Post 8 - Spiderwick chronicles

The title in this film is gold this indicates adventure as gold is associated with treasure which is what you look for when on an adventure. The font of the titles is used to create the theme of magic which is the theme of the film. This shows the type of audience this filmed towards which is the younger generation. The title appears through the branches and is relevant as the letters have a tree branch look about them; also the end of the ‘R’ has small branches grown from it, which relates to the trees that surround the house. The trees are also an indicator the film has something to do with nature, and the title ‘Spiderwick’ foreshadows the film will have some kind of involvement with a spider and insects.

The cinematography creates the meaning of discovery in this shot the camera is places behind a magnify glass. The shot allows us to see the top half of the fairy, and is in focus just on the fairy. The audiences response to this shot would be shock, these reason for this is because we get to see something extraordinary because of this medium close up. The shot highlight the main attribute in this shot, which is the fairy, this link to mise en scene as the shot makes us look at the fairy.

 

The mise en scene in this shot reveals a lot about the character and the film. The cluttered room creates the feeling the man in this shot could be a hoarder, not wanting to let any of his exploration equipment go. Also we gather the man has something to do with making discoveries because of the pictures around the room, the working desk etc. The costume implies that this film was set in the early 20^th century, which would answer any questions as to why his equipment is old.

 

This is the very first shot of the film and already the music is playing, at this point we hear low strings being played then a harp being played, this indicates the sense of discovery as it changes for low sounds to high. Harps are usually associated with magic and fairy tale films. This would make the audience wonder whether this film is going to have a happy ending like the traditional fairy tale films.

The editing in the opening sequence at this point is very fast paced. This creates the idea the man we have seen is working fast trying to work out what it is he’s just saw (the fairy). Also the fast paced editing doesn’t allow the audience to understand the information which is being put across. This would make the audience slightly confused and question ‘what is he doing?’ ‘what does that mean?’ This makes the audience think ahead as to what he is doing.