(Up until 6 minutes)
- What is the genre of the film? How are the genre signifiers introduced?
Tim Burtons ‘Big Fish’ is an adventure, drama and fantasy film about a dying man and his son, who is trying to learn more about his fathers life by reliving the stories he has been told over the years. The film begins with a CGI forward track through a sun lit lake following the path of the big fish as it weaves gracefully past hooks. The scene is accompanied by an atmospheric enchanting score by Danny Elfman and a voice over by the young Ed Bloom (Ewan McGregor) reciting one of his tales. Already this combination connotes a fantastical, fairy tale like quality, further exacerbated by the following scene, which shows him continuing the story to his son William Bloom (Billy Crudup) as a young boy in bed then a group of boy scouts around a campfire. The subsequent scenes follow the character chronologically as he ages, showing the development of a realistic individual- a genre signifier for dramatic movies.
- Who are the main characters and how are they opposed?
The two main characters are Ed and Will Bloom (father and son respectively). They are initially introduced as Ed tells a young Will his stories in bed. However, as time passes (Will is getting ready for prom) he has grown tired and reluctant of his fathers repetitive tales, even mouthing ‘make him stop’ to his mother. As we are taken further into the future (Wills wedding party) he is even more noticeably angry by his fathers anecdotes and storms out. Will feels he is a ‘footnote in his father’s great fictional adventures’ and lashes out at him for stealing the spotlight on his special day. After that, they do not speak for 3 years and the scene cuts sharply from a serene boat setting to a busy modern office- another evident opposition between the slow paced dreamy, idealism of his fanciful father and fast paced pragmatic son.
- What are the main themes of the film and how are they introduced?
If you strip away the beautiful, extraordinary settings powerful cinematography and contemporary technology, we are left with a very simple story, ‘the heart of this film; that one can create their own legacy, "the story of my life."’ The opening sequence is very escapist in how the audience is instantly drawn into Ed’s charismatic charming fiction, absorbing and wanting to relate to him more than his more boring (for lack of a better word) realistic son. The moral of the story is very much ‘life your life and don’t care what others think’ and Ed seems to be happier because of it.
- How is the narrative organised to show conflict?
Conflict is shown in the narrative, by the increase in tedium from Will as we move into the present day. Most of the opening sequence made up from pans and fade or dissolve transitions to create a slow paced start, abruptly interrupted with a cut to Will’s office bustle. The juxtaposition between the water of the lake and boat and fire is very effective and connotes conflict (the infinite freedom of ocean vs the short lived ‘burnt out’ fire) whilst simultaneously denoting a scene change. The dialogue tells us that the father and son do not speak so it is hinted at that something will occur later in the film in order for them to set aside their differences for a greater good.
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