When The Day Breaks (Wendy Tilby / Amanda Forbis, 1999)

Narrative Structure

After a chance encounter on their way to retrieve food from the groceries, a pig hears a chicken being run over by a car and killed, leaving her in a state of panic, causing her to frantically run home and revealing the connections each person has with those around them.

Cinematography

One of the most notable aspects of the film is the fact that the animation used reflects a negative atmosphere due to its dull tones which contrast the animative style that audiences are typically used to, showing that the film will most likely be about a dark and sensitive topic that will have a negative short term impact on one of the main characters.

The use of animation allows for a greater range of expressive movements as the image can be manipulated to focus on key details. When running home after witnessing the death of the rooster, close-ups of the feet of the pig shows the distress that she’s currently feeling as she frantically attempts to return home where she feels safe, only returning to a wide shot when at last she finally does feel safe after slamming the door, signifying that she no longer feels trapped or confined by her emotions after what she has experienced.

Sound

There is a use of diegetic and non diegetic music in the film. The diegetic is the most noticeable as it expresses the emotions that the pig feels as she dances around the room to the song whilst peeling potatoes. The songs lyrics “When the day breaks” shows her positive attitude at this point in time as she feels ready to approach the day but disappears after she no longer feels safe when she sees the rooster hit by a car.

Mise-en-scene

The decision to use animals rather than humans as the characters expresses the impact that death can have on a person. Animals in fiction are typically associated with being fun characters possibly aimed at younger audiences so by relating these characters to the idea of death, the film suggests that these occurrences aren’t restricted to a select few people and can have an impact on anyone no matter a persons background.

Meaning and Response

They are all different animals but are all connected by one overwhelming fear that at any moment something bad could occur and cause harm or even death to them and they all struggle to cope with that thought, shown in this film through the perspective of the pig.The film seems to imply that by seeing something negative happen to others despite being strangers, your own life is put into perspective and will stay with you so that it causes you to make a change that will greatly impact the way you live.