the settings that are the complete opposite to what we’d expect, lighting to emphasise the character’s happiness or misery, music and sound effects to build up anxiety in us and un-certainty, Donkey to pull back the curtain to reveal the true Shrek. The film turns all the out-dated fairytale clichés on their head. It takes scenes from well-known Disney movies and completely re-invents it. This film is not only a unique new kind of fairytale, but also has a very valuable message behind it: That you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and that beauty is only skin deep. In this story the ugly people aren’t evil and the handsome people aren’t the heroes.