Review of Snow White and Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs

This week we take our turn at animation in films and I will be comparing Snow White and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  With these two films it easy to point out that there will be majors differences because the advancements in technology, however the rules film making are similar.

In Snow White there were times that the director left major scenes unseen to use like when snow white bit the apple we only had the look at the evil queens face and got here scene of enjoyment of finally getting rid of Snow White and also when the Evil Queen falls to her death.  These are all off scene shots and it is to our imagination to visualize those events.  Also in Snow White use of lighting towards the feelings of Snow were brilliant in the scene when the huntsman tells here to run away and she enters the forest scared and it immediately turns from day to night and she feels that ordinary objects like trees have come to life and turn into monsters that are trying to get her.  The audience can easily understand what she is feeling.  Once she feels safe again the environment changes back from night to day.  

With Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs it’s easy to see how far animation has come. It is something that this viewer had taken for granted.  Even though we didn’t watch the film in 3-D you can see the depth in each scene and how much more is going on in each scene bring every element to life.  There was one scene that I particularly like and it is when Flynn is decided to turn the machine. In this scene Flynn is the clear focus of the shot and for me the lighting tells the story.  On the Left side of his face is darkened by shadows which represent his bad/evil side where the major is telling to keep the machine running and be adored by all. On the right side of his face it is lighted representing his good side the wants to do the right thing but he know that everyone will be angry with even though it is the right thing to do.  This illustrates some of the struggles in all decision that we make.

Both movies are great in their own right were Snow White is a slower story that can be hard to stay engaged were with Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs is faster pace and brings the element of comedy. I feel that without Snow White we might not have movies like Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs so remember the classics because without them the inspiration for some of our favorites might not have happened.