Investigation

Assignment

Films – Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs, Grand

Budapest Hotel
Introduction
In this assignment I will basically go into detail about each film and
explain why the director has set up everything for a specific reason and how
it has all been done.

I will Identify and explain the different codes and conventions of the family
comedy genre and

explore and develop the fundamental media skills needed to produce a piece of
work within my chosen genre.
My Genre
The film's I'm investigating are all under the comedy
genre. Fantastic Mr. Fox is under comedy/family, Ilse
of Dogs is under comedy/adventure and Grand
Budapest Hotel is under comedy/crime.

These films would come under family-orientated

comedy.

There tends to be a lot of establishing shots, neutral

lighting and closes ups as well as other shots and
technical codes.
Codes And
Conventions
In films, there are two different types of codes,
technical and symbolic. Technical codes are the use
of the camera, the sound, the editing, the lighting
and the shot types. Then there are symbolic codes.
These codes are to help the viewer understand how
they should feel. These are the acting, the colour
and the costumes.

For conventions, these refer to the way things are

done in certain genres. Within film and television,
there are three conventions we must be aware of.
These are: form conventions, story conventions and
genre conventions.

Form conventions refer to the way the film is

structured e.g. titles at the beginning and the
credits at the end.

Story conventions refer to the story telling and how

the writer would/should create meaning in the
story.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Codes of Fantastic Mr. Fox
In fantastic Mr. Fox, the codes are very easy to identify. Starting
off with technical codes, the use of the camera. Wes Anderson, the
director, only uses very simple camera movements. The camera
movements are basic yet effective, the camera either moves
forwards and backwards, up and down, or left to right. When it
comes to the angles there are loads of establishing shots, mid
shots and close-ups. He does use extreme close-ups too to show off
specific items in the film. Such as, the close-up the specific things
relating to each farmer. There are also uses of high angle and low
angle shots. An example is when Ash is saving Kristofferson and
they use a low angle shot to present Ash as a hero. The lighting in
Fantastic Mr. Fox is very neutral, the majority of the film is in
high-key lighting. However there are scenes where there is low-
key lighting. For example, the scene where Ash and Kristofferson
try to steal back Foxy's tail. The low-key lighting creates suspence
and worry for the two boys. The editing is also very basic. There
are just simple cuts between things especially when characters
are talking.
As for sound, all of it has been done as voice overs
as the film is animated. There is however there is
lots of background music that has been cut at
specific moments, an example of this is when Foxy
is explaining his plan and he gets interrupted, so
the music stop but continues when he starts
explaining the plan again. Another scene is when
Ash and Kristofferson are going to bed, you can
hear a quiet radio playing in the background.
Lighting is very important in every film. The
lighting in Fantastic Mr. Fox is mainly high-key but
there is low-key lighting to. Low-key lighting is
used in this film to add tension. An example of this
is the shadow of Bean in the doorway, it's used to
make him seem more intimidating
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Codes of Fantastic Mr. Fox
We move onto symbolic codes. Symbolic codes are to help the
viewer understand how they should feel. Starting off with
colour. The main colours in Fantastic Mr. Fox are oranges
and browns. These colours resemble autumn, which is when
things start to change because of going into winter. This is
key to the film because Foxy is trying to change but fails. He
tries to change for his wife and child, but he goes back to his
younger days of stealing from farmers. Then costume is also This frame is a good example of how Mr. Fox is
important. You can see that the characters are dressed like portraited. In this shot you can see his positioning
humans. They have been designed to look like this so that which has deeper meaning. He's tucked into the corner
the audience watching can relate more to the characters. of the frame and appears far away from his wife. As you
Foxy is a very relatable character because of the situation can see his wife is painting a picture of a storm, Foxy
he is in, he is basically having an extensional crisis. He has a fear of nature. He seems disconnected from his
contemplates what his life is at one point and just his wife, seeming unreliable and trustless because in the
existence in general as a fox. film, he breaks a promise he made to her 12 fox years
ago.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Conventions Of Fantastic Mr. Fox
The form conventions of Fantastic Mr. Fox are standard.
You have the title of the film at the start, establishing
setting, characters and plot through the whole film and
then credits at the end. So, a very standard film structure
just like the majority of films.

Genre conventions are very easy to identify. Fantastic Mr.

Fox falls under the Comedy/Family genre, which is very
clear. The film itself is very family orientated which once
again, makes it easy for the audience to relate to.

Story conventions can be a little more difficult to identify.

The creation of the meaning in the film is very hidden and
not obvious in my opinion. The meaning in the film is that
Foxy is having a mid-life crisi, where he questions his life
and existence. At the end of the film a fox appears which
represents his inner wild animal.
Isle Of Dogs
Codes of Isle of Dogs

The codes within Isle of Dogs are very easy to

identify as it is by the same director, Wes Anderson.
Starting with technical codes, lighting. In one scene
there is a discussion between the character Chief
As for sound, its all voice overs as the film is stop-
and Nutmeg, when the camera cuts to each
motion. However there is background music and
character it is different lighting, the lighting in this
background noise. There are scenes where theres
scene is used to signify the difference between good
background music and theres a part with tension and
and bad. Moving onto camera work, like Fantastic
the music stops to emphasis the drama.
Mr. Fox the camera shots are very simplistic and
basic. The camera either moves side to side or up
and down. There is a scene where they are on their
way to find Spots, where it is a very long tracking
shot. Another way the camera angles in this film are
similar are the way the characters are postioned in
the frame. Characters are very centered and there
are lots of wide shots to show off the characters.
Isle Of Dogs
Codes of Isle of Dogs

Moving onto symbolic codes. Symbolic codes in this film

are different compared to most Wes Anderson films. In
this film, the colours are very muted and dull. However
when they are set in the city in Japan, it's quite bright
and colourful. On the island that the dogs are on, its
very dull, having no colour on the island makes the
island seems quite lifeless. As for costumes, there aren't
many as the whole film is based around dogs. However,
when there is a human charcter, they are dressed quite
old fashioned.
Isle Of Dogs
Conventions Of Isle Of Dogs
Form conventions of this film are quite standard, the
film follows basic conventions. Lots of establishing
shots, title at the start. However, there are some
credits at the beginning along with the title.

The story conventions are good. The way the story is

told is quite fast as they rush into detail about what
the film is about. It is like a reflection of human politics
and the dogs are presented like outcasts.

The film is under the comedy and adventure genre so

the genre conventions are easy to spot.
Grand Budapest Hotel
Codes Of Grand Budapest Hotel
Starting with technical codes, Wes Anderson has filmed
it in a unique aspect ratio in 4:3. Like the majority of
Anderson films, there are lots of establishing shots,
wide shots, mid shots and close ups. The lighting
throughout this film is used tp emphasise emotions.
Like most of the films he's created, this film includes a
lot of symmetry. The set's the actors are on are very
symmetrical and when it comes to filming, the
characters are always in the middle of the camera or to
one side of the shot. There are always tracking shots
within Anderson films, this is probably because of the
type of camera movements he uses. Also another thing
to point out is the editing, it’s all very choppy.

The mise-en-scene techniques that are used in this

film, are there to remind the audience of the point of
view.
Grand Budapest Hotel
Codes of Grand Budapest Hotel
Going onto symbolic codes, starting with colour. The
range of colours in the film is interesting. They are all
very bright in nearly every scene, there are loads of
red’s and pink’s. Moving onto the costumes, they are
quite extravagant, and the colours of them stand out.
The hotel is shades of pink, pink is very a feminine
colour but it can also symbolise innocence, youth and
happiness but as you know it's like a murder mystery
so the colour of the hotel is a little deceiving as a
woman was murdered.
Grand Budapest Hotel
Conventions of Grand Budapest Hotel
Form conventions of this film is very conventional, the
film is structured very standard. The title at the
beginning and all the credits at the end. Lots of wide
shots.

Story conventions are easy to point out, a woman was

murdered, and they try to figure out who did it.

Genre conventions are very easy to identify, there's lots

of jokes in it which clearly tells the audience that it’s a
comedy. The murder that was committed then also tells
you that it's under the crime genre too.