Shrek Term 4 Unit 2 Study of a Film Text

Know the Film You will be watching the film Shrek in three different parts. After you have watched each section with your teacher, you need to answer a series of questions. It will take 3 lessons to complete the viewing of the film.

It is important to remember we are watching the film to understand the messages, themes and meanings behind it. It is important that you constantly reflect and comprehend what has just happened. This will help you become critical thinkers in the future.

Lesson One: Watch Shrek from 0:00 to 0:27 (Just before they arrive at the dragon castle). Answer the following in your books: Characters: 1.  Make a list of the main characters we have met today. 2.  Choose one of those characters and describe them in detail:

a.  What do they look like? b.  How do they behave? c.  What is their attitude towards others? d.  Are they a stereotype? Which one? How?

Setting: 1.  Make a list of the different places the story takes place in this part. 2.  Select one setting and describe it in detail using a Y chart:

a.  What does it look like? b.  What music was used in the film during this section? c.  How does it make the audience feel?

3. What does the setting say about the characters who live in these areas? Plot: 1. In your own words, describe what has happened in the story so far. Use full sentences.

Extension Task – Answer the Following:

Already, the film has made several references to popular culture and traditional fairy tales. How has the movie treated these references? Do they challenge or support traditional fairy tales? Why do you think the movie decided to treat these references in this way? How would it appeal to audiences?

Know the Film Lesson Two: Watch Shrek from 0:27 to 1:02 (Fiona finds Shrek’s flower outside her door). Answer the following in your books: Characters: 1.  Today we met Princess Fiona. In the last 30 minutes, her character has changed:

a.  How does Princess Fiona behave at the start of this section? (How does she talk, how does she treat others, what are her expectations for her rescue?)

b.  When does Fiona begin to change? How has she changed throughout this section of the film?

c.  What stereotype she breaking? Setting: 1.  Make a list of the different places the story takes place in this part. 2.  Select one setting and describe it in detail using a Y chart:

a.  What does it look like? b.  What music was used in the film during this section? c.  How does it make the audience feel?

3. What does the setting say about the characters who live in these areas? Plot: 1. In your own words, describe what has happened in the story so far. Use full sentences.

Extension Task – Answer the Following:

The film has now made several comments about belonging and being true to who you really are. Which characters struggle the most with being comfortable with who they are and fitting in with their fairy tale society? What does this say about us and fitting in with our society? How does the use of fairy tale creatures and stories effect the audiences understanding of the message?

Lesson Three: Watch Shrek from 1:02 to the end. Answer the following in your books: Characters: 1.  For the following characters, write what has changed about them from the start of

the film: (not just physically, but how they behave and think about themselves) a.  Shrek b.  Princess Fiona c.  Donkey d.  Dragon e.  Lord Farquaad

Setting: 1.  Make a list of the different places the story takes place in this part. 2.  Select one setting and describe it in detail using a Y chart:

a.  What does it look like? b.  What music was used in the film during this section? c.  How does it make the audience feel?

3. What does the setting say about the characters who live in these areas? Plot: 1. In your own words, describe what has happened in the story so far. Use full sentences.

Know the Film

Extension Task – Answer the Following:

The end of the film has a traditional happy ending, with a twist. What is the twist, and what is the meaning at the end of the film? What does the following mean:

How is it ironic? (What does irony mean?)

“By night – one way; by day – another. This shall be the norm. Until you find true love’s first kiss; Then take love’s true form”

Understand the Film

Now that you have watched and engaged with the film, you will participate in a class trivia that will help you remember important scenes, quotes and characteristics.

It is important to know who said what, and possible meanings for them. This will help you later on when you write your essay response.

Examine the Film When writing an essay, it is important to use quotes from the film to help you support your arguments. What you need to do now, is look at the following quotes and try and analyse what the meaning and messages are behind them. Do the quotes reference other fairy tales, or what characters should do in certain situations in fairy tales? Does the quote say something about the theme of belonging and identity? Try and explain the following quotes: (Copy the table in your books)

Quote Meaning

“This is the part where you run away” - Shrek

“What kind of a Knight are you?!” – Princess Fiona

“I’m a Princess! This is not how a Princess is meant to look!” - Princess Fiona

“You don’t know what it’s like to be considered a freak!... Well… maybe you do…” - Donkey

“Who were you expecting? Prince Charming?” - Shrek

“I don’t care about what anyone likes!” - Shrek

“It’s the world that seems to have a problem with me!” - Shrek

“I’m not a puppet! I’m a real boy!” - Pinocchio

“Princess and ugly don’t go together!” – Princess Fiona

“Ogres are like onions” - Shrek

Character Focus In the film Shrek, there are many different and interesting characters. It is obvious that these characters challenge stereotypes. But you need to figure out exactly HOW they do it and ask WHY. The director and writer made important decisions to make the audience think and feel a certain way. Many of these decisions were on how these characters would develop in the story. In order to discover how these characters present certain messages, complete the following:

Step One: Create a Character Web. The web needs to show how the characters relate and connect to each other. You must include the following characters: a)  Shrek b)  Princess Fiona c)  Donkey d)  Lord Farquaad e)  Dragon f)  Robin Hood g)  Gingerbread Man h)  Magic Mirror i)  Three Little Pigs j)  Pinocchio k)  The Three Bears

REMINDER This is an example of what your character web should look like: (Yours will have more characters)

SHREK PRINCESS FIONA

DONKEY

Saves Fiona/Love

Step Two: Read the following statements in the table below. Using your knowledge from the film, write which character(s) you believe this statement to be true for. You then have to explain your response using a specific examples from the film. Copy this table into your book. This exercise will help you respond to essay questions later in the unit.

Character Focus

Statement Character(s) Explanation and Evidence

This character believes in fairy tales

Princess Fiona Fiona is expecting a handsome “Prince Charming” to “sweep her off her feet down yonder window” (rescue her). She gets upset when she things don’t go they way they are “supposed to”. She talks about “true love” a lot.

This character is afraid of what others think of them.

This character is comfortable with who they are.

This character is longing to be accepted.

This character makes up for his shortcomings by being evil.

Extension Task – Complete the Following:

Create another table, but this time use characters that believe the OPPOSITE to the statement. Back up your explanations with evidence.

TIP – How to use Quotes as Evidence

The best type of evidence comes directly from the film or characters. When you use a direct quote (something that a character has said, word for word), you need to place quotation marks around the statement as shown in the example above. Using quotes as evidence adds strength to your argument. Especially if you are trying to explain how or why a character behaves in a certain way.

Theme Focus All movies, books and TV shows are based around a main theme. Themes are big ideas or messages that are explored throughout the text, in order to make audiences and readers think about them. It is similar, but bigger, to a moral at the end of a fable. Themes give characters reasons for their actions. For example, the themes in Harry Potter are: •  Loyalty – Ron, Hermione and Harry’s friendship •  Good vs. Evil – Harry vs. Voldermort •  Overcoming challenges – Harry having to constantly fight evil or prove himself in every

book. Shrek has some very sophisticated themes running throughout the film. Shrek explores these themes using comedy, fairy tales and the relationships between the characters. Themes of Shrek are: •  Identity and Belonging •  The search for love •  Truth •  Perfection •  Good vs. Evil

Quick 5 minute Discussion: With your table group, come up with three events from Shrek that explore each of these different themes. Write them down in your book. The theme as your heading, and your three events in dot points underneath.

Identity and Belonging

The theme we are going to focus on is “Identity and Belonging”. The directors and writers have made decisions to portray this theme by the way characters are revealed to the audience, the scenes and settings used, and what is said by the characters at certain times.

Scene Analysis – Identity and Belonging: We are going to watch two scenes from the film that clearly explore the ideas of identity and belonging. While watching these scenes you need to complete the following: 1.  Fill in the table in your books. There is an example to help you. 2.  You need at least 3 quotes for both scenes.

What are the characters saying? (direct quote)

When does the quote happen? (Context)

How does it link to Identity and Belonging?

“I don’t care, what other people like”

Shrek is trying to explain to Donkey how he identifies himself and how he feels about people around him.

Shrek does not feel like he belongs, however pretends that he does not care about being accepted. He does, however, wish that people would not judge him based on stereotype.

Film Techniques Films techniques are used by the director, to make the story in the film interesting and also to make the audience feel a certain way. When you were writing notes on the settings earlier on, you were documenting how the audience would feel. Showing images in a certain way with particular music adds meaning to the story in a subtle way. For example, by having spooky music and using colours like dark blues, blacks and reds at the dragons castle, makes the audience understand that this is a dangerous environment and to expect something bad to happen. A technique we are going to look at is called montage. Montages are a series of images and scenes with music and little to no dialogue. They show that time is passing and highlight the characters journey – both physically (they are travelling places) and emotionally (they are changing their feelings about each other).

Scene Analysis – Montage: We are going to watch the three montages in the film. For each montage, complete a Y chart. (You should fit ALL THREE on ONE page.) The three parts of your Y chart are: a.  What can you see happening? b.  What music is being used? (Tempo and lyrics – what do they mean?) c.  How does it make the audience feel and understand?

Extension Task – Complete the Following:

After examining each montage, compare the differences between the three. Explain why each montage is different. Mention the different techniques used and how the characters have developed in each.

Close Scene Analysis

Your teacher will now spilt your class up into two groups. For those in Group A, you will be looking at how Shrek breaks the rules of traditional fairy tales. Those in Group B will be analysing a technique called Satire. Both focus lessons will help you read and respond to the film in new ways. In both groups, you will completing a task called, “close scene analysis”. This means, looking at a scene from the film in depth. Describing the camera angles, the music and the characters actions that effect the meaning and message in the scene. By going into depth with your description and discussion, you will produce better essay responses.

Group A - Breaking the Rules -

From our first unit of work, you have figured out that traditional fairy tales have rules and stereotypes that they follow. In this close scene analysis, you will be looking at how Shrek breaks these rules, fracturing a whole lot of fairy tales at once. Before you start looking at the scene, you will need to revisit stereotypes.

Stereotypes: What makes a fairy tale, a fairy tale? Write a list of rules that happen in most traditional fairy tales. Now that you have revisited the rules of traditional fairy tales, you will begin looking closely at a few scenes in Shrek.

Close Scene Analysis Watching the two scenes, fill in the following table. Thinking back to how fairy tales are supposed to happen, look at how these two scenes break the rules. The evidence you gather here, will help you with your essay at the end of term.

Scene Description

How the setting breaks the rules

How the characters

break the rules

The actions that take place that breaks the

rules

Any other aspects of the

scene that break the rules? (Eg: Music, use of slow motion,

references to popular culture)

Extension Task – Complete the Following:

By breaking the rules, what message is being changed? How does it effect the audience?

Group B - Satire -

From our first unit of work, you have figured out that traditional fairy tales have rules and stereotypes that they follow. In this close scene analysis, you will be looking at how Shrek utilises a technique called satire. Before you start looking at the scene, or learn about what satire is, you will need to revisit stereotypes.

Stereotypes: What makes a fairy tale, a fairy tale? Write a list of rules that happen in most traditional fairy tales. Now that you have revisited the rules of traditional fairy tales, we can learn about the technique called satire. A satire is a type of comedy that you all would have seen, but maybe not have realised. To help with the close scene analysis, write the following in your books:

A work of satire is a film, book, play etc that makes fun of characters or popular culture by using these four techniques:

Exaggeration To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes

ridiculous and its faults can be seen. Incongruity

To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings. Reversal

To present the opposite of the normal order (e.g., the order of events, hierarchical order). Parody

To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing.

Shrek utilises the techniques of satire often, to present a message to the audience. While you are watching the scenes fill in the following table. This table will help you with your final essay.

Scene Description

Evidence of Exaggeration

Evidence of Incongruity

Evidence of Reversal

Evidence of Parody