the incredibles ; deconstruction

7/27/2019 The Incredibles ; Deconstruction

1/3

George Carey

The Incredibles: (American computer-animated superhero film written

and directed by Brad Bird, released by Walt Disney Pictures 2004) Title

sequence deconstruction.

Titles: The title Sequence opens as animation with an old style interview of Mr.

Incredible as his name is displayed underneath him. After this short segment it

cuts to a slide ofWalt Disney pictures presents rather like an old film reel. We

then cut to an interview with Elastigirl and again her name is displayed

underneath. Because we are shown these two superheroes at the start of the film

we are led to believe that they are the protagonists. And then like before it cuts

to a slide which saysA Pixar animations studios film. This tells us that the

whole film is going to be CGI. It also instantly implies to the audience that the

film is an action adventure, superhero film; reinforcing the conventions of this

genre. Frozone then appears in an interview again with his name underneathhim as he is interviewed. After these interview reels switch between each

character it ends on Elastigirl and starts to fade out. The interviews as a whole

are very comical as the superheroes talk about everyday life situations, which is

ironic as they are superheroes and should be saving the world. Then from the

darkness a ball of light circles the screen and then fixates its position into the dot of

the I linking this film to the likes of Superman and his iconic emblem. This

emblem then starts to rotate and as it passes the camera it changes into the words

The Incredibles as it settles center screen again like a burst of pulsating light. All of

the typography holds the same font and is bold, reinforcing that it is a superhero

film. Finally, the text starts to expand into the audience as we pass through the letter

R. There is then a flash of light as it transitions into the red siren of a police car.
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George Carey

Sound: As the PIXAR credit rollsthe Incredibles instrumental music is there

slightly in the background, reminiscent of 007, a secret agent. After this it cuts to

a film reel with diegetic, static noise. As the empty reel runs out Mr. Incredibles

interview starts. We are led to believe they are amateur in their response to an

interview situation because firstly we are greeted with the sound of him bangingin the microphone repeatedly saying Is this thing on? He then goes on to

struggle to pin said microphone onto his chest. Along with this there is a sound

of frantically fumbling fingers. When he finally manages to attach the

microphone he clears his throat and proceeds with the interview. The entire

interviews, sound vintage in their recording as there is plenty of background

hiss and the crackle of film on the odd occasion. Also when the charactersspeak louder the sound tends to flare and just leaves a nasty vibrating sound

instead like an old movie. When the slides of credits are shown there is complete

silence to helps focus the audience on the producers of the film. Towards the end

of the interviews Elastigirl says I dont think so. At this point it fades out and

then cuts to the ball of light swirling and then resting on the I. As soon as thistransition is made the music also cuts in and gradually builds in correlation to

the source of light. As the emblem starts to rotate past the camera we hear a

deep rumbling whoosh. It sounds almost like a superhero flying by. As the textappears the music flares up again and continues to do so until the title zooms

towards the audience. When it cuts out we see and hear the siren of a police car.

Editing: As the PIXAR credit fades we are greeted with a small box of a screen

where empty film reel is rolling until the picture flickers in along with the sound

from a small clip on microphone. The image is so small in comparison to a screen

to help give the effect that it is an old movie and it is not supposed to run on

modern technology. The image itself is very bad quality. Constantly there are

black anomalies scattered over the film reel. This also implies to the viewer that

it is old because the film reel itself has been weathered and damaged over time.

As he gains his composure and starts to speak, his name Mr. Incredible isshown in bold white font beneath him. After a short while his name fades. The

reel then cuts to a slide ofWalt Disney pictures presents and then to the samestyle interview but this time with a different superhero. Like before her name
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George Carey

Elastigirl is shown in bold with font beneath her. It then cuts to a side of:A Pixar

animations studios film. Then a new hero is introduced with his name shown

below him. Finally as the interviews fade out we hear a lively upbeat soundtrack

which is accompanied by a bright light source, circling the screen and finally

settling at the top of the letter I, which by this point has lit up the whole screen.

Whilst at the top of the screen, the light pulsates whilst the emblem itself startsto rotate past the camera. As it passes we hear a Whooshing sound and the

emblem transforms into the words The Incredibles which is in a bold blackfont. Then the light source behind the text glows to give a superhuman feel to the

font. Then the camera proceeds to zoom through the centre of the letter R intime to the light like flashing. It then moves to a flashing red siren on top of a in

pursuit police car, which is animated.

Camerawork: Throughout the interviews the camera is in a static state focused

on a mid-shot of each superhero. This is done to help focus the audience on the

character being interviewed and makes it quite intimate with the viewer as their

heroes are taking directly to the camera. The slides in between the interviews

almost look like flashcards because they are so simplistic and they say inform the

audience of the makers of the film. The interviews look as if they were shot on an

old cine camera. The quality is so poor we expect the shots to be in black and

white and not colour. As the interviews then fade CGI footage takes over and

then cuts back to the red siren on top of the police car.

Mise-en-scene:Throughout the interviews it seems like they have been shot in a

studio or a controlled environment because there is nothing but a wash of colour

ion the background. Also because the backdrop is so brought it adds to the

vintage quality making the shot more interesting. During the CGI of the emblemthe same colour scheme of red, yellow and black is used. It suggests that the film

is going to be action packed and very much like the generic superhero films.

Conclusion: Overall the interview scenes were successful in the fact that they

introduce the audience to the main characters whilst making it look like a 50sstyle, retro movie. The target audience of family is met well because it is comical

and bright but not lacking in sophistication and intrigue. One thing to include in

my own production would be to try and incorporate the old style effect to help

set the time period.

the incredibles ; deconstruction

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