What defines the term 'Disneyesque'?

Disneyeque is a term used to generalize the style that Disney have developed in their animations and theme parks. Walter Disney spent many years creating an image on which his brand would be known for. Although Disney appears it was created by Walt alone Ub Iwerks heavily influenced the direction in which Disney took.

Walter Disney and Ub Iwerks

With the creation of Disney came the invention of Uncle Walt. Uncle Walt is another name given to Walter Disney. Uncle Walt was all caring and released many videos of himself explaining what goes on inside the studio. Although Walt was known for being all caring he was also accused of being racist and an anti-Semite due to the release of 'The Jungle Book' and that Walt Disney gave a private tour to a Nazi Propagandist, but these rumors are believed to be false.

Disney are mostly known for the creation of the character called 'Mickey Mouse' as he is the face of the theme parks and part of the logo for the Disney Channels. Mickey Mouse was a character who appeared in many animations before going onto having his own animation 'Steam Boat Willie' which was the first ever animation with synchronized sound.

https://youtu.be/BBgghnQF6E4?t=28s

Disney started off with short 'Cel' animated films, these mainly involved characters who could do very unrealistic things such as wringing out violin. This added a sense of fun to Disney's animation. Disney then decided to move onto creating the first 'Cel' Animated feature length film as well as the first film to using the 'Multi plane Camera' . 'Snow white and the seven dwarfs' as well as the later Disney films created 'The Disney Princess'.

Snow White

Disney Princesses are a huge part of what makes Disney, Disney. They have inspired young girls and boys all around the world, and many travel to the theme parks just to get a chance to 'meet' the princesses and princes. Although there are a lot of positives that come from Disney princesses they also caused some controversy with feminists and could have been seen to have some racial predigest. This was due to the first three princesses 'having to rely on a Prince Charming.' Also the first five princesses being white. This changed as the culture, rights and views in society changed.

On the other side of the camera women were said to be treated differently, not being able to get the high end jobs in the studio and having to do things such as painting the animated 'Cels' after the men finished. On the other side of the story it was seen as 'cultural norm' for women to be treated like that at the time.

Disney Princesses

Although not known for it specifically Disney use anthropomorphism in there animations such as the candle in 'Beauty and the Beast' or the dogs in '101 Dalmatians'. This has drawn in a wide range of audiences but mainly the child audience.

A modern day example of Disney trying to keep there reputation is them cutting ties to a famous Youtuber, PewDiePie. This was due to the 'Wall Street Journal' writing an article about PewDiePie being an anti-Semite.

Source List;

Zhon, P. (2010) 'Coloring the Kingdom', Vanity Fair, [online] Available From: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/03/disney-animation-girls-201003 

(Vanity Fair is a bias magazine but has good sources of women who worked in the industry at the time)

Ghez, D. (2014) 'Walt's People: Volume 1'. Mclain. Theme Park Press.

Ghez, D. (2014) 'Walt's People: Volume 2'. Mclain. Theme Park Press.

Gabler, N. (2007) 'Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination'. Vintage Bookes.

The Great Gatsby - Mise en Scene

The Great Gatsby is a visually stunning film created by Baz Luhrmann. The screenshot that I have chosen to analyse is from one of the many party's Jay Gatsby throws at his mansion. Jay Gatsby is obviously a fictional character and the creators of the film had to create a huge party that would be thrown in the 1920's.

The main part that gives away the time period is the clothes that are worn. The costumes were designed by a lady called Catherine Martin who received help from Miuccia Prada. It is mainly the dress designs and the jewellery worn by the women which is a big hint to the time period as most of the men in this scene are just wearing suits which are still worn even today.

The fireworks in the shot show the enormity of the party as there are obviously a lot. Also fireworks at the time where very hard to get hold of and extremely dangerous.

You can see the conductor on the podium with his back to the camera and the band stood off to the right and the left which suggests that there is music at this party. Again is is an orchestra rather than speakers which reinforce the time period that the film is set.

The pool, the band , the fireworks and the butlers all stood around suggest that Jay Gatsby is very rich.

There is nothing in this scene that suggests where the party is in the world.

Inception - Cinematography

To look at cinematography i chose to look at the film Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page. The cinematographer for the film Inception is a man called Wally Pfister who won an award for his part in the production of Inception.

Wally Pfister is known for  'frequently breaking the 180 degree rule'. His shooting style is very 'Gothic', this is very clear when you watch the films 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' which are both films that he took the role of cinematographer.

In Inception there are some very good examples of cinematography and loads of techniques used e.g. Rule Of Thirds, Eye Line Match, Back lighting, Leading Lines and a lot more. A variety of shots are used throughout the film as well.

This image works very well. The scene is shot from far away also known as a Long Shot. The characters are positioned in the left third which creates a clear focus point. The use of back lighting brings the characters out from the cluttered background. The low angle of the shot makes the characters seem very powerful as it makes them look almost as tall as the skyscrapers in the background.

In this images Leonardo DiCaprio is positions in the left third of the scene which draws the eyes of the viewer towards him rather than the people in the background. This shot also uses leading lines very well, it seems as though the banister for the balcony is creating an arrow towards Leonardo DiCaprio's head. This shot is a medium close up shot.

This shot is an establishing shot. In this shot it appears to be using the Fibonacci Spiral. This is a great way to create a clear focus point it is the very similar to using the rule of thirds.

2016 (1990) ‘IMDb Wally Pfister’, in Wally Pfister. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002892/bio (Accessed: 19 November 2016).

Harry Potter and Chamber Of Secrets - Narrative Stucture

Narrative Structure is the for in which the story is told. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets follows what is called a Linear Narrative Structure. This is when all of the events that are told in the story happen in chronological order (The story tells the event in the order in which they happen).

A linear narrative normally consists of an Equilibrium which is followed by some sort of Rupture which cause Disequilibrium, the majority of the film is spend trying to fix the Whatever the rupture was. When the Rupture is overcome you are then left with a New Equilibrium.

The Harry Potter series has a narrative which spans the whole series which is that Voldemort returns to kill Harry which is the rupture. Harry then spends 8 films trying to defeat him and then in the eighth film he finally does which then creates a new equilibrium. This means that when you go to watch any Harry Potter film you know that there is always disequilibrium before each film starts.

Equilibrium - Harry Potter and his friends seem to be going to Hogwarts to have a normal school year without any trouble. Harry Starts hearing voices in his head which move throughout the castle.





Rupture - Harry follows this voice and runs into Mrs Norris, Mr Filch's cat hanging from a lamp. More of these attacks follow. This reveals a new danger at Hogwarts.

Disequilibrium - Harry and his friends spend the film trying to find out who is doing these attacks and why. They are informed about rumours of a monster that is controlled by the heir of Slytherin. They then start looking for this person. They it out to be Lord Voldemort himself,

Rupture Overcome - Harry fights Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets and wins. This then creates a New Equilibrium.

New Equilibrium - Harry has saved Hogwarts again from Voldemort and Griffindoor win the house cup.






Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. Warner Brothers Studios: Chris Columbus, 1492 Pictures, Heyday Films, MIRACLE Productions GmbH & Co. KG, Warner Bros., 2002. film.