Acting & Acting Styles, The Movie Shrek

Any movie or film you watch is made up of different types of actors. This weeks blog will showcase three different types of actors. In the film Shrek, Michael Myers is the voice of Shrek, Cameron Diaz is the voice of Princess Fiona, and John Lithgow is the voice of Lord Farquaar.

Michael Myers portrayal of Shrek could define him as a personality actor. Which for him worked in this film since a personality actor is defined as, “An actor whose own personality tends to define all the characters he portrays, so that the actor’s name alone lets audiences know what their screen character will be like,” (Goodykoontz and Jacobs, 2011).  Myers is a comedian, who brought his own talent and insight to the movie including changing Shrek’s accent to make him sound Scottish, (Legends Revealed, 2013). He is a personality actor in this film because when you hear that he is playing in a movie or T.V. show you think that it will be funny. And Shrek was no let down.

Cameron Diaz, I believe portrays a wild card actor in this film. Diaz could be portrayed as a wild card, because she is an actor that is hard to classify into one certain type of since her range of acting is so great, (Goodykoontz and Jacobs, 2011).  Her portrayal of Princess Fiona is that of a kick but Princess that knows what she wants; at least she thinks she does. Diaz first portrays a princess that is giddy that she is being rescued, until she finds out who did the rescuing. She turns from a typical princess into a Kung Fu master when Robin Hood and his merry men try to “rescue” her from Shrek. She plays a self-assertive yet hidden princess that longs to be herself once and for all.

John Lithgow could be considered a character actor in his portrayal as Lord Farquaar. His character is this film is not that long but is memorable since it is the reason that Shrek lost his swamp and had to rescue Princess Fiona. Lithgow’s part in this film is not long but without it the story could not go on. A character actor is an, “actor who specialize in playing a wide variety of characters, most often supporting or minor roles rather than leading roles,” (Goodykoontz and Jacobs, 2011). Lithgow voiced Lord Farquaar and made him sound like a genuinely self-absorbed and conceded person.

I wanted to concentrate on Cameron Diaz for this portion of my blog. I think that she could not only be a wild card but also a star in other movies. Her range of acting has put her in a spot that people what to know her every move and intimate details of her life. She has played a night singer in her first movie The Mask, bride-to-be opposite Julia Roberts in the comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding, a dowdy pet-shop worker and puppeteer’s wife in a dark comedy Being John Malkovich, new owner of a professional football team in Any Given Sunday, one third of a female detective agent trio in Charlie’s Angels, and a mother of three in family drama My Sister’s Keeper,(Diaz, 2014).

Cameron Diaz. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 11:38, Aug 24, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/cameron-diaz-9273866.

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.

Legends Revealed, (2013), Did Mike Myers Record Almost All of Shrek Before Deciding to Re-Record His Lines With a Scottish Accent?, Retrieved from:http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2013/05/22/did-mike-myers-record-almost-all-of-shrek-before-deciding-to-re-record-his-lines-with-a-scottish-accent/

Sounds, In The Movie Shrek

The first category of sound is dialogue.

The dialogue within the movie is essentially the conversation between characters within a movie, which according to our text, is more difficult to achieve than it seems (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).  Because the majority of movies in the olden days were without sound and yet were still able to portray a specific message to the audience, it is incredibly important that dialogue in more recent movies provides a variety of additional effects to its viewers.  The main reasons to use dialogue within films is to further the development of the plot, enhance the characterizations, and to assist the audience in recognizing pertinent information more quickly (Goodykoontz et al., 2011).  Within the movie Shrek, there are a couple of different scenes with dialogue that stood out to me, as the dialogue assisted in enhancing the scene.  The dialogue that occurs between Donkey and Shrek completely sets the mood for the entire movie.  They are playful and sarcastic, and it helps the audience to get to know both of the characters.  The dialogue also helps to show that this movie is meant to be comedic.  The next scene that really stood out to me was the instance between Donkey and the dragon.  Initially, he was saying whatever he could to calm the dragon down and stop her from breathing fire on him, and at the end of the conversation, he realizes that the dragon is female and that his message has actually been sweet-talking her and causing her to fall in love with him.  I believe that if the dialogue and words were different, there would have been no way for this situation to occur and he may have been seriously hurt instead.  There are also a couple of instances where the dialogue foreshadows what is to come.  The first one was when Princess Fiona, Shrek, and Donkey are all discussing Lord Farquaad.  Princess Fiona asks about the king she is on her way to meet, and Shrek and Donkey use wordplay to tease her about his height.  The second was when Donkey and Shrek were laying on the ground and looking at the stars.  Shrek says “things are more than they appear” to Donkey  while he is discussing how he is treated by being an ogre, and that stands out as Princess Fiona also has a secret that she is hiding which makes her so much more than the princess she appears.

The second category of sound is the sound effects which are inside of a movie.

Sound effects are one of the most difficult things to achieve within a movie, as they often times have to be recorded elsewhere and then inserted into the film since recording realistic sound effects is virtually impossible (Goodykoontz et al., 2011).  Often times, sound editors will use strange items to mimic the sound of something realistic, such as cellophane to make the sound of fire (Goodykoontz et al., 2011).  Throughout the movie, there are countless sound effects included.  There are a few scenes in which the sound effects stood out in my mind, as I believe they not only assisted in setting the theme for the scene, but also helped to show exactly what the genre of the movie is supposed to be.  The beginning of the movie shows a scene where Donkey is hit with fairy dust, most likely from Tinkerbell, which allows him to fly.  The sound that is included is a light twinkling sound, which most viewers will recognize and tie to some type of fantasy or fairytale movie.

The final category of sound in a film is the music.

Music plays a significant role in setting the tone for a movie, and can help to move the plot along.  Our text states that music is as important within a film as lighting is (Goodykoontz et al., 2011).  There are also two different types of music which are used within a film.  The first is the score, which is the music playing in the background of a scene and it is not considered the soundtrack.  One example of the score in the movie Shrek is the calming music that is playing right after he has locked Donkey out of his house.  Shrek is preparing to have a nice peaceful meal, and the score is a calm sound that shows the audience how at peace he is when he is truly alone.  Another example of the score within the movie is when Lord Farquaad is walking in to question the Gingerbread man.  Terrifying background music is playing, and it makes it seem as if the king is going to be threatening and terrifying when in reality he is an incredibly short man who really isn’t that scary.  The second kind of music within a film is the soundtrack, which is the selection of songs that are included within the movie (Goodykoontz et al., 2011).  My favorite example of music being used within the film as far as soundtrack choice is the gauntlet scene when Shrek comes in and is declared champion against all of the knights.  The song that is chosen to accompany this scene is “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett which is an absolute great choice as far as the cinematographer was concerned.  This song makes it seem as if Shrek is a strong, scary ogre who will be able to handle anything that he experiences.  It foreshadows the fact that even though ogres are supposed to have a very bad reputation, this is not always going to be the case.

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

(n.d.)  Retrieved July 31st, 2014, from http://theclayvision.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/shrek-flying_donkey.jpg

Lighting On Shrek, The Movie

The original Shrek, produced by Dreamworks, is a completely computer graphic CGI animated film, which means the creativity (including lighting) is limited only by the director’s imagination.  (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2001)  The lighting throughout this movie is digitally created, and every detail is completely intentional.  Because of the flexibility that animation provides, this film makes use of all of the different lighting techniques.

Dreamworks uses an award-winning lighting process they call simply, their Light System.  This system was created by company engineers to assist with improvement of their animated productions, specifically to provide more realistic, lifelike lighting.  Dreamworks studios produce higher-quality results more quickly now because of this Light System, and in February 2013 they received a very specific technical engineering award based on same, by the Academy Awards.  (Dreamworks, n.d.)

Three-point lighting, described as “careful control of shadows by using three main light sources,” by Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2011), is used throughout much of this movie, primarily in the daytime, indoor scenes, where light would be more encompassing of the characters were they real.

Shrek and his unintended sidekick, Donkey, are on a quest to save Princess Fiona from a keep guarded by a fiery dragon.  As they walk along wooded forest pathways to and fro, the shadows are natural, and provide a very non-CGI and lifelike feel to the movie.  It is in these scenes where high-key lighting is used from above, to replicate sunshine.

During the rescue scene as Shrek and

Shrek Official Movie Trailer 1 (2001). (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://youtu.be/jYejzdBwvY4

Donkey take on the dragon, the scene is very dark and dramatically spooky.  Low-key lighting is used in this scene to enunciate the intensity of the danger and drama intended. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2001)

There are also scenes where underlighting is used.  Shrek, Donkey and Fiona camp along their journey, and at night they build campfires.  Underlighting is the perfect solution for making this particular type of scene more realistic, since the light comes from below the actors and casts an upward shadow. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2001)

The various lighting techniques used in the film added to the realistic feel from start to finish.  What appear to be actual characters and other items in the background, due in part to the quality application of the animated shadowing, add much to the reality component of the movie as a whole.  The multitude of lighting options in Shrek suited the genre perfectly, due to the ability of the production companies to use CGI to enhance light in all different types of scenes.

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION. (n.d.). DreamWorks Animation. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/insidedwa/tech/lights

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Inside “Shrek” the movie

TITLE- Shrek

WRITER- Chris Miller, Cody Cameron, Conrad Vernon, Joe Stillman, Roger S.H. Schulman, Ted Elliott, & Terry Rossio

DIRECTOR- Victoria Jenson, Vicky Jenson, & Andrew Adamson

YEAR- 2001

ACTORS- Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgon, Clive Pearse

Story: After his swamp is filled with magical creatures, Shrek, an ogre (Mike Myers) agrees to rescue the princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) for a villainous lord,Lord Farquaad (John Lithgon) in order to get his land back.

Plot:When a green ogre named Shrek discovers his swamp has been ‘swamped’ with all sorts of fairy-tale creatures by the scheming Lord Farquaad, Shrek sets out with a very loud and hilarious donkey, named Donkey (Eddie Murphy)  by his side to ‘persuade’ Farquaad to give Shrek his swamp back. Instead, a deal is made. Farquaad, who wants to become the King, sends Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona, who is awaiting her true love in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. But once they head back with Fiona, it starts to become apparent that not only does Shrek, an ugly ogre, begin to fall in love with the lovely princess, but Fiona is also hiding a huge secret. The princess secret is at  night fall she turns into an ogre. On an overnight break before traveling back to Duloc. Shrek prepares a meal for Fiona and they lean towards each other, about to kiss. Donkey butts in, saying that the sunset is romantic. Fiona jumps up, panicking. She pretends to be afraid of the dark, and Fiona goes into the windmill to sleep by herself, glancing back briefly at Shrek. Donkey tells Shrek that he can tell with his animal instincts that Shrek and Fiona “were digging on each other,” and says that Shrek should tell Fiona how he feels about her. Shrek tries to deny that he likes her, and then dejectedly says that Fiona is a princess and he is an ogre. He walks off and tells Donkey that he’s getting more firewood, but Donkey sees that there’s still a large pile of firewood there. Shrek sits alone by a field of sunflowers, staring at Duloc until night.  Donkey, afraid of the dark wonders into the windmill where Fiona is to frighteningly finds out Fiona is an ogre. After Fiona calms Donkey down, she explains to him her curse and why her parents locked her away in a castle to await her prince with the true love kiss to rescues her and break the curse. Conveniently, Donkey explains to Fiona her ans Shrek have so much and common and she should tell him. In the mist of Fiona’s and Donkey’s conversation, Shrek is walking towards the windmill with an sunflower for Fiona. He practicing what he wants to confess to her while he over hears Fiona’s and Donkey’s conversation and sadly thinks they are talking badly about him. In all honesty, Fiona was describing the features of herself as an ogre. By morning Fiona has bravely decided she will tell Shrek her secret but all too late. Lord Farquaad’s arrives and greets Princess Fiona. Then Shrek demands that Farquaad give him the deed to his swamp, as promised. Farquaad’s asked for her hand in marriage and Fiona accepted and suggested they get married right away after seeing Shrek looking at the deed to the swamp. An angry Shrek storms off as Donkey tries to tell him the secret about Fiona. Later, Shrek apologizes, Donkey forgives him because that’s what friends are for. Shrek wonders what Fiona said about him, but Donkey tells him to ask Fiona himself. Shrek cries they won’t make the wedding in time. Donkey whistles and the dragon flies down.  Shrek bursts into the church just before Farquaad and Fiona kiss, shouting that he objects. Fiona and Farquaad are annoyed to see him. Shrek wants to talk to Fiona, but she says that it’s too late and tries to kiss Farquaad. Shrek grabs her hand and tells her that Farquaad only wants to marry her so that he can be king, then tells her that Farquaad is not her true love. Fiona asks him what he knows about true love. Shrek stammers, and Farquaad laughs because Shrek loves the princess. Farquaad cues the laughter. Fiona asks Shrek if it’s true, but Farquaad grabs her hand and insists that she kiss him now. Fiona looks at the setting sun and recalls her spell. She walks to the window and tells Shrek that she wanted to show this to him before. She transforms into an ogre, and then grins sheepishly at Shrek. The audience is shocked. Farquaad sees Fiona and says that “it” is disgusting and orders his guards to get “it” out of his sight, to get them both. As Shrek and Fiona try to reach each other, Farquaad declares that the marriage is still binding, that he is still king, and puts on the crown.  As guards drag Shrek away,Shrek frees one of his hands and whistles. The dragon bursts through the large stained glass window with Donkey on top and swallows Farquaad, killing him, then burps out his crown. Shrek tells Fiona that he loves her, and she tells him that he loves him too. At the swamp, Shrek and Fiona get married, with Donkey and all the fairy tale creatures as guests.

Chronologically or Non-linearly: Shrek is indeed an film presented chronologically outlined into five films outlined interactively a step by step adventure. Also in my opinion there are moments in each film where its presented non-linearly. How the different fairy tale characters will appear in scenes of the film that doesn’t quite flow but somehow it flows. This truly magically makes the movie the comical, yet adventurous and truly an one of kind love story for all ages.