Wallace and Gromit

Kyle Irwin, Brendan Keylock & Ollie Taylor have constructed this page. Kyle in particular would like to hear from you if you have any questions regarding Aardman which can help you with the forthcoming GCSE Media Studies examination.

1) Choose a well known animation film and then ask yourself, who owns the film? Does anyone else own the studio who owns the film? Is everyone on earth owned by a huge, pulsating brain at the centre of the universe?

Wallace and Gromit is owned by an animation company called “Aardman” The director and maker of Wallace and Gromit is a man called Nick Park.
We believe that the media is like a huge pulsating brain at the centre of the universe and controls what we think, do and believe. An example of how powerful the media can be towards us , is the presidential election of the united states. John McCain accused the media of favouring Barack Obama, which led to more young people voting for Obama. To some extent this was true. Proof of this was at our own school, and how so many people were checking the live results on their laptops. When was the last time that teachers had to tell students to stop checking the news?

2) Choose a 5 minutes clip to show the class and be prepared to talk about:
Representation
Genre/sub-genre
Audience
Narrative

This is an extract from Wallace and Gromit, which is owned by the production company, Aardman. The genre of this clip is claymation, this is a form of animation that incorporates stop-motion and clay/plasticine figurines. This particular extract would be considered comedy.

The characters in this clip from a Wallace and gromit episode are Gromit (the dog), Wallace (the man), the sheep and the shopping robot. In this extract, wallace (the man) is portrayed as stupid or more stupid than Gromit (the dog) who is shown to be intelligent and when a problem arrises, he is the one who saves the day. They are also represented as lazy because they send a robot to the supermarket instead of just going themselves.

This series is family entertainment and appeals to viewers of all ages. To do this the videos include funny moments for kids and also more mature jokes for older ages. I believe that Wallace’s character was created to appeal to adults who can relate to him (self-identification). This clip represents the same issue that is represented in Cars, which is the issue of technology taking over our lives and in fact wallace and

In this video, Wallace and Gromit designed a robot that goes to the supermarket buys the groceries and brings them back home. The robot doesn't work very well and breaks down before it reaches the front door of their home. This does not follow Propp’s theory because it does not include the very obvious stereotypical characters, such as heroes or princesses. It does however follow Todorov’s theory to some extent and it starts in equilibrium and the dis-equilibrium is introduced when the robots wheel breaks, but it ends with the tone very enigmatic, which relates to Barthe’s theory and disagrees with the equilibrium ending that is suggested in Todorov's theory.

3) Is there a tradition, which relates to the studio/producer in question. In other words, just like we look at the conventions of genres, do studios/institutions also have conventions or trademarks associated with their brand identity?

Aardman studios is famous for its claymotion productions and its videos almost always have animal characters. In all Wallace and Gromit videos the two characters create and use robots and different machines because they are lazy.

4) What is the relevance of film animation to our society and why is there an industry and various institutions devoted to the production of these products?

Film animation plays a big part in children’s life today, in some forms of animation producers try to educate children through a fun and easy way, it teaches them about life by portraying scenarios and the introduction of a moral at the end. "If you want something done, you should do it yourself!"
Animation also creates entertainment to the whole family (e.g. movies like Wallace and gromit), as adult humor is introduced so that it encourages adults to accompany the child.

5) Finally, are there any other organisations who feed off the product you have analysed for Q2? (Think of other media forms) If so, who benefits from the alliance and is this a form of media synergy?

Other organizations benefit from the production of Aardman’s movies, because they are aimed at a young audience (children). These children will be wanting to by toys and collectables of the characters in Aardman’s movies, this is media synergy – meaning that the two companies (Aardman and the shop selling the toys) are helping each other and promoting their partners.
Aardman also uses organizations, such as cinemas – where their movie can be viewed, Aardman also produces TV programs, which are shown on the TV institution (e.g. now tv), All the institutions that help Aardman promote and produce their products get benefits, as they are too promoting their institutions and companies.