The lost thing free essay sample

Shaun Tan is an Australian illustrator, author of childrens books and projected fiction cover artist. â€Å"The Lost Thing† was originally published as a picture book for children in 2000. The screen adaptation of the story was released in 2010 and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following year. â€Å"The Lost Thing† tells the story of a boy who discovers a bizarre lost creature at the beach and sets out to find somewhere it can belong. Tan draws from a large source of inspiration and cites many influences on his work. His inspiration in creating â€Å"The Lost Thing† was as he began to imagine a world where this was the only illustrated literature available, where everything was fully explained, clear and functional, including all verbal and visual language, all meaning predefined. If something playful and absurd suddenly appeared in this world, the reaction of the people would show the sense of acceptance and connections established. We will write a custom essay sample on The lost thing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This became the real subject of the story, not so much the problem of a lost creature as outlined by the text. Tan is omnivorous when it comes to influences, and he loves to admit this openly. Some influences are very direct and the strong language utilise conveys Tan’s awareness of the situation. â€Å"The Lost Thing† is a powerful example where Tan makes visual references to famous artworks. Many of his influences are a lot more subtle visually; some of the influences are ideological. INSIGHTS A sense of belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places and the larger world. It is connections that influence where one searches for meaning in ones lives and ultimately where one belongs. This is shown throughout the short film ‘The Lost Thing’. When Tan uses â€Å"The Lost Thing† as a salient object it portrays the message that not everyone feels affiliated within a community. It is clearly portrayed throughout the short film that the creature and the central character aren’t accepted by society, the two protagonists have limited connections with the people around them, hence creating a relationship, and sense of community between themselves. One belongs when one feels connected to others and the world. These connections between people display their place in the world, and their acceptance by society. The restricted sense of acceptance by the characters conveys the message that they are clearly separated from the society around them. This builds the relationship between the two characters as they both have the similarity of not being accepted. This forms a connection with the two central characters starting the sense that they are accepted. Reciprocity is essential to forming a sense of belonging. This notion highlights the disconnections that the creature has with the society. The relationship the protagonist creates with â€Å"The Lost Thing† creates a mutual exchange of favours between the two, as the protagonist starts to feel privileged whilst creating the relationship with the creature. The mutual feeling is shaped as the protagonist sets out to discover where the creature is accepted and has connections with others around it, joining the wider world. Techniques â€Å"The Lost Thing† is a dominant metaphor for the creature on the beach as not only is it a reference about the abandoned creature; it is also inherent within the title. Often one feels pressured to conform to societal expectations. â€Å"The Lost Thing† is large; however everyone ignores it due to societys indifference. In other words you have to conform to belong to such a society in order to be accepted. As the protagonist is chucking things into â€Å"The Lost Things† head, a bright glow illuminates the area around the creature and the boy while the background is faded to black. This colour symbolisation metaphorically, puts forth the sense of self gained and enhanced through their common lack of connection. This sense of acceptance that the two displayed for one another established their affiliation, the audience gains this understanding due to the colour choice of yellow, depicting hope and light. Tan’s choice to then place the colour/bright glow around the protagonists head, provides a biblical allusion, reinforcing the ‘spiritual’ connection between the two. The directorial choices made by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan portray the loneliness of â€Å"The Lost Thing† and the protagonist. Where the protagonist is walking against the flow of people with â€Å"The Lost Thing† displays his individuality from the masses and the sense that they don’t belong. The juxtaposition Tan uses throughout the film has the effect of irony of how the contrasting creatures feel accepted by each other. In the end, the choices made by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan display how the protagonist is accepted and that he found his place in society. The frame zooms out showing that his tram is identical to the many others around it showing the similarities with the other people in the community. The powerful use of symbolism emphasises the deep red rusty colours of the industrialised environment. The colour â€Å"red† also emphasises the inherent use of danger. However, the lonely character throws that worry to side to try to find his place of acceptance. The narration throughout the short film also conveys the message of no association with the society. The use of tone used in the narrator’s voice portrays a dull sound emphasising sadness and loneliness. This tone builds an effect on the audience as it conveys the meaning of how it feels to not be accepted. The lost thing free essay sample An outsider I often a person who is perceived to be on the borders of society and it’s through their actions they outlook from the rest of the public. Being an outsider is often associated with segregation and disapproval, however in Shaun Tan’s short film the concept of outsider is celebrated. In ‘The lost Thing’ audience can see an outsider in the sterilized community and through Tan’s use of juxtaposition and narrative voice, we discover and follow the lost things voyage to be in the right place, belonging. Recall Firstly the use of colour is a vibrant technique used by Shaun Tan to explore the role of the outsider in The Lost Thing. The lost thing has been found in the wrong ‘world’ and is noticeably out of place. This is revealed first and fore mostly through the use of colour which shows the lost thing to be frankly different to the world around him. We will write a custom essay sample on The lost thing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While the sterilized and plain world of the boy is symbolized through dull colours and solid, harsh lines of the buildings and homes. The grey and black of the boy’s world is juxtaposed against the bright red and roundedness of the lost thing which in turn, clearly shows that the lost thing is the outsider in this world. This is obvious to the audience during the scene where the boy is taking the lost thing through the city and in the long-shot of the city street we see the bright red stand out against the greyness of the city streets as all the citizens move in one direction, dressed all alike in grey and black. In the meantime the lost thing moves brightly in the opposite direction posing the question to the viewers, is it a negative factor to be the outsider here in this dull and plain world? Moreover an alternative technique that is used by Tan to discover the concept is recurring motif. A motif is a frequent/ repeated pattern or design in a work. For instance, in the concept of the outsider and referring back to the film ‘the lost thing’ we can see that tan had incorporated this technique of reoccurring motif by the use of symbolism. A major example from the film is the repetition on the signs. Signs paly vital role in society and in the short film, because signs are used to show the presence or occurrence of a place or thing. So looking at the film the sign is important in the like of the lost thing. A person narrating the story, is always a pleasant way to intake a story. Therefore anther technique which is understandable in concept of the outsider is the technique of first person narration. This technique is seen all throughout the film. By using this technique, Tan adds emotion to the story. Through his tone of voice we can experience his feelings. With technique of first person narration we can also incorporate the technique of sound and music. These two techniques plays a vital role in this short film because it is through the use of sound the message is conveyed. A prime example of this could include when at the starting of the film the music is all dull and gloomy and the sound effect of lost thing moving gives us as the audience a sensation that the big rounded thing doesn’t fit in that society. In addition to this, when the boy get that sigh form the assistant at the lost property place, the music starts to change. Through the rest of the lost things journey to belonging the music is all happy and cheerful. The change is atmosphere is very visible to the audience. In conclusion it is through the use of all these techniques the concept of the lost thing is clearly celebrated trough this short film. All the techniques tie in to give it that extraordinary effect, via the use of these techniques the audience are able to connect with the emotions of the lost thing, and follow its journey to belonging.