Beauty and the Beast Deconstruction

Titles- There’s the Disney logo sequence at the start which signifies that this i a Disney film
and will most likely tell the audience how this will work out e.g. happy ending. It also says
that it will probably be a family film, mainly aimed at children. When the title comes up “
Beauty and the Best”, it’s in a light happy and typical fairy tale type font which sets the mood
for the film.

Lighting- Even though Beauty and the beast is an animated film the lighting is still shown,
the happy parts when the ‘camera’ is shot through the woods with the light coming though
the trees implies a safe and happy feeling in the setting. Even though its’ not really lightening
the scenes where they are like stain glass windows which you’d expect to see in a church
show that this was n the past and is a story which has been told for years and has been
encrypted in history. The scenes with the beast have dark lighting to emphasis how dark and
hideous he is, that he is supposedly evil and should be messed with. The castle inside has
dark lightening which again signifies that this setting is dark and no-one should enter it. The
lightening at the end when the camera tracks out and shows the castle is very dark all grey
and blacks which is a major contrast to earlier scene where its all calm bright colours. Which
again shows that evil has happened and inside isn’t a handsome prince but a hideous beast.

Sound- The sound behind most of the opening is happy and chirpy with the wood scene
there’s bird sound making it feel natural and like a fairy story. When it moves to the scenes
with the prince and the beast the music becomes hollow and a lot of use of woodwind
instruments to make it seem dark but not too dark so it denatures the fairy story and child
story. Over it is a voice over which starts off with “Once upon a time”, which of course is the
start of most if not all fairy tales. This again captures the child within the viewer. What is said
isn’t too long and descriptive but isn’t too short either. Again it is like a fairy tale the
sentences seem short the words aren’t complex like you’d expect if you reading the story as
it’s a fairy tale.

Camera Shots- The camera is in long shot for the first 45 seconds, when it is going through
the woods behind is the castle which emphasis the fairy tale saying “far far away”. It also
tracks into the castle to show that castle is where it’s mainly set. After that with the witch and
beast there are close ups of them especially the beast as it signifies to the audience that the
beast is a main character and is also deemed evil from the start with the dark lightening .
There’s a close up of the magical rose which indicates that this is an important part of the
film and is the answer to all of this getting better and solving. At the end the camera tracks
out of the castle which tells the viewer that the beast is alone and is far away from anyone
else so it would be pretty much impossible for him to find a person to love so he turns back
into a prince.

Editing- The scenes fade in and dissolve into one another. There aren’t and harsh transitions.
This would be beneficial as it is a children’s fairy tale so they wouldn’t want anything to
harsh or scary for them.
Mise-en-scene- The portrait and furniture in the castle makes it show that it’s set in a castle
and emphasis that he is a prince in true form.