OUAN401 : Brief 1 :study task 3: Animation analysis (overview #2:)

.Genre/ Deep structure:

Cinderella would best fit in  that of the “formal” genre and the “political” genre. 

 Formal :The case can be argue for Cinderella to be considered a “formal” animation, is that it is an animation that is determined as an illustration of a novel/story/fairytale, a visual adaptation that leans toward children as it’s target audience. Therefore, the forms and style of animation that it used lies within those boundaries .To be more specific, it has to carry an aura of fantasy to highlight the “fairytale” aspect of the story , and did so through the image of the fairy god-mother figure, the pumpkin chariot, the talking animals, even the sparkling effects on Cinderella’s dress and glass heels,… all of which are considered the “formal” qualities of animation - things that only animation can do as opposed to live-action from a technical and story-telling stand point. Along side that, it still has to make characters that are important to the tale, relatable to the audience to effectively communicate the emotion of the story, that is why Cinderella and the step-mother are animated very realistically and behave very human-like, mimicking the realism of a live-action shot. So in the end, we have this mixture realism and fiction portray through the medium of different animation style, which are the bases of what is considered the formal genre of animation.

Political : Essentially , all fairytales carry some sort of moral that they want to convey , and an visual adaption of it certainly would carry on those messages. The story of Cinderella is the ground for the battle between good and evil, and in it , seeks to tell children that if your hardworking and kind like Cinderella you will eventually be able achieve your dreams and happiness, while the opposite can be said for those who are like the step-mother and the sisters.
Semiotics analysis :

1.     To go into more detail, the image of beauty, good and evil is portrayed through the use of signs and symbolism , with the tiniest of details of the character and scenes being signifiers Take the image of Cinderella herself perhaps. She is usually described as wearing brighter clothing, and in many cases , white and formal (the dress). She has beautiful golden locks, with big blue eyes , fair skin, red lips, v-line jaw and good forms. She was all in all presented as the icon of beauty, not just in the story but at that period of time in real-life society ( even until now ) . Moreover the use of white is a symbol for her purity and righteousness, the face of what is good , in contrast to the step-mother and sister. This kind of symbolism is also portrayed in other characters , such as the fairy god-mother with her white hair and old loving features, roundish figure ( which has been uses a lot since then as a symbolic trait for kind and loving characters ,as a round shape is usually taken as an icon for softness and huggability ); or the carriage and horses that Cinderella rode on to the ball, which carries an aura of nobility and most relevant , glamour to it ( white horse being reserved for kings or noble and costing a fortune) in real life to further emphasize and compliment her ability to capture attention and push that notion of a “magical transformation” . This syntagmatic relationship in the end form the idea of what is considered “good” within the story.