Thursday, 9 October 2014

Analysing the opening for 'Up'.



Analysis for the film opening to the Disney Pixar movie 'up'.
The film is called 'up'. it was made in 2009, and it is rated a PG. The production studio was Disney Pixar and the distribution studio was also Disney Pixar. The director was Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, and the box office takings were $68million in the first weekend it was out in cinemas. There is an estimation that it has taken $175million in total so far, but it could be more since the website has not been updated in a year or so. It won two oscars for best achievement in written music for motion pictures and the best animated feature film of the year. It also won a golden globe award, a BAFTA award and an AFI award. It has also won more awards and was nominated for more oscars than it actually won.


Target Audience:
The target audience for this film was children from 5-15, it is a very colourful and happy film and appeals to children and a lot of adults as well. It is targeted at both boys and girl and anyone slightly elder as well. The primary audience would be children of any age, and then the secondary target audience would probably be teenagers or parents. The film is very happy at most of times and is very innocent, so that would be why it would appeal to children. It would probably be aimed at fans of disney or animated films. However, at one point in the opening in the film, there is almost a loss of innocence and so that makes a secondary target audience for slightly older people. However, the primary target viewing audience would probably be children to teenagers, because that is what most of disney pixar films are aimed at, and because it is an animation, people almost always go by the stereotype that most animated films are for the viewing of younger people, which means that some of the secondary target audience, which is adults, probably won't go to see it unless they have someone young with them, for example a younger sibling or child.

Title/credits and atmosphere:
The title and credits are right at the start of the film and is quite plain. In the main opening scene there isn't opening credits or anything like that, but by the way the film starts you can immediately tell it is disney. The trademark lamp jumping on the pixar letters automatically make the viewers aware that it is a pixar film. The narrative is displayed quite clearly in this opening scene, because you are shown a man grow up with the woman he loves, then the scene is shown where she peacefully passes away. This sets the narrative for the story, and makes the audience prepare for the rest of the film. The narrative is very clear in the opening scene, and sets the audience to realise what is going to happen in the rest of the film, as it is based around the old man's life. The atmosphere in the film is like the atmosphere in the opening- most of the time it is happy, but from time to time there are very sad moments. The opening scene almost foreshadows what the atmosphere will be like for the rest of the film, as it show the audience that the film is lighthearted and funny most of the time, but sometimes it can get quite deep and make the audience sad.

Camera angles:
In the opening, the camera angles are a lot of the time shot at eye level, and most of the time they are long shots. Every now and then, it will pan and follow one of the main characters, which almost foreshadows the fact that you are following their lives, and will be doing for the rest of the film and not just the short opening. The scenes when the characters get emotional are long shots, and a lot of the time the camera is panning the characters. The camera goes into an establishing shot, which shows how they will get from one place to another. After that, there is a close-up, low angle shot to focus on the characters sharing dialect, then it pans them again. Also, in the happy part of the video, it zooms in on the main characters together.


Atmosphere:
The atmosphere changes a lot in the opening. To begin with, the non-diagetic soundtrack is very upbeat and happy and sets the atmosphere for a very happy and enlightening film. You watch a young couple fall in love with each other and grow old together during the first few minutes of the opening and everything seems very happy and the atmosphere is like every other disney film- very care-free and everyone seems very happy. However, the non-diagetic soundtrack changes tone a lot when the man and woman starts to grow old, then as the music starts to turn to a slightly more depressing tune, and makes the audience prepare for the narrative to completely change. When the old woman dies in her husbands arms, it kind of takes the innocence away from the narrative for a while, and makes the audience sad. The characters introduced are seemingly innocent and happy people. The characters introduced are a man and a woman, and they are a young couple in love. They are represented to the audience as a very happy couple, because they are always smiling and ver seem to be sad. The director wants you to realise how happy they are together and how innocent they seem as a couple. The location/set is again of a very happy nature, because it is always very sunny and in a field, and they seem very happy. 

Mise En Scene:
The mise en scene includes a jar that they have been putting money in in order to afford to fly to paradise falls, a place they have both wanted to visit since they were children. In a way, this sets the narrative for the audience because they realise it is something the couple is aiming for. This is a way Disney make an object something that the audience focus on and believe it will be something involved on later in the film because it is focused on so much through the opening scene. The mise en scene and background and characters all set up the audience for the narrative.

Evaluation:
Overall, this is a very effective film opening because it keeps the audience very focused on it, and it keeps them engaged and carrying on wanting to watch more. The sad scenes, both when they realise they can't have a baby then when the old woman dies, it changes the tone and the atmosphere of the film opening. A lot is shown in this film opening in the first four minutes, you are shown what happens to the man in his life, so by being set this, you are able to know what he has been through in the past and why this old man is the way he is. This film opening has a very good start for a narrative because you are given a lot of background of the mans life, and the soundtrack and the scenery keeps the audience engaged because there is always something to watch.

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