The producers are Aron Warner, John.H.Williams, and Jeffrey katzenberg. It was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and the amazing visual effects supervisor was ken bielenberg.
The film ‘shrek’ took over 3 years to make it was started in 1998 and completed in 2001. The cast of the film ‘Shrek’ also add to the humour. When you take the talent of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow, you couldn’t have more fun, and because of the comic genius of all of them you couldn’t get more outrageous.
The story has an important message that we should not judge people by appearances alone, but to see people for what they truly are. It also tells you that you should love yourself for who you are and that beauty is on the inside, not the outside. Each of the characters comes to understand that there are some wonderful warts and all about who they are. Donkey is the first person to see Shrek as more than just an ogre.
I have chosen two scenes from the film ‘Shrek’, to show how it appeals to a wide range of audiences.
The first scene that I have chosen is the rescue scene, this is the scene where Shrek and Donkey have been sent to rescue Princess Fiona from a tower guarded by a dragon, so that Shrek can get his swamp back. The visual effects in this scene are amazing- especially with the fire following Shrek and Donkey, in this part of the scene they use dramatic use of colour. e.g. reds, oranges and black to make the fire look really life like. They also use slow motion in this part, so that you can see the fear on Donkey’s and Shrek’s face. They use good close up camera shots on the bridge which focuses on a character’s emotions. For example, Donkey’s fear of heights when walking over the bridge! This is made funny because Donkey is panicking and shouting, as he is usually really laid back and cool about everything. This would appeal to younger children because of Donkey’s facial expressions. In this scene, sarcasm is used a lot, for example when Shrek and Donkey are coming to the castle, Donkey says,
“You gotta warn someone before you crack one off. I had my mouth open and everything!” I think that this would appeal to younger children and older adults like Grannies and Grandad’s. They use orchestral music in the scene that I think creates drama, tension and suspense, to make you sit on the edge of your seat to see what is happening next. An example of comedy in this scene, is where the dragon falls in love with Donkey. At the beginning, donkey is trying to charm the dragon. This is a mismatch relationship. At this point Donkey says,
“This is unwanted physical contact.” I think that this would appeal to all audiences from young to old, as it is a very funny part in the film. This scene parodies a lot of fairytales such as, ‘Beauty And The Beast’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’. An example of one of these is ‘Sleeping Beauty’ when Shrek finds Fiona and she lies there, expecting her true love’s first kiss, but instead is awoken by Shrek shaking her about.
My second scene that I have chosen is the wedding scene. This is where Princess Fiona is about to marry Lord Farquard, when Shrek bursts into tell her that he loves her. This scene is laid out as a gameshow, with cards that tell the audience what to do. There are two types of different music in this scene, these are orchestral- when Shrek enters the church, this gives you the effect of what’s going to happen next. Again it is used when Fiona transforms to give you the same kind of effect. Then at the end of the scene, pop music is used to round off the scene.
The visual effects of this scene are also amazing when Fiona’s transformation takes place, it reminds you a lot of a fairytale. This part of the scene parodies ‘Beauty and The Beast’ when the beast turns into a handsome man, but in ‘Shrek’ there is a twist as Fiona turns into an ugly ogre. I think that this part of the film would appeal to most people and it really catches your attention, but mostly children. This is because the children will see the similarity between both films. ‘Shrek’ does end like a fairytale with the closing of a book, but before the end it usually says,
‘And they lived happily ever after’, but in ‘Shrek’, it says, ‘They lived ugly ever after’. I think that this is a nice way to end the film.
In this essay I have discussed how ‘Shrek appeals to a wide range of audiences’ to summarise all my points. Dreamworks have enabled the film ‘Shrek’ to appeal to a wide range of audiences, by using bright colours and making it a parody, young and old can recognise and familiarise with the already famous characters.
If you were to ask me, I would say that the film ‘Shrek’ is the best film in film history. I can watch it over and over again , and would still laugh at the bits I laughed at the first time I watched it.
‘Shrek’ really is one of a kind.
