Make sure you read all of this - test to follow next week on characters, references, box office, critical success and emotional response.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WALL-E
Read this interview with Andrew Stanton - it's in a number of parts so follow the links
http://www.suite101.com/content/andrew-stanton-on-walle-a56451
Good review here, some succinctly made points and deals, to some extent, with audience response:
http://www.moviezeal.com/wall-e/ - make sure you read it...
Once you've read all of the above, write a comment to this post outlining your own PERSONAL RESPONSE to the film. Give a couple of specific examples of the scenes you responded to most and WHY. Make reference to the FILM TECHNIQUES that are being employed to make you feel that way. Include any quotes form your reading or notes, where relevant.
The think I reacted to most was the characterisation of Wall-E, because I kept thinking he looked and acted a bit like my dog. That sounds a bit stupid, but it's endearing and part of the reason I found him so entertaining as a character. This is especially true of his nervous/excited shakes. I think this might also connect Wall-E to traditional animal-centric Disney films and make their traditional audiences warm to his character more.
ReplyDeleteI would tend to agree with the MovieZeal article when it says the Axiom sequences 'sometimes become repetitive'. I didn't think they were as emotionally powerful, and maybe this is why.
(By the way, sorry for commenting on the wrong thing, I got lost...)
When I first saw this film in the cinema I remember that the opening act had very little dialogue. On paper this sounds like a film that would normally annoy me, however this is not the case as on reflection I think that the lack of dialogue emphasises the isolation of Wall-E and in that creates a huge amount of sympathy for Wall-E.
ReplyDeleteThe sympathy is also created through the sounds that Wall-E makes, mainly the innocent sounds of a fascinated child discovering new things.
The want of a relationship from Wall-E is also extremely endearing which creates a happy response when Wall-E finally gets what he wanted at the end.
However In my opinion to improve the emotional response, I would like to see Wall-E and Eva have mini baby robots together (Wall-Eva's) which could compact rubbish while shooting a sonic light beam.
When I first heard thatb we were going to be studying a Disney Pixar film I was a little apprehensive, as I thought it would be a typical childish happy ending story with an underlying moral message about happiness or friendship or something. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Wall-E. Despite it obviously being targeted at a much younger age group than myself (in my opinion), I think the filmmaker has done incredibly well to make it appeal to different audience groups on different levels. Personally, I loved the endearing nature of Wall-E, and his anthropomorphic traits. The way he acted like a toddler reminded me a lot of my little brothers, which probably hightened my enjoyment and appreciation of the film. As well as this, his shyness and naivety was adorable, and you couldn't help but like te little guy, and hope that he has a happy ending. The fact that he does have a happy ending, and we assume that him and Eva will live happily ever after, meant I was able to come away from the film feeling good and happy.
ReplyDelete