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By Emily Vazquez
Movies are a form of entertainment. As people press play on their favorite films, they are taken away by different stories, images, sounds, and characters. Suddenly, their reality is transformed into a world of adventure, fear, comedy, or maybe even love. It becomes easy to get swept away by the action. However, these films are more than just fun stories. In actuality, movies are carefully constructed projects consisting of many intentional decisions. To watch a movie without considering its background is to have missed out on the full experience. Audiences can gain a greater appreciation for the films they watch when they recognize that movies consist of much more than what's on the screen. The image above depicts the different layers that go into movie-making.
While the on screen events in a movie are important, so are the details behind the scenes. The illustration depicts the hand of a puppet master controlling a marionette doll while a large audience stares intently.
Films are created by many different individuals. These people include but are not limited to directors, producers, actors, animators, costume and sound designers.
Each person has their own belief, opinion, style, and artistic preference. In his journal titled "It's Just a Movie": A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media, Greg M. Smith describes that, "there is a thorny question of who the film's author is. Unlike a book, hundreds of people put their work into a major film [where] all of them are trying to convey meaning]" (Smith 129).
The hand of the puppet master references the creators of the film. The creators are the ones determining what the media will look like, the messages it will convey, who is able to watch it, etc.
While the director's voice is viewed to be the most prominent, we can not forget all the other artists whose work goes into making a movie.
Because there are so many different people involved, and thus a wide variety of opinions, styles, and movie-making decisions, the strings that control the doll are all different textures to represent the diversity within film creators and their decisions.
The marionette represents the film itself. Attached to the strings, controlled by the puppet master, the doll is a product of the designers. The way the doll moves, looks, and behaves in front of an audience is in the hands of the puppeteer. Like the doll, films are the outcome of the creators. Smith describes how “we tend to forget the thousands of minute decisions that conciously construct the artificial world that has been created… Filmmakers work hard to exclude the random from their fictional worlds. Sets are built so that the film maker can have absolute control over the environment” (Smith 128). The film crew meticulously decides and controls the lighting, sound, clothes, hair, makeup, etc. in a shot. All aspects are closely inspected: “what was chance in the filming becomes choice in editing” (Smith 128). No matter what, the film is carelfully constructed, reviewed, and regulated by its creators.
Furthermore, thoughout the film Miyazaki includes messages and threats of war. Dani Cavallaro, author of The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki, explains how Miyazaki’s political opinions are conveyed in his projects: “Where the specifically Japanese dimension of Miyazaki’s output is concerned, it is also important to carefully take into consideration the director’s sociopolitical origins and situation” (Cavallaro 7). Cavallaro brings awareness to the ways in which Japanese films must carefully navigate war themes due to Japan’s history in WWII when they were seen as “having an aggressive, expansionist, and belligerent mentality” (Cavallaro 7). In a film like Howl's, where anti war sentiments are depicted by the heroes, Miyazaki is able to demonstrate his own beliefs about the topic.
Miyazaki is a famous Japanese director and animator. He plays many roles as a film creator in the animation industry. As the director of Howl’s, Miyazaki has embedded much of his Japanese culture and personal sentiments within his movies, many of which are still present in the English versions of the films. In her article titled Connecting the Pieces in ‘Howl’s Moving Castle,’ Susan Bye describes several aspects within the film influenced by Japanese culture. She explains that the design of the moving castle “draws on the traditional construction process of ‘old Japanese homes that would be built up room by room’ according to a family’s needs” (Bye 2). Additionally Bye comments on themes of dirt and disorder in Miyazaki’s films and how they “connect to the Shinto understanding that we need to ‘cultivate a sound, pure and bright heart/mind, in order to act with genuine ‘sincerity’ (makoto) toward others and the world” (Bye 3). Small details of culture become liked to Miyazaki's films.
Miyazaki believes that animators themselves are actors, says Asher Isbrucker in his video essay titled The Immersive Realism of Studio Ghibli. Isbrucker goes on to explain how “to animate” is “to bring to life.” When creating these characters, animators must think deeply about how the illustrations would react or feel in order to properly, and realistically, draw them. From small facial expressions, tapping of feet, anxious hopping, staggered breathing, animators bring to life these two dimensional figures. However, when illustrators put themselves in the shoes of their characters, they too become actors. Therefore, within every animated character in Howl’s Moving Castle, lies the behavior, habits, and personalities of the many animators that have drawn and brought to life the characters we love.
There are many aspects that go into making a movie outside of what audiences see on screen. While viewers mainy observe the animated characters, or hired actors, perhaps the more influential aspects of what makes a movie great is not what is on screen, but behind it. The creators of films including directors, producers, designers, etc. have just as much influnce and impact on the project. While they may not be immediately noticed, it is their effort that shapes movies into what we see today. Because there are many different kinds of contributions being made to a film, there are different messages, ideas, believes, and styles being embedded throughout.
Are films a reflection of society or does society reflect what they see see in films?
A media studies question constantly discussed deals with representation. Does the media reflect social norms or are social norms constructed as a result of recurring themes in the media?
While this is not a quesrtion I hope to answer, it is one that I began thinking about throughout the course of this semester and it is one that is relevant when thinking about how films, media, and society interact with one another today.
In my illistration, the spectators watching the hand and doll all have the same face: the face of the marionette. With this I hope to pose the question of the ways media and society interact with one another. Does one reflect the other? Are they influenced by one another?