Spirited away booklet one - Task 7

Gcse style 15 mark question

How are young, female characters presented in spirited away?

At the start of the film Chihiro is presented as being scared and dependant on others. An example that back this up is when the family have to stop at the dead end, the parents want to venture into, what they think is an abandoned theme park, but Chihiro doesn't want to because she is afraid of getting lost in there. Cinematography is used to show how young and small Chihiro is when walking with her parents as a high angle shot is used making her seem weak and innocent. While the whole of her is in the shot you can only see a small portion of the parents immediately showing us, as the audience that she is the main focus of this scene and she is the  only one who matters at that current moment as the director is trying to portray her in a certain way. This represents how the parents, are less scared if the outside world as they're used to it. The director is showing that at this current moment in the film her parents are stronger than she is, this could've been included to foreshadow the change of Chihiro.

Throughout the film, her character changes because she learns to work things out by herself and without her parents this makes the audience form an emotional relationship with her. She becomes less fearful of things and starts to be more independent, maturing into a stronger person, showing a difference from the start of the film where she is weaker and high angle shots are used. This is with some help from some of the characters she meets with on her way throughout the film, that form her into a new person who is stronger than the one before.

By the end of the film though she is more brave and doesn't need support from her parents or any other characters in the film. This is shown because she is the only person who can save her parents through the film, when they have been turned into pigs. This shows she is capable of looking after herself and others and the love for her parents, this also shows that she has become far more mature and found herself through the film.

This shows that Chihiro's character changes, this then concludes with her being able to save her parents and stop them from being pigs forever, this means she is capable of helping others that aren't just herself, this shows bravery and pride.