film's research paper
uryeol
SpiritedAway.docxPeihong Chen
Professor Church
ART 2010
Oct 28, 2019
Spirited Away
When it comes to animated films, Mr. Hayao Miyazaki is undoubtedly one of the most representative figures. Hayao Miyazaki is an animator who is familiar and loved by many people. As he said, the fantasy world he created comforts the souls of generation after generation. These works have the most magical world structure, and the most intimate and true characters, always capture the hearts of the audience easily, regardless of adults or children, will be deeply impressed from the heart. Among all his films, Spirited Away is my favorite movie. Profile of the movie is a girl mistakenly broke into the spirit world, in this world, she needs to find ways to escape and save their own parents and friends. But, the character is extremely full of expressiveness and enriches the world view of the real world in the blood of the character, reflecting Miyazaki’s insight into human nature. He incorporates deep thinking in the real world into the movie of Spirited Away. This animation is much more than just a story about the adventures of Chihiro. Almost every young person can read his own understanding in this story.
The movie of Spirited Away, it adheres to Hayao Miyazaki’s traditional Japanese style and is full of oriental metaphors. The first time I watched this movie was when I was a child. At that time, the image of this movie was just a novelty. It was a funny and beautiful movie. When I grew up and watched this movie again, I already had a different feeling and a different understanding. Don’t forget the initial heart and know really who you are, it is the meaning I understand for this film. In Spirited Away, Chihiro’s parents have forgotten restraint and turned into pigs. No-face man is too lonely, forgets the goodness, eats one fairy after another, becomes a monster swallowing. Yubaba forgets the goodwill in her heart and uses all means to make money. Her gentleness can only be seen when facing the baby. Chihiro has always been a person who has not forgotten herself. She remembers to be kind, remember to be polite to others, remember to do all the help of friends, always remember to try to save her parents back to the human world and her real name. With Chihiro’s own efforts, the potential of she was ignited in the crisis. Not afraid of danger, courage to bear, apologize on behalf of the generation. She helped the river spirit, helped Aogaeru, no-face man, Boh, eventually saved the Haku, herself, and her parents.
One of the reasons why I like this movie is that the film style is full of art. The places that appear in the movies are all real in various cities in Japan. In this movie, every character is growing and trying to overcome the defects, they found their true self. Every character in this animation, whether it is the core protagonist, the important character or the supporting role, each has its strong realistic symbolic meaning. After watching the main movie, what people remember is a lively character, not a movie story. This is the complete success of a movie. Spirited Away has done this.
According the film class of this term, I learned a lot about film techniques. It is a totally different experience to analysis a movie with these movie skills. Among the many movie shooting skills, the one that makes me feel most practical and interesting is the sound. Sound is a vital and indispensable part of a movie. It can emphasize the plot and can reflect some kind of connection or character emotion. Moreover, the sound is divided into many different types. For example, non-diagetic, sound-diagetic, soundtrack songs and voice-over. At the same time, in Spirited Away, the soundtrack technique has been used several times.
In my opinion, Miyazaki and the musician Hisaishi are a perfect partner. Hisaishi always understands the story of Hayao Miyazaki very thoroughly, and then makes a background music that matches the plot and the picture. The background music that appears in the movie is a piano piece. One Summer's Day is the most classic soundtrack in this movie. As the name, it has a deep summer taste. Imagine bathing in the sound of music, blowing the cool breeze on the loungers to enjoy the summer. This song appeared at the beginning and end, it echoed at the end but the same song was placed in different positions, and the emotions were completely different. At the beginning, Chihiro was lazily sitting in the car, looking from time to time, showing uninterested in the new environment. At the end of the time, Chihiro returned to the entrance to the Yuwu Tunnel. Chihiro was not the spoiled girl anymore, she experienced a magical adventure in Yuwu. Chihiro grew into an independent, sensible, brave girl. I felt sad when I heard the song at the end. Chihiro farewell to her Yuwu’s friends, who may never see her again.
Another soundtrack song is The Sixth Station, is also appears twice. The most profound part of this song is on the train that Chihiro and no-face man went to find the Zeniba. They do not say a word on the train, but Chihiro’s unwavering eyes show her growth and independence, the determination to save Haku and her parents. The last memorable songs appears when Haku and Chihiro's meet again. The violin in the middle is a sublimation of emotion, and the piano sound in the back is the accumulation of emotion. This background music with their images flying in the air, left a tearful touch for the viewers.
