Media Language in the Jungle Book

­­Media Language in the Jungle Book

In the 2016 trailer of the Jungle Book has been created using computers and CGI as well as special effects making it look verisimilitude. The animals and background images have been made to look incredibly realistic, this then attracts attention to how the movie looks so real when really it’s a movie containing talking animals. In comparison the 1967 version of the Jungle Book has been made as a cartoon with no special computers or technology, the backgrounds are watercolour and the animals are simple animations. This doesn’t make the movie realistic and is more attractive to the younger audience.

Dramatic non-diegetic music has been used throughout the trailer to give the audience a small hint that the movie is going to be really dramatic and have lots of twists and turns. Then there is the diegetic sound of Scarlet Johansson talking as the snake, which is calm and juxtaposes the dramatic movie but then towards the end of the movie you actually see her and she is a patronising mean character. This could give the audience a view that there is betrayal as the calm motherly toned voice betrays them.

Scarlet Johansson is a well known actress which attracts an older audience along with the director Jon Favreau who is the director of Iron Man. Iron man is a well known film and is successful, this will attract an older audience as they think that Iron Man was really good so they think Jungle Book will be as well. 

Camera work such as close up panning when animals are fleeing shows anxiousness and fear in the animals as well as drama. Zooming into one specific area in the shot shows how significant it is in the movie. For example the shot of Shere Khans feet as he is walking is a close up scene which is significant in the movie because it is showing how powerful his character is all in once close up shot of him walking. 

Editing work such as fade to black and fade to white increases the suspense as you don’t know what is going to happen after. For example at 1:00 the screen fades the black and then a lion is jumping out of the grass at the camera, which suggests that there will be a lot of un-expecting events occurring.

Mise-en-scene has been used quite a lot throughout the trailer such as lighting as the trailer initially begins. Low-key lighting has been used on the peripheral of the screen and towards the centre it fades into high key lighting symbolising that you don’t know what is going to happen next. The close up view of Shere Khan walking you can only see his feet along with the scene where all the animals are on the bottom of the screen and Shere Khan is on the top of the mountain at the same height of the sun suggesting he is a superior character.

In my opinion, the trailer meets the demands of all different ages because of the use of actors, directors and the quality yet not young children as it has scary elements that wont suit them. Location is suited as well as it is based in an Indian rainforest and is a retelling of an original child story that can suit anyone.