Categories
English

Analysing visual text

An animated movie

A Folded Wish

A film is a story which has this basic structure:

Title

Orientation 

Complication

Sequence of events

Resolution

Ending

Coda

Orientation

  • What do we see straight away in the first scene of this animated movie?
  • What kind of dress does the main character wear, and what does it tell us about her culture?
  • What other cultural symbols can we notice in the first few seconds of the film?
  • How old is the main character?
    The orientation part of the story helps us understand where the story will take place. The orientation also introduces main characters. 

    Orientation: introducing main characters

    • Like any good story, this animation movie starts with introducing us to the main character, which is also referred to as a protagonist.
    • We also learn about the location of the story, in other words, its settings.
    • Straight away, in the first few seconds of this animation movie, we gained an insight into: 1) The protagonist; 2) Settings.

      We are then introduced with two other characters: another girl (probably the sister of the protagonist), and an elderly lady, probably the grandmother of the protagonist.

      Complication

      At about 1 min into the movie, we observe a problem. The younger sister is coughing. She must be sick! This is another element of a typical narrative. So far, this is what we have:

      Settings: where the story takes place.

      Characters: the main character (protagonist), and additional characters (sister, and grandmother); their age, their clothing, behaviour, their relationships.

      Problem: the secondary character might be sick, and the protagonist comforts her. 

      Sequence of events

      Day 1: let’s observe the colours and music

      The colours of the first scene are bright which reflects the joyful mood of both characters. We can see them play and run around. The music is also optimistic and upbeat, which reflects the sense of play and exploration that both girls enjoy. We notice that there is no dialogue in the movie, so it’s especially important to observe the colours, objects and music to understand the characters better, and their lives. 

      Day 2: weather reflects the inner world of characters

      What kind of weather do we observe? It’s raining outside – a symbol of grief, sadness, and hopelessness. Then we see the younger sister who looks very ill. All elements of the movie tell us that there is a big problem in the family. Colours are suddenly grey, music is sad, and the facial expression of the sister is full of suffering. Then suddenly the main character, the older sister, the protagonist starts coughing, and we know that she is also ill. 

      Symbols that represent feelings and thoughts of characters

      What symbols of fear and anxiety do we observe at about fourth minute through the movie? The younger sister is making origami, she wants to finish it really quickly, but the origami gets torn apart. Then the second symbol is a falling leaf outside. Withered leaves are like withered health. 

      Resolution and ending

      Day 3

      What do we observe that makes us feel more hopeful and optimistic? 

      We can see that the colours change outside. Although the main character has died from illness, we can see the blue sky which indicates to us that there is hope.