Shrek as A Spike Lee Joint

Spike Lee is without a doubt one of the most well known black directors in film. His works commonly deal with issues of race, with the protagonist always being a person of color. The movie Shrek on the other hand is a comical film with the protagonist being an ogre, however when the film is thoroughly analyzed one can see slight factors that when amplified could make it a Spike Lee film, the main factor being that the main character is hated by a white town and attacked, for being physically different. For these reasons when tasked with re-visioning a film in the eyes of a new director, Shrek and Spike Lee seemed like automatic fits.

For the re-creation to be successful the focus on Shrek being “colored”(green) would have to be amplified in this case and those attacking him would be remain white as they are in the film. This is shown in the storyboard by Shrek being quite literally the only colored character. The arms and legs of those in the mob are all white and colorless. Since Spike Lee is also known for limiting the information the audience has about those that aren't the main character, in the storyboard the only face shown is that of Shrek. The mob attacking him is represented solely by their footsteps and weapons, as those are the only things that add importance to them in Shrek’s life. Furthermore there would be the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds to represent the two different moods in the storyboard. When the mob is on the screen there is no background music, instead the rumbling of their feet, weapons, and the combined shouts of their voices will create the sounds that represent them. Shrek on the other hand will have an upbeat song playing in the background during his time on the screen, to symbolise the peace and tranquillity he is experiencing. The camera will rarely be still, as common for Spike Lee films, with it shakingly following the mob via dolly while gentle and smoothly following Shrek in his house cooking and eating. All this will be occuring in New York since all Spike Lee films occur in urban settings. Shrek’s house will be located at the bottom of a tree in a park to further solidify he is an outcast from this white society. The storyboard ends with the weapons belonging to the mob moving closer onto Shrek slowly, since Spike Lee commonly uses background music even in slow parts of his film there will be a sad song letting the audience know that Shrek is now at the mercy of the mob. Originally this scene takes place in the beginning of the movie and in this case it will as well, this will allow it to set the mood for the film and show the racial tension in the setting of the film.