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How do the film makers of Shrek 2 use presentational devices to parody different types of films?

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How do the film makers of Shrek 2 use presentational devices to parody different types of films? When we watch different films, we can tell from the starting of the movie to evaluate what "type" of film it's going to be. For example, when you watch a James Bond movie you can tell its going to be action/adventure because right at the start, you see James Bond in a short clip blowing something up or doing something that makes it look like an action scene, then the James Bond music starts, which has loud sound affects and a fast paced tune as well as scenes of guns and women dancing. When you start watching the movie Shrek 2, you can be fooled that you are watching a traditional fairytale, this is because right at the start you see a fairytale book opening with pictures of traditional fairy tales such as sleeping beauty. But then when the starting scenes open, you realise this is actually a light-hearted spoof comedy of many parodies, when you look at the wolf reading 'Pork Illustrated' and many other spoofs throughout the film. The elements of a traditional fairy tale are of a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ...read more.


And parodies of fairytales (Blind mice, gingerbread man). But most importantly the parodies of different types of films. The film maker uses many parodies of films, I am going to give examples of 3 film parodies and give the presentational devices used to get this parody across to the audience. The first film parody I will discuss is the parody of Lord Of the Rings. In the Honeymoon Montage at the beginning of the film, the couple is seen being fitted for wedding rings, a flying ring dropping on Fiona's finger and a red fiery writing afterwards. These are a parody of events from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. For this certain parody I believe it is probably the most obvious parody, it is shown across very similar and exact to the Lord of the Rings scene. The presentational devices used to get this parody across consist of firstly showing a cauldron making the ring from a high-angle close-up shot, and then the ring being flung in the air with a high-angle, long distance shot which shows an obvious copy of the Lord of the Rings. When the ring is on Fiona's finger a very close-up shot is shown of ONLY the Ring, and the exact similar style of writing appears on the ring as it does of the ring in The Lord of the Rings. ...read more.


Another presentational device is the props being used, the rope hanging him upside down; this is the same as in Spider-Man (spidey-web). I think that the makers of Shrek 2 have been very effective in their parodies. I believe this because after discussing and looking at the examples I gave, the makers have chosen many presentational devices and detailed evidence to make the parody as real and as part of Shrek. And not made it difficult to see the obvious parody and comedy behind it even if the parody is from a serious movie (Alien). I believe some parodies are made for different ages of audience, something a younger person might not see as an obvious parody but an older person would (Kissing on the beach- From Here to Eternity). And some younger people would see an obvious Lord of The Rings and Spider-Man parody, there is also the young-adult range of audience, Ghostbusters and Alien parodies. These parodies are very effective through going to a wide range of audiences. There are however some parodies which you have to watch more then once to figure them out such as the Alien coming out of the chest, and the potion making in Charlie and the Chocolate factory. But, overall I believe that the parodies are very effective and obvious most of the time, and it's the parodies themselves what make Shrek 2 such a funny and entertaining film. ...read more.

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