Spy Kids; Island of Lost Dreams part 1 commentary

The first image we get is the camera moving towards a theme park. The image is colourful and bright, taking full advantage of the fact that colour interests children. There are people of all ages, families almost, with various props e.g. balloons, hats and the big cartoon cut out of the theme park's mascot. These images are exactly what you would find in a real theme park and they have chosen to do this to make it more realistic, contradicting the fact that the film is to do with an unrealistic family that have to save the world. The crowd soon clears so we are moving closer towards the circle around a little girl in a stereotypical pink dress, as we later find out is the presidents daughter. The camera then zooms into a few seconds shot of the Press' cameras flashing to take photos of the little girl. The girl is happy to be smiling and waving into the camera which shows she is used to it and used to all the attention. The camera zooms out to show a tall man looking down, as the camera does a low shot, as if from a child's point of view. The Press' cameras all turn to take photos of the man and the camera zooms back into him again. Behind the man is the rollercoaster that is so high it would usually make most children feel frightened. As the camera is a low shot, it accentuates how big the rollercoaster is and makes it seem a lot bigger. The girl agrees to go on it, showing she is brave and willing to show off, wanting the cameras back on her. The shot then goes straight to a rollercoaster that goes straight into the air, and is again a low shot, showing the man as taller than he really is, meaning to be dominant and more powerful. The rollercoasters we are being shown throughout this scene are all fake and made out to be frightening. They would never appear in real theme parks and this shows that the film has some element of non-realism in it.