Week 7 Assignment

The shots I used as examples were from the movie : The Little Mermaid 2018.

Contrast:

In this shot, the scenes are switching between the story and the Grandmother telling the story to her grandchildren. It shows contrast by showing two different views of the same story: First person and 3rd person. By using a contrasting shot, the director makes the audience feel intrigued by the story and side explanations occurring when the grandmother comes into the picture.

Leit Motif:

In these shots, the Leit Motif are the dark notes being played on the organ to reveal the mermaids taken soul. The organ holds the soul of the little mermaid, which was taken by a wizard she had made a deal with to have legs in the past. By using the vial in which the mermaid’s soul is stored, the wizard is able to control her in certain ways. Every time the wizard goes to fetch the vial, he plays a specific tune on the organ which then reveals the vial in a box within the storage of the organ. This same tune is used to signal when the wizard is using the vial to control the mermaid. Later on, in an effort to save the mermaid, Cam (mermaids love interest) retrieves her soul in the vial by playing the tune he overheard and saw the wizard playing earlier in the film.

                                      

Parallelism:

In this shot, the crew is running away from the circus in order to save the mermaid from the wizard. While all the running away is occurring, magic used to freeze time keeps everyone at the circus and fair still. The scenes show parallelism by cutting between the frozen circus and the crew making a quick rescue escape.

Symbolism:

In these shots, the coughing and need to swim by Elle, are used to symbolize the same person, but at different ages. The movie doesn’t make it clear from the start that the grandmother telling the story is actually the main child in the story she tells to her own grandchildren. From the beginning it is clear, however, that the main character, Elle has breathing issues. She begins to cough uncontrollably when working her lungs too hard and at the end of the movie the grandmother begins to cough uncontrollably and suggests it’s time for a swim just as Elle is told to do when she can’t breathe in the story. The similarity in traits and choices symbolize that Elle, the child from the story, is actually the grandmother telling the story.

                                       

Simultaneity:

In this shot, the mermaid is being summoned by the wizard. While she’s swimming in the ocean, the wizard is calling to her by using the vial containing her soul. The scene is simultaneous in the way the shot switches back and forth between the mermaid and the wizard. They are also legitimately connected by magic, making the two actions intertwined.