Media Studies-SHREK

Essay by mufctilidieHigh School, 10th grade August 2005

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In this assignment I am going to analyse the main character Shrek and Lord Farquaad and how the makers use different presentational devices to break the stereotype and tradition.

In traditional fairy-tales ogres are man eating beasts. The prince usually rescues the princess; they marry and live happily ever after. I am going to show how the makers of Shrek use different presentational devices to reverse this tradition, to reveal the ogre as good, and the prince as evil.

One thing I noticed in this film is the language and accent used, the way Shrek and Lord Farquaad speak. There is an obvious Scottish accent from Shrek. The makers have done this so you can relate to the character and maybe sympathise with him. If he spoke in a different accent it wouldn't have the same affect. Lord Farquaad has an authoritive and loud voice. This is to create a tall, strong and great king but actually he is very small- this is a joke that fits in with the film.

This is definitely a comedy for all ages, most jokes fit in with the older humour for the adults and the younger slapstick comedy for the children. For example, Shrek's joke about the size of Farquaad's kingdom saying he is trying to compensate for something. This works very well- younger people will think he is talking about his size but older people will think it's about the size of his genitals. Jokes are all through the film right from the start. At the start it seems that a traditional fairytale is being read, until a big green hand rips out the last page and a toilet flush, which makes you think it, was used as toilet paper. More modern music starts; this suggests that it will not be a...