Feast AnalysisTaken from the Short Film by Disney

Feast is an animated short film that although targets a different audience to my short film is similar in the consideration that it attempts to communicate an implicit ideology that mocks its audience. Targeting a younger audience with its character profiling and style of editing, Feast also looks towards targeting an older audience in its implicit message. The younger audience that the film looks towards targeting is roughly within the age range of 5-10 years old. This can be seen through the style

of animation and the use of character profiling in the main character of the dog that many younger children would find appealing. The producing institution also,

Walt Disney, is commonly known for targeting this type of audience in its main stream films such as Princess and the Frog and Cinderella. The secondary, older

target audience however is targeted as the stereotypical parents/carers who would watch the film with the children. The implicit message targets them directly as

being based on an age range of 30-40 years old, they would be much more responsible for and aware of the decisions they make when it comes to eating. This means that although the animation style is based off of the preferences of children,

the narratives ideologies can be applied much more directly to adults who are aware of the habits they take for granted. This awareness therefore encourages the

recognition amongst audiences that they are being mocked for their short lived habits and incompetence when it comes to the idea of ‘luxury’.

The producing institution is Walt Disney and this has an effect on the ways in which the short is used and distributed. Being a large conglomerate company

whose priorities would not necessarily lay in the short film market, the purpose of this film is less so to entertain but more so to self-promote. Disney

use the structure of a short film often to explore the possibilities of new narratives. Normally distributed before a full length feature film in the cinema,

Disney’s short films are used to test narrative ideas against a live audience globally. This was a process explored on the release of the Cinderella remake in 2016. Disney used its targeted audience of Cinderella to test its new idea for a

second Frozen film. Considering then Disney commonly use this structure it would seem that such a capable institution will clearly effect the film’s

reputation.

The short begins with an animated Puppy who appears homeless out on the street. The dog is soon taken in by a man and the audience follow its growth

watching the dog have its tea every night. As the Dog grows its meals begin to change, from simple dog food that satisfied him during the first scene finally progressing to food essentially made and eaten by humans. As the narrative progresses the dog shows more and more dissatisfaction with the meals it is given showing how easily and quickly individuals get used to and then tire of

things that would be taken for as a luxury by someone less fortunate than themselves. The narrative is linear however not continuous, the targeted

audience follow Winston at meal times and therefore are carried through his stages of growth at jumping lengths of time. The implicit message portrayed

in the narrative attempts to reflect the greed of the films target audience and how quickly they allow themselves to become accustomed to something

before casting it aside in need of more. Consequently then the producers have mocked their targeted audience as they attempt to imitate the luxury lifestyle

they have come into contact with using the character profiling of an animal that many individuals would believe to be below them.

The main character, Winston, is represented as a dog for many reasons. One of which being that Disney’s targeted audience, more specifically the younger primary, would be able to easily associate this species as one that are stereotypically known to eat a lot. This therefore promoting the idea of

greed within the implicit ideology. Towards the beginning of the film the dog is represented as homeless, with no ID collar and searching for food,

aspects of Mise En Scene such as lighting suggests to the audience how the puppy is hopeless. The gloomy scene represents a solemn feeling until the

shot is lighted and a human hand enters the shot offering food to the puppy. This change in lighting therefore signifies a glint of hope for the

Puppy as he accepts the man’s affection.

Other aspects of Mise en Scene such as costume are used briefly throughout the narrative. Towards the end of the film the puppy, Winston, is seen trying to get his owner and his

partner back together after an argument. In order to represent Winston’s owner as desperate Disney have used costume briefly as Winston’s owner runs into public in only his underwear and dressing gown chasing after the now fully grown dog. This distinction has

been made therefore to emphasize the loss Winston’s owner is feeling after losing his partner. Disney’s secondary targeted audience would be most targeted by this ideology as it is most likely that they too have experienced a loss of this kind. Introducing a relatable factor

into the narrative this way increases the film’s audience appeal as Disney’s older targeted audience can recognise they weren’t alone in this feeling. In order to emphasize this feeling

of loss and desperation more, Disney have used what could be considered a contrast in animated props as when Winston’s owner is living with his partner, the food consumed will

be considered much more healthy in comparison to the food consumed after the two human characters have split apart. As a result then Disney have distinguished the habits of

people when they are lonely compared to when they are not.

Camera Language is used throughout the narrative to represent a sense of emotion within a speechless character. Winston is the only character given a formal identity throughout the narrative meaning that the

dog is the only one who is seen and followed by Disney’s targeted audience. However, having the only main character unable to speak would have caused problems for Disney in portraying their ideologies to their

younger Primary audience. In order to combat this then, camera angles have been used to define emotion. In one shot, Disney have taken a low angle in order to show food falling through the air after a table is flipped. In the next shot then Disney have used a high angle to represent excitement and satisfaction as Winston can be seen sitting, waiting with his mouth open for the food to fall. Using this sort of body and camera language

creates a sense of emotion as it would seem the dog is happily grinning as he knows what is coming.

Camera language as a whole is used distinctively so that Winston’s owner and partner are never seen in whole. Limbs are often used instead to represent the giving of food but the bodies or faces of both human characters are never clearly portrayed. In this sense then the targeted audience only perceive the narrative

through the eyes of Winston, many of whom would consider innocent and without interior motive. This therefore means that any darker elements of the narrative that could have subconsciously been portrayed in

the break up scene for example are less likely to be received by the audience, making the short therefore suitable for Disney’s Primary targeted audience.