Moana

Hey,

On 14 September, I watched Moana with my family. Warning! This post will include spoilers but before I discussed the film I will share some facts about Moana.

This film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker who directed films 'Little Mermaid' and 'The Princess and the Frog'. Moana was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is also the 56th Disney animated feature film.

This film is about a girl, Moana who was the daughter of the chief Tui and was chosen by the ocean to search for Maui and get him to return Te Fiti's heart, that he stole 1000 years ago. She sets off on this journey when there is no fish left in the lagoon for her village to survive and darkness is creeping upon her home. Another reason was that her grandmother, Gramma Tala told Moana to go, with her last breath. Her mother's supports her which is shown through her mother helping her pack up supplies for the journey.

I love how Moana's grandma, Tala says that once she dies she wants to come back as a stingray, and at the moment of her death a stingray image is shown through the water travelling from the island to the sea through the use of light colours. This is how Moana's journey begins. At the end of the film when they voyage again there is a stingray swimming alongside the boats which suggests that when someone close to you dies they aren't gone and will never leave you therefore they will be with you in everything you do and everywhere you go.

This film uses a variety of bright and light colours that are slowly being lost to darkness. When Moana and Maui venture to the Island of Monsters they are surrounded by colours, which are mainly different shades of blue, purple and pink, especially as they travel through the entrance.

I feel that the message of this film is about knowing who you are and trusting in yourself to know which way to go. This is demonstrated by Moana being torn between her responsibility to her people, in the village of Polynesian and the voice inside calling her to the water. Who are you meant to be?

This message is also suggested through the song 'How Far I'll Go', where Moana sings about being called to the sea but everyone on the island is happy and has a role so maybe she should follow hers and lead, but yet the voice inside her is saying a different story.

The music for this film was composed by Mark Manicia who had help from others with the lyrics.

The first song in this film is 'Where You Are' which is about the role you play in your society which for Moana is leading them. It's about how she is the future for her people and that she needs to be who they need her to be but also be herself. I feel this is a good lesson for the audience, to not live for someone else but to do what you want to as well as that it is possible to please others but still stay true to yourself. Early on in the film, Moana learns about her lineage that is demonstrated through the song 'We Know the Way'. This is a joyful song about the village's past when they were voyagers who sailed by boat to find land.

Once Moana had found Maui, the song 'You're Welcome' played. This is a song sang by Maui who is saying you're welcome for all he has done as a demigod, for the humans as he originally stole Te Fiti's heart for them. This used clever media as the character's moved on Maui's body within his tapestry which kept the audiences’ attention as well as the song being memorable, that you can't help but sing along. After this Moana and Maui travelled to the Island of Monsters where they ran into Tamatoa who had Maui's fishhook that they needed to retrieve.

During this scene Tamatoa sang 'Shiny' which is basically about him and the things he collects, but a line in the song says "grandma says to follow your heart" which is a reminder to stay true to who you are. This scene is full of colours and light due to the disco effect created from the shiny and reflective items on Tamatoa's shell. Near the end of this song the background lights disappears making it dark so only Tamatoa is lit up making it look a bit like a float from Disneyland light show.

Finally, my favourite song from this film is 'I am Moana' which is about being true to yourself and not giving up. This song is about knowing who you are and loving both the sea and the island. I feel that the message of this song is about embracing all that you are and not being ashamed or doubt any part of you.

The ending of this film was truly beautiful. I love how Moana figured out that the lava stone person was actually Te Fiti without her heart and then the mystical water parted for them to walk towards each other. This has biblical connotations as in the Bible the Red Sea split for Moses and Israelites to escape through. I thought it was lovely yet clever how Moana sang about being who you are before placing Te Fiti's heart back that enabled Te Fiti to return to her green and colourful self and go back to her form of an island.

When Moana returned from home there was a big family reunion which was an emotional scene and now the light had been restored to the land, shown through the flowers, the village set sail to voyage to new land like they did 1000 years ago. This was a nice way to end the film as life had travelled in a circle so they were back to what it was like before the heart was taken.

Any comments or questions please use the contact box or comment below

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading

Amy x

Beauty and the Beast

Hey,

On 17 March, I watched the latest Beauty and the Beast film. Sorry for the delay with this post. Warning! This post will include spoilers for Beauty and the Beast movies.

However, before I talk about my film analysis I will first share some information about the Beauty and the Beast story.

La Bella et Bete also known as Beauty and the Beast, is a traditional fairytale written by the French novelist Gabriella - Suzanne Barbot de villeneuve and published in 1740. It was published in the book 'The Young American and Marine Tales'. The story was however rewritten by Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1956. It was also rewritten by Andrew Bug and published in the 'Blue Fairy' book of his fairy book series in 1889. This is the version that is most commonly retold.

Both the cartoon film and the latest film was produced by Disney. The Disney animation film of Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991 and based on the Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont version. The film released in 2017 was directed by Bill Condon.

DO NOT READ past this point if you have not yet watch the latest 'Beauty and the Beast' film as there will be spoilers in this post.

In the original story of Beauty and the Beast, a father picks a Rose for his daughter, Beauty which is the reason for why the Beast keeps him locked away in the castle. This is represented in the latest film as Belle asks her father, Maurice for a rose but when he gets lost he finds the castle and spends the night. However, on the way-out Maurice remembers that he needs to get a rose for a Belle and by picking one ends up locked away by the Beast. This film was clearly influenced by both the original story of 'Beauty and the Beast' and the Disney animation film, as after picking the rose he doesn't make a deal to return but is locked away with Philip, their horse returning to Belle which happens in the animated version (minus the rose).

At the beginning of the movie, the story of what happened to the Prince in the past is told using an over voice, however unlike the animated version there is a scene of them all dancing until the poor woman who later turned into the enchantress asks for shelter. Later on, in this film, Maurice takes a wrong turn that leads to the castle but what differs from the animated version is that on this journey he is attacked by wolves.

There are many things the director has kept the same but adapted in his image, such as chips trick with the tea and the mirror, where Belle sees her father.

Anyhow, the directors have added scenes to create their own image of Beauty and the Beast which is amazing. One of the scenes was when Gaston, Lefou and Maurice went in search of the Beast in order to find Belle, but when the castle was nowhere to be seen Gaston and Lefou tied Maurice to the tree and left him there for the wolves to find. In this film, Maurice and Belle actually talk about Belle's mother and what happened to her which links to later on in the story where Belle travels with the Beasts to her old home in Paris, through the use of a magical book. I think it is ironic how they chose for Belle to have been born in Paris which is fought of as the most romantic city, for her to later revisit with her love, the Beast.

I feel that the outfits of this movie are adaptions from the Disney animated film. I like this as they have been able to create a new image while staying true to the original Disney characters. The first outfit we see Belle in is her blue and white dress, but in this film the outfit looks more tattered which demonstrates that she comes from a poor family. Gaston's outfit makes him look more like someone coming back from the war instead of a hunter, still this works well with the time period that Beauty and the Beast is setting, which is 1700s.

The outfits for the scene of the dance to the song 'Beauty and the Beast' stayed true to the traditional version, which for those of you who live under a rock is a beautiful yellow ball gown for Belle and a dark blue suit for the Beast. At the end of the movie when everyone reunites and is dancing, a new outfit for the main characters was created. Belle wore a white dress with orange flowers which could suggest that in the future they will get married and live happily ever after as a bride wears white and orange is a colour of rebirth that connotes a new life for the Beast and Belle. The Beast wore a light blue suit which could connote that he has made it out of the darkness and is now in a happier place with Belle.

In this film, you can find the original Beauty and the Beast songs that are: Belle, Gaston, Be Our Guest, Something There, The Mob and Beauty and the Beast. However, the song's 'Gaston' and 'The Mob' have been adapted by some words being added in which creates humour and in my opinion, it also gives character to Lefou. I am glad that they didn't add to the song 'Beauty and the Beast' as I would have liked it to be kept to the traditional way of how it is meant to be viewed. The director created this traditional and iconic scene beautifully and was portrayed well.

In this film, 3 new songs were added which I'm going to write about. These 3 songs were composed by Alan Menken and the lyrics were written by Tim Rice.


The first song is 'Days in the Sun' which started by the Beast as a young boy singing to his dying mother and later the whole castle joins in although separately. This song is about being together and looking back on life as a human but not losing hope.

The next song is 'How Does a Moment Last Forever' which is about Belle's life growing up in Paris and revisiting it to find out what happened to her mother as it was the one story her father couldn't tell Belle. This song is about looking back at your childhood and knowing where you come from.

My favourite new song is 'Evermore' which is about how the Beast felt once he had set Belle free who then left to save her father. This song is about letting someone into your heart and how they will never leave and therefore always be there.

The film contains many bright and light colours which creates beautiful scenes. An example of this is the scene before the song 'Belle' which is of a sunrise that connotes the fairytale genre. The sequence that was performed while the song 'Be Our Guest' played used loads of different colours while the flying crockery travels around the room. Rainbow coloured lighting surrounds the room in a disco effect led by lumiere who conducts the dishes. The flying Plumette and her friends clean the room turning it from darkness to light as love blossoms between Bell and the Beast which connotes happier times ahead. This is a great as well as beautiful use of media. Another clever use of media is when Belle's hair moved due to the effect of the wind as they were higher up in the castle.

Any comments or questions please use the contact box or comment below

Hope you enjoyed the post

Thanks for reading

Amy x

Celebration at Bradley Cilton

Hey,

On 9 September, it was my mother's birthday so to celebrate we went out to where she wanted to go, which was Bradley Clinton. This is a national trust place where you can look at the house and explore the gardens.

We first looked around the house.



During the Tudor era this house was used as a refuge for those with the Christian Catholic belief. When raids happened they would use a rope to climb down the toilet and land just left of the waste. Obviously, this was relatively easy as the toilet is just a hole in the floor. Once in the sewer they would probably have to stay there for 4 hours, but due to the sewer being long and narrow, all 9 people would be able to fit and be somewhat comfortable. 9 people was the average amount of people that would need to hide.

After this we had lunch at the cafe which was a disappointment as they were not selling any hot food even when it was on the menu. I therefore had to choose what I wanted quicker as well as asking Nicola what she wanted which was a chocolate brownie. I ended up having an egg and bacon sandwich. While eating our food we had some duck friends come and join us though Nicola wasn't pleased about this.

Now for the gardens…

We first looked at the flower garden which was amazing and allowed me to capture some wonderful photographs.

We then continued onto the vegetable garden where a theme of 'Wizards of Oz' could be found, as when you walked around the garden you would come across scarecrows that were dressed to betray a character from Wizard of Oz. There was: the Wizard, who is the man behind the curtain; the Tin man, that has no heart; the Scarecrow with no brain; the Lion that needs courage; the Chipmunks who love lollipops; the Wicked Witch of the West with her flying monkey pet; the Good Witch of the North; the Wicked Witch of the East under the vegetable waste and finally Dorothy with her dog.

I hope you enjoyed my post and photography

Thanks for reading

Amy x