Year 10

English – Accelerated Class (Year 11)

Term 4 Week 10

Closing Revision Activities

Name: ……………………………………………………………….
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Textual Analysis: Paperman
Genre(s): Romance, Comedy, Animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF9uz3EGSok

Storyline: A man and a woman meet and have a cute encounter at a train station, but before the
man has a chance to talk to the women she gets on her train.

The audience then see the man go to his mundane job which he obviously does not enjoy, and then
suddenly he sees the woman across the road in the opposite building. He becomes extremely
excited that he will be able to see her again and attempts to throw paper airplanes across to her in
order to gain her attention

This plan does not work and the woman leaves the building, so the man runs out of his work in an
attempt to find her on the street. Again he is unlucky until his discarded paper airplanes guide him
towards her abruptly, and the woman follows a single airplane towards the man. It ends with them
having a coffee together.

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Enigma Codes: At the beginning, an enigma code forms when the audience are unsure on whether
the two characters will ever see each other again, and if so how. There is then constant hope that
they will see each other again, but a number of facts prevent this until they see each other again at
the place they first met.

Due to the fact there is no dialogue in the short film; the audience are left wondering what their
names may be and what their voices may be like. However, this enigma code works well as the
audience are as unfamiliar with the characters as they are with each other.

How characters are established and represented: The two characters appear as very average,
friendly people waiting for a train and the appearance of normality increases for the man when the
audience see him in his working environment, due to him appearing to have a simple office job.
However, the man seems to reject this mundane lifestyle when he refuses to do any work and
instead tries to gain the attention of the woman.

Locations: There are four primary locations in the short film.

1. The Train Station: This is where the two first meet. It seems likely that going to this train
station is part of the man’s daily routine, which the woman effects massively as seen later
on when he quits his job in order to find her.

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 2. The Man’s Office: By the man’s facial expressions whilst in this location, it becomes apparent
to the audience that the man does not like his job and finds it extremely boring. All the men
in this location look similar except the protagonist, displaying a lack of excitement and
originality. The other characters are also older than the protagonist which may mean that if
the man had not met the woman, he would have been stuck in the same lifestyle forever.

3. The Street: For the young man it appears as if the street is the last opportunity he has to see
the young lady. Unfortunately for him however, he only finds his last paper plane, which he
discards in frustration. However, the story then becomes more optimistic when the planes
begin to abruptly force the man towards the woman and one plane guides the woman to the
man. This enables the audience to know that it is extremely likely that the two people will
meet again and there will be a “Disney style” happy ending.

4. The Train Station: It appears like a circular narrative when the two people end up at the train
station again. There is also a two shot frame similar to the one at the beginning, making it
obvious that they are together again.

Editing techniques and their effects:

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Black and white: The visual effect of the short story being in black and white makes it appear like an
old movie, which are often associated with the romantic genre. Therefore the audience are likely to
expect that the short film is romantic before knowing anything about the story line. The classic visual
effect also makes the story quite timeless as the costumes are very simplistic and could be
associated with any time frame, then possibly displaying that love is timeless.

Animation: The fact this short film is an animation makes it appear available to young children, but
the romantic storyline also appeals to adults. As a result the short film has a very wide target
audience due to it being an animation.

Eyeline match shot when she leaves: What is significant about this shot is that during the shot-
reverse-shot, the audience do not realise that the woman has left and neither does the man. The
effect of this is that we as an audience share the experience with the character of not seeing the
woman leave, and have the same concern that the man may never see her again.

Long shot when he sees her at the window: The effect of this camera technique is that it may
symbolise how although the man can see the woman, the distance is portraying how he needs to
first go through a series of events before he can be with her. An example of this is how after he sees
the woman at the window, he quits his job that he obviously hates and therefore destroys the boring
cycle of his mundane life.

Use of sound: There is no dialogue in the short film. At the beginning of there is ambient sound of
the train station and a soothing melody. This makes the opening of the short film appear very
friendly and sweet and a rhythm starts to build. In the next scene there is then an ambient sound of
an office, with telephones ringing and typing. The volume of the music then rises as the man sees
the woman again, which begins to drown out the sound of everyday diegetic sound. Throughout the
short film the volume of the music continues to increase until finally the two characters meet again
on the train platform, in which the music becomes a quiet hush and the rhythm begins to slow again,
but up until that moment the tone becomes very tense but still cheerful.

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Iconography: Paper itself becomes a sort of icon in this short story, firstly because of the title itself
and then because of how the two characters meet. It is a cute situation in which one of the man’s
papers fly into the woman’s face, later causing it to have a lipstick mark. Their second meeting is also
caused by paper as the man creates dozens of paper air-planes in order to gain the woman’s
attention. Therefore paper becomes an icon in the short film and the characters relationships as it is
the reason they have a relationship to begin with.

Genre characteristics: One of the genres for this short film is romance and the characteristic for this
is seen throughout as the reason for ‘Paperman’ is for two strangers to meet and hopefully fall in
love. Both the characters motifs in the short film are for them to see each other again. The short film
also has characteristics of a comedy, as seen when the man is aggressively pushed by paper
airplanes that then lead him to find the woman.

Font colour and positioning of titles: As Disney created the film there is a production card before the
opening of ‘Paperman’. This is due to Disney being a large company and being a member of the Big
Six. If ‘Paperman’ was created by an independent film director, it is unlikely that there would be a
production card at the beginning. At the beginning the only title used is of the title, ‘Paperman’
which is in a simple handwritten script. The positioning of the title is in the place in which the
woman then stands a few seconds after the title dissolves into the background.

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The significance of the main title is its simplicity, as that is what the short film is, simple. There is no
“Hollywood craziness” in the short film ‘Paperman’, just two characters meeting. The titles informing
the audience of what crew members took part in the creation of the short film appear at the end in a
classic style of pictures of the characters talking in a coffee shop beside it. Around the titles there are
also iconic little paper airplanes flying around. To me this seems like a very classic way in order to
finish a short film, and I very much enjoy that Disney has not kept its usual motif of having ‘The End’
at the end of the short film, as it is just the beginning for these two characters relationship.

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Screenplay

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What do the screen writer's initial shots aim to reveal about the police as an arm of the justice system
in Australia?

Suggestions for your answer

- It is exclusive and institutionalised
- That impartiality is the expected commitment
- There is pride and inspiration to be gained in the service
- That the public may treat the police, as enforcers of justice, with contempt
- Power can often be entrusted to impressionable and naive recruits

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How does the screen writer organise the action to convey his message about justice?

Suggestions for your answer

- The institutionalisation and the hierarchy of justice
- The naivety and youth to which power is entrusted
- Juxtaposition of partiality and the oath of allegiance
- The main character's enjoyment of the powers of his position
- The temptation to behave above the law

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Cartoon

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What is implied about our society through this cartoon?

Suggestions for your answer

- Teachers are teaching in prison compounds, not schools
- Security is excessive because of perceived threats in the community
- The situation is shocking and upsetting for parents and teachers
- Even parents are suspect
- Freedom and innocence have been lost in our society

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Describe the visual techniques that the cartoonist has used to communicate his messages.

Suggestions for your answer

- The use of juxtaposition of images and writing
- Heavy use of symbolism
- Size and positioning of the figures
- Facial expressions and gestures
- Manipulation of background and foreground images

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Newspaper Article

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What are the main concerns of this feature article?

Suggestions for your answer

~ That homelessness is steadily growing
~ That the victims are our youth
~ The causes are often family conflicts
~ The results of homelessness are serious
~ Early intervention is vital to halt homelessness

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How does the writer make this item persuasive?

Suggestions for your answer

~ By using specially selected information
~ Having strong modality and a logical structure
~ Using expert opinions and experiences
~ Quoting from research and facts
~ Use of language techniques such as emotive words

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Writing Activity

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