Shrek Essay

1960 Words8 Pages
In this essay, I am going to analyze the characters of Shrek and Lord Farquaad, and write about how the filmmakers use different presentational devices to create an unusual fairy tale. Skrek and Lord Farquaad do not play typical fairy tale roles. The ogre, Shrek is more like a prince and Lord Farquaad is more like an ogre. The use of the camera helps us to see the charaters in a certain way and to understand their emotions. In traditional fairy tales the prince would be the good guy and the ogre would be the bad guy. The giant in 'Jack in the Bean Stock' is scary, big and threatens to kill and eat Jack. The prince in 'Snow White' and 'The Seven Dwarves' is kind, loving and gentle. He is the hero of the story. Language is an important device, and I am going to write about how language can create the impression of good and evil in both characters, and in films. The film, Shrek, opens with a picture of a book and Shrek getting ready for the day in his swamp. At the beginning of the story his voice is pleasant and you immediately like him. There is also humor. In a conventional fairy tale the ogre would be mean. As a viewer we are surprised to like the ogre, Shrek. This opening suggests that there will be many more surprises. When the storybook characters arrive Shrek is mean and tries to frighten the storybook characters and get rid of them. He was the traditional idea people feel about ogres and said old sayings such as, "I'm going to grind your bones to make soup"1. The storybook characters are not afraid, they come to Shrek for advice and help. Shrek tries to appear mean but you immediately see how kind he can be. When Donkey approaches, Shrek roars at him and tries to intimidate him. Donkey is not frightened and wants to be friends with Shrek. Donkey sees that Shrek has a good soul and even though Shrek tries to frighten Donkey, Donkey only laughs at him. Donkey is
Open Document