Week 3: Report Findings on 'The Indrecibles'

Activity - Split into groups, Analysis of the Incredibles

Discuss:

Technique - Why certain camera shots/angles are used and are they effective?

How is color used ?

Music ?

Story Structure

Film Research

Now that you've watched the film, it's time to do some background study on the person (author/auteur) who made the film and the history of the making of the film. By doing this, we will get a better idea of why some of the key creative decisions ultimately found their way into the movie.

Before going out on his own and making his first animation feature film, The Iron Giant, Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird was a consultant on The Simpsons during its golden age (the first eight seasons). Here he played a key role in developing the show's animation style. During this time, his skills as a cinematic storyteller evolved significantly.

 Reading: Chris Roman, "Storyboarding the Simpsons Way" (PDF, 2.7 MB)
http://www.floobynooby.com/IPUB/storyboards_bradbird_chrisroman.pdf

The idea for The Incredibles came from several important influences on young Brad Bird, namely comic books and spy adventure movies (especially the James Bond series).

Another unique factor in the development of the final version of the Incredibles story came from Bird's personal family life. After the release (and box-office failure) of The Iron Giant, Bird found himself at a point in his life where he was coping with two key issues: the rapid approach of middle age and the stresses of achieving his artistic career goals, but not at the expense of his family life. Here's a relevant quote of his: "Consciously, [The Incredibles] was just a funny movie about superheroes. But I think that what was going on in my life definitely filtered into the movie." The result was a fresh approach to a superhero story.

Family Archetypes (Story)

The Incredibles is unique in the superhero genre because of its use of family archetypes. As stated before, Brad Bird's family life found its way into the story—and as a father, Bird had a unique perspective. The following breakdown shows how the choice of superpowers for the family members came into play:

• Mr. Incredible: As a father, you're expected to be strong, so he was made to be super strong.
• Mrs. Incredible: A multitasking mom with three kids and house to manage; as Bird explains, "The moms are always pulled in a million different directions, so I made her stretch like taffy."
• Violet: A shy, awkward teenage girl who has the power to turn invisible, but also has the ability to generate powerful force fields.
• Dash and baby Jack-Jack: Again, to quote Bird: "Ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls. Babies are unrealized potential." Dash has super speed, and at the end of the film we find that Jack-Jack has amazing morphing powers.
The final result was a team of heroes with powers that complemented one  another.

Technique

"Like Kurosawa and Spielberg he is a big fan of combining several shots into one master shot."