Michael Leunig is a commentator on the human condition who uses simple, short cartoons to express his ideas to the public.

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Michael Leunig is a commentator on the human condition who uses simple, short cartoons to express his ideas to the public. In The Plotter, he conveys the message that society operates in a created sense of urgency. The idea is that the majority of the people believe that acting too slowly upon seeing an opportunity means there will be no other chances of success later on and thus must move quickly. Another idea that arises in The Plotter is that life is a journey and not a destination. This is all shown using intriguing techniques in his interesting and comical cartoon that captures its viewers.

The episode starts out with an individual character walking towards the left slowly followed by the screen. Every step is taken with precision, taking about the same amount of time for each step to land, and this is emphasised by the musical beat of the background. The music is motion-toned as the pitch rises as a hurrying man runs from right to left, passing the individual. As the man runs past he calls out “ ”, and the individual’s response is “ ” After this, the pitch is lowered again and the individual continues walking slowly.

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Only in a matter of seconds, a lady comes running by in the same direction and as she passes she yells “ ” to which he replies “ ”. One by one, people run past him trying to condemn and mock the leisurely individual for not conforming, however, the individual remains unhurt by their sayings and repeats pleasant words as an answer to the runners. The technique of dialogue and its setting out is very important. It tells the viewer that the individual thinks in his own ways, not conforming to the society that believes in the created sense of urgency. This individual has his own objective in life and wants to live by experiencing everything slowly while others try to make him keep in touch with the real world hence the call “you wont know whats happening, you wont be clever.”

Visual techniques used by Michael Leunig to deliver his ideas include colour, foreground/backgrounding and body language. The colour of the background is natural, with the sky in blue and the ground in green as grass usually is. This use of natural colour has connotations to the natural instincts of human beings and thus links with the issue that Leunig suggests. The colour of the people running in the background is darker than the individual who stands in the foreground, possibly containing the meaning of evil in the runners, who together represent the majority of the world. The foregrounding of the individual and the backgrounding of the runners signifies the individual over the other people, as if criticising the world in the background and using the individual character to portray the world that should be as it always is with Michael Leunig’s works. The posture and body language of the characters in The Plotter is organised so that the individual is slightly hunched showing the person’s humbleness while the runners are portrayed standing tall and strong showing false confidence.

Through these techniques, Michael Leunig illustrates a simple and interesting story with deep meaning, The Plotter.