Logorama is an animated short film set in a world entirely comprised of brand logos. It tells the story of Ronald McDonald as a villain being chased by police officer Michelin men. Throughout the film, various logos come to life as characters and iconic brands are represented through their mascots. The film uses this setting to comment on how advertising and corporate brands have come to dominate society.

1. LogoramaShort Film Presentation

2. IntroductionLogorama is an animated short film that gained a lot of popularity at the 2010 Sundance film festival.The production was written and directed by the French team of François Alaux and Herve de Crecy, and was created over the course of a few years.Despite the film’2 popularity, many people were sceptical about the success it would have due to obvious legalities.It however did have major success, being nominated for an Oscar in the best animated short film category.The short film features a world full of brand logos and corporate mascots.

3. Mise En SceneThe animated film is set Los Angeles, but with a twist, covered in logos.Los Angeles is a great location for the film as it links into the representation of society being bombarded with advertisement and brand logos because it is a heavily impacted area for this. For instance it wouldn't be as effective if the location was a rural countryside village.

4. Nearly everything you see in the film is made up of a brand logo or mascot. This helps to give a very clear idea of what the film is about and the meaning behind it.

5. The film itself is very bright which I think is intended to link with the location being set in Los Angeles which is a bright city, but also links to the way brands design their logos; wanting to have a positive and uplifting effect on consumers.RepresetationThroughout the film, brand mascots such as Ronald McDonald and Michelin men are key characters, being portrayed as humans. Ronald McDonald is portrayed (because McDonalds in real life is represented as “evil”) as a villain and the Michelin men are cops (muscly men saving the day). I think this is clever and works extremely well.

6. Police are stereotyped to eat a lot of junk food which is shown as well as the classic “good cop bad cop” partnership.

7. I think that all of the destruction caused by the shoot out and the earthquake is supposed to represent how advertisement and brands are destroying society and taking away peace, and the green toxic waste that was in the truck shows how culture is being polluted.

8. The oil tidal-wave shows how important oil is to us but also the problems it brings up.NarrativeThe narrative is being told and played out by a range of characters in first person with use of dialogue, without a narrator. Time appears to be moving fast due to the high paced action involved though most of the story. I think Levi-Strauss’ narrative theory is used, because dramatic tension is created due to the conflict between Ronald McDonald and the Michelin police men.

9. The narrative and plot of the story is very straight forward and the language used by the characters is basic, so it is easy for the audience to understand. This is important as the story needs to be easy to understand because the main importance of the film is the idea of brand advertisement and logo’s being overwhelming.

10. Sarcastic dark humour is used a lot. For instance: The M&M asks “wheresa cop when you need one?” when Ronald McDonald is speeding through a street, but then gets ran over and smashed to pieces by the cops.ShotsThe establishing shot is of the first logo that we see, which is the Malibu logo. The shot then pans up and to the left, showing an animated street near the sea. This shot sets the scene and is the first indication that the audience gets showing that the film is going to be animated.

11. On the horizon of the sea you can see the Malibu logo again.

12. The following shots then show more logos and advertisements, including the Pringles man driving a truck.

13. Next is a birds eye view shot following the truck showing rooftops covered in logos and the viewer gets a sense of what the film is going to be about.

14. The next few shots are a variety of long shots and high angled shots to overload the audience with images of brand logos.

15. The closing shots are again birds eye views but contrast to the bright built up landscape of the opening shots and instead show the ruined setting. Then there is a pan up and out into space, still showing logos, even as planets.SoundDuring the opening sequence there is non-diagetic sound being played. This music is old fashioned and laid back. The same style of music is used at the end of the film which works as a contrast to the destruction which has just happened.

16. Because the film is set in a city, regular city sounds like cars, trucks and people are heard.

17. During the earthquake the diagetic sound is over emphasized and very loud to create a destructive atmosphere.Titles and End CreditsThere are few titles used and no opening credits.

18. The end credits show the name of the film at the top which is in the style of a logo, centered in the page.

19. The credits then follow, moving up the page at a slow rate.

20. The font is quite plain, with the person’s name in bold.

21. White font is used to show up against the black, out in space background.