Donkey follows Shrek home and persists on annoying Shrek and begs to stay with him and is left to stay outdoors. When Shrek is having his quiet meal three blind mice who begin to annoy Shrek. Shrek soon finds out that the Fairy tale creatures have been forced on to his swamp by Lord Farquaad, this leads Donkey and Shrek to set off for Duloc. This shows that Shrek likes his privacy and it shows that he has a heroic side as well, even though it was not intentional.
When Shrek and Donkey arrive at Duloc they find that the town is deserted and they soon embark upon a battle royal to rescue the Princess. Shrek becomes the target and says ‘Can’t we settle this over a pint?’ This suggests that Shrek is not really a violent character and only uses fighting as a last resort. Shrek agrees to Lord Farquaad, to go on the quest to save the Princess in exchange for his swamp back. Upon the first leg of their journey Donkey says that Shrek should ‘Pull some of that ogre stuff,’ and suggests that Shrek isn’t remotely scary. In response to this Shrek says ‘So you want me to decapitate an entire village – cut open their spleens...’ Donkey is put back by this idea and Shrek reveals that there is more to ogres than it seems. This shows that Shrek is not a conventional ogre who is violent and vicious.
Shrek is seen by the other characters, as unconventional. This is apparent when Shrek meets Princess Fiona. Princess Fiona in shaken violently by Shrek and she is disappointed that she did not get her romantic moment. Princess Fiona is in shock when she hears that Shrek hasn’t slayed the dragon in which Shrek says ‘Its on my to-do list.’ This shows that Shrek is not a conventional hero and that he has a human side.
We find out hat the Prince is not the flawless and heroic character in this film, in fact he is sinister, evil and....short. Unlike a conventional Prince who falls in love with the Princess we see a parody of this when Lord Farquaad chooses Princess Fiona in an unconventional ‘Blind Date’ style. We see Lord Farquaad’s evil side when he is torturing the ginger bread man taunting him with his own rhyme ‘run, run, run as fast as you can you can’t catch me I’m the ginger bread man.’ In the end of the film, Lord Farquaad shows his true motive for marrying Princess Fiona when he sees her as an ogre he orders her to be locked up.
The importance of camera shots, are used to give effect to the scene. A close-up is used when Shrek is roaring at the villagers, giving Shrek a menacing appearance. A low angle shot is used when the knight is looking up towards Shrek giving Shrek a fierce and threatening appearance. High angle shots are used to give the effect of one looking down upon someone. A high angle shot is used when Lord Farquaad is looking down on Shrek, giving Lord Farquaad a powerful impression. Mid angle shots are used to give the audience a sense of relaxed atmosphere. This is shown when Shrek and Donkey are relaxing after Princess Fiona has cooked them breakfast. The position of the characters give the audience the sense of emotion about a character for example, when Shrek has his back to the fire after Princess Fiona has gone to bed. This gives the impression of lowliness and solitude towards the audience.
The settings of the characters are traditional yet has a contradiction to the characters traditional role. Shreks swamp is that of which is expected by an ogre, yet fairytale creatures follow Shrek into there, even though Shrek wants his solitude. Lord Farquaad’s castle is regal and beautiful, yet its tall towers, dark corridors and guards in balaclavas give the impression of Lord Farquaad’s dominance.
Lighting in the film is used in to give various effects. This is used to give audience a sense of Shreks loneliness1 and solitude when Shrek has his face towards the moon. Lighting is also used to give a sense of aura and happiness. This is apparent when Shrek finds Princess Fiona in the tower and there is a bright light, which gives the impression of aura behind Princess Fiona. This is also apparent near the end of the film when Princess Fiona changes into ‘loves true form.’
The music and sound effects are used to a great advantage to contradict the conventional ogre character. At the start when Shrek is bathing and doing chores, modern rock music is played giving the impression of him as a human like character. Music is used to show Shrek’s loneliness when he is eating alone. Threatening music is played when we are first introduced to Lord Farquaad. The music at Lord Farquaad’s tournament gives the sense of Lord Farquaad’s stature and importance.
Donkey is an important character as he shows Shrek that not all judge him, this is shown when Donkey first meets Shrek. Donkey also portrays comedy throughout the film. Donkey also Shrek ‘get the girl,’ as he explains to Shrek what he and Fiona was saying. Donkey is Shrek’s only true friend and companion and helps him throughout their journey.
In the film ‘Shrek’ the producers have made a switch in the protagonist role and have made the basis of a traditional fairy tale, into a funny and heartwarming film. The producers used many presentational devices to help switch the roles in this film. The producers have used presentational devices, comedy and good old story telling to show that ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’
