After the dramatis personae list of voices, comes an unexpected, yet rather predictable move. A sign warning “Beware, Ogre,” Shrek takes a pride in his work of art, which is a smiling Ogre to finish of his sign. The oxymoron of an ogre, Shrek smiling, now lets the audience anticipate who is the good character. As the audience, again, would expect Shrek to become evil a smile on such a vulgar creature is out of the ordinary. This shot is promptly followed by a wanted poster, which reads “Wanted ogres, Reward”, this piece of dramatic irony, adds humour rather than worry or fear to the viewers reaction, because the audience are aware of Shrek’s humour and his larger than life character therefore consequently know that it will take a lot of people to cease and capture this creature.
In traditional fashion, the villagers are departing on a chase for the ogre. In a ‘grab your torch and pitchforks’ style. The village dwellers draw a map in the dirt and decide a plan of attack. The producers at this point are able to swiftly exchange from one setting to another using the brutal villagers attitudes as guidance. By this I mean that the director has craftily cut from a villager picking up his pitchfork, to Shrek and his cutlery. The so-called ‘potty humour’ is implemented through Shrek’s release of gas, with which he lights the fire. The fire represents Shrek’s laid back and kind nature, yet also the implied danger, which lies ahead. In order for the character of Shrek to be successful, the audience are emotionally involved with him. They fall in love with his temperament and so Shrek acts up to his almost human qualities. For example, he sits on a reclining armchair in relaxation and comfort sipping a cocktail. In actual fact, the producers are able to influence the viewers to laugh at themselves through the character of Shrek, because they can relate with him.
The use of light within this scene highlights the traditional aspect of the film. The villagers pursue the ogre whilst the sun is setting, and the shadows create a mystery and fearful element to the scene. This is the good thing about Shrek’s personality; as a comical character, he plays along with the traditional fear felt by the villagers. For example; after hearing a commotion brewing outside, Shrek looks out of his window and exits with a smug grin on his face. We later discover that Shrek creeps up on the villagers and scares them half to death. This again provides laughable humour from Shrek, as his predictability is still settling into a routine.
As the villagers stop to look at Shrek’s lovely crafted home, they comment to each other, “I think it’s in there.” This in effect hurts the audience’s feelings as they have already warmed to the character, therefore once again giving a sense of good versus evil. They are aware of Shrek’s abnormally good nature and of how any moment soon, they will regret ever leaving the safety of their village. The hunters begin to make up short stories about the consequences of crossing an ogre’s path. This is where Shrek interrupts, and puts them straight. Shrek enjoys tormenting the villagers with a loud roar. A high shot captures the superiority of Shrek over the villagers as he dominates the screen. Instead of running away, the village dwellers stand screaming in a rather camp way at the hideous creature. At this point, Shrek reminds them of the traditional fairy tale plot, “This is the part when you run away”. One ‘brave’ villager, waves a torch in front of Shrek, and as calmly as the wind blows, Shrek puts out the torch as if it were a human putting out a candle, with a single pinch. As they run away, Shrek laughs at the villagers’ cowardliness.
All of this initially makes Shrek’s character out to have a warm-hearted yet laughably mean personality. Towards the middle of the film, the audience get to see another side of Shrek. As the character is exposed to life outside of his swamp, he finds a friend and loveable companion in Donkey. Shrek is not too keen on the idea. However, the persistent animal assists the lead character in his quest to save his home. Further on from this, follows love, for the hideous ogre, when he rescues the Princess Fiona. A few crossed wires and viewers are set to see another beauty and the beast story line, but with a subtle difference. Shrek copes with this stage in the film, by hiding behind his tough exterior, just as many people in reality find it hard to cope with their feelings. He bottles up his emotions and the on-screen characters create a great build for dramatic irony. Behind this scene, is the basis and moral of the story, later to be revealed in the final scene: That the true beauty lies within, and not to judge a book by it’s cover.
Lord Farquaad appears on-screen for the first time, looking very superior to the rest of the characters, by the use of fine settings, a low shot in order to create a feeling of height and power. However as the Lord ‘struts’ up to a rather large table, it is exposed that he is in fact, a midget. This then, obviously makes the audience laugh immediately. A few shots onward and we see the first insight to Lord Farquaad’s evil side. As previously mentioned, the Lord does not portray the traditional ‘Knight in Shining Armour’ role, he has swapped this with Shrek’s character to become the evil character. The Lord, has taken a loveable fairy tale creature, namely the gingerbread man, and is threatening him by use of physical violence. He laughs and taunts him whilst observing his torture. Just after the gingerbread man’s legs have been broken off, the Lord says “Run, run, as fast as you can…” and plays with the helpless character’s legs. Then, he tries to pull off the buttons to which the gingerbread man screams “no…not my gumdrop buttons!” after which he is discarded into the waste bin. The parody of blind date, after being reminded that he cannot have a kingdom if he isn’t a king, by the magic mirror, from Snow White. Lord Farquaad, has three beautiful women to choose from and after holding a competition to capture the princess, he strikes a deal with Shrek.
When Lord Farquaad comes to collect the princess, he uses very formal language, ”beautiful fair flower Fiona will you be the prefect bride for the perfect groom?” he seems to believe that he is God’s gift and treats Shrek, inhumanly, Fiona does not like this, as her eyes tell us, however since having a row with Shrek she leaves him reluctantly.
At the end of the film. Lord Farquaad orders the guards to cease both Shrek and Fiona after she reveals her true beauty. However in comes another of loves young dreams as donkey and the dragon successfully destroy the guards and Lord Farquaad, leaving room for a happily ever after ending.
Successful camera shots are the key within this piece drama. The director uses lots of close up shots, for example, when Shrek scares the storybook characters away, there is a close shot of his mouth-to give the impression that he is going to eat them. Darkness creates further unease. Again when the storybook characters arrive with orders from Lord Farquaad telling Shrek that he needs to move out of the swamp, the low angle shot makes Shrek appear threatening as he looks down, towering over these characters and they run away. Tension is built, as Lord Farquaad is introduced-his guard is wearing a black balaclava and the first shot we see of Lord Farquaad is of his hands, not his face, pulling on a pair of gloves, as if he means business. His elevated position is emphasised when the camera moves from ground level upwards to reveal his tower. The high angle shot makes Shrek and donkey seem more vulnerable. Low angle shots are used effectively to show Lord Farquaad looking down on Shrek and his subjects. Mid angle shots are used when Shrek and donkey are relaxing together, and when Shrek has cooked Princess Fiona a male. Such shots are helpful as they show characters socialising with each other. They are on an equal footing. Close up shots are also useful for focussing the viewers attention on the characters’ emotions. Both Princess Fiona and Shrek can reveal their true happiness through close ups of the smiling. The camera moves from one to the other and back again. Sometimes the character’s back is shown rather than the side of their face. This serves to highlight their isolation form the other characters. One such example is where Shrek sits on the edge of the cliff with his back to the camera when Princess Fiona goes off to bed. He also turns his back on the fire. Later on, he turns he back on donkey to signal the end of their friendship. I think hat if the camera shots were not used effectively in the film, Shrek would not be successful as a character of as a film.
The setting of Shrek is partly set in Shrek’s dingy swamp – this is the traditional expectation of the audience towards an ogre. Yet donkey and other creatures follow Shrek into it. Donkey even attempts to set up home there. Therefore the home is not as unwelcoming as it should possibly be. On the contrary lord Farquaad’s castle suggests violence and secrecy, especially during the gingerbread man scene where there are hooded figures also when he tries to defeat Shrek in the courtyard, whereas a castle should traditionally be a place of splendour. The settings in the film are not traditional because they use modern features, such as the reclining chair within Shrek’s cottage and in Duloe there are lots of modern features such as the musical welcome and the camera.
Lighting within the film is used to show the contrast between good and evil especially through scenes containing the characters of Shrek and Lord Farquaad. When the Princess leaves Shrek at dusk, he feels alone. His isolation is emphasised by him sitting away from the fire with his back to the camera. He is staring into the black of the night looking at the calmness of the moon. After Shrek has met Princess Fiona, he is often pictured by the sunset. Shrek and the Princess walk together through the woods, listening to the birds chirping and the Princess sings contently. At the end of the film, the brilliant light suggests goodness and a magical fairy tale ending, just as is implied at the very beginning of the film with the heavenly ray of light shining upon the book.
The filmmakers use music and sound effects productively in order to convey the attitudes and feelings of the characters. When we first meet Lord Farquaad and the hooded figure, there is a marching music, which suggests a tense battle like environment. Also upon Shrek’s entrance to the arena, there is an organ music, which suggests an importance of Shrek’s tournament and the importance of the Lord. Shrek misinterprets the conversation that he overhears between Donkey and the princess, therefore prompting slow music, which allows the audience to relate to Shrek’s unhappiness. Again, when Shrek returns home, there is a long song about dreams and promises. Even donkey and the dragon begin to cry.
The first introduction to Donkey, without whom the entire animation would not be complete, is in a queue containing fairy tale creatures and owners wanting rewards. The director is able to move from the previous scene featuring Shrek, to the next shot with classic fairy tale characters such as the three bears, the seven dwarfs and Pinocchio. By using a poster advertising a reward, discarded by Shrek and sharply switching in order to keep the viewer’s attention. The next few shots build up tension, as we see the creatures locked up in crates, chained together and altogether mistreated and bullied about. After a few startling shots of horrified faces along with money grabbing carefree grins, the camera pans onto a humble Donkey, pleading with his owner. This creates dramatic irony as the audience have heard Donkey speak and so by him refusing to speak for the soldiers, they are angry and accuse the owner of lying. However, the audience know that the owner is not lying. Donkey’s terrified and confused expression, grabs the audience’s sympathy, especially as Donkey’s ears prick up and slowly slope down as to the tone of the mood. The audience learn a lot from Donkey’s expressions because the creatures have the ability to alter his features, which show his feelings and his sympathy and empathy towards other characters.
The donkey is an important character because he shows us that despite people’s hard exteriors, they are only human inside, also that courage and your approach to life determines the outcomes. For example, donkey follows Shrek into the swamp despite ignoring signs reading ‘Beware of Ogre’ and refuses to heed Shrek’s advice to leave him alone. Donkey is the comical element of the film, for instance, he lightens the atmosphere at the tournament as he rolls barrels into knights and makes the scene enjoyably funny. When donkey returns after finding flowers, he looks at Shrek and the Princess smiling at each other and says, ‘My, isn’t this romantic’, consequently speaking for the audience. Donkey acts as Shrek’s advisor and Shrek listens to him when he is having difficulties, he also acts as a go-between for Shrek and Princess Fiona.
The film ‘Shrek’ is overall, an enlightening experience for all ages. The producers successfully reverse the roles of the good versus evil stereotype characters. By making the film with this subtle twist, the makers allow the film to portray strong morals and ideas within comedy. Another successful outcome of the production is that the film is accessibly to all ages, young or old. However, if Shrek did not have all of the correct lighting, sound, settings and other presentational devices, included within it, I believe that the piece would not be as successful. Consequently, after analysing the characters of Lord Farquaad and Shrek, I have come to the conclusion that although Shrek seems on face value to be a traditional ogre, he is in fact a modernised all around nice guy, he has the personality of every girls dream man. And luckily for those traditional viewers, he does find love and lives happily ever after with Princess Fiona who takes loves true form as an ogre. From the character of Shrek, the audience accept not to take things on face value, not to judge a book by it’s cover, and reinforces the fact that the true beauty lies within.
Although Lord Farquaad looks like the traditional Prince Charming, his actions suggest that he is evil. For example, he has sent people out to rescue a beautiful princess, and yet, when she takes her true form she rejects her because of her looks and makes false claims to be King. However luckily for the princess, true love prevails.
Through using the extremely effective presentational devices, the viewers respect Shrek and look up to him because of his attitude. Shrek is able to portray his feelings to the audience, without ruining the storyline, or the effectiveness of the film. Overall, I feel that in my opinion ‘Shrek’, is entirely a hilarious piece of motion picture, there to be enjoyed by all generations, the devices used help create the correct balance of atmosphere and make the piece as successful as it has now become. Also the choice of casting has been well appreciated. However, if such successful actors hadn’t been used, would the film still be as successful?