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[Music]
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spirited away is a 2001 Japanese
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animated film animated by the legendary
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Studio Ghibli which yeah I know there's
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a bit of a debate over whether its
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Ghibli or Ghibli I Percy always
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pronounced it as Ghibli but from my
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research online
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it seems Ghibli comes from the Italian
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word that actually uses a soft G and the
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Japanese themselves also pronounce it
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with a soft G so I guess technically it
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is Ghibli but to be honest I think most
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people are fine with either
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pronunciation it's not like the word gif
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where some people pronounce it is gif
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you know despite the G standing for
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graphics which is a hard G or Nutella
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where some people wrongly pronounced as
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Nutella even though it's clearly meant
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to be pronounced as wait what the [ __ ]
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spirited away was directed by Hayao
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Miyazaki who has also directed many
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other of the well-known Studio Ghibli
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films such as Howl's Moving Castle Ponyo
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and my neighbor totoro spilled it away
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though perhaps not being the most well
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known Ghibli film certainly is the most
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notable as it's not only the highest
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grossing film in Japanese history with
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over 361 million dollars worldwide even
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surpassing Titanic here
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sukkah Titanic
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but it is also at the moment the only
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hand-drawn non-english-speaking film to
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win the Academy Awards for Best Animated
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Feature now this may not be my proudest
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fact but until this review I had not
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actually seen spirited away before and
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had only heard about it from the many
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many other people who have recommended
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it to me so I'm going into this with a
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really fresh mindset will the film live
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up to the expectations that others have
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set or is it going to be a case of
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people with overhype nostalgia goggles
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overrating as quality for the love of
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God please don't be the latter now this
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is the usual part of the review where I
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will go into the film's plot but for
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this one I'm gonna do think a bit
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different why I won't go into too many
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plot details but just give you the basic
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story instead and I'll explain my
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reasoning for that in a bit so here's
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the basic plot we follow a young girl
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named Chihiro as she her mum and her dad
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are travelling towards their new home
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during the journey her father decides to
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take a shortcut which leads them to a
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seemingly abandoned amusement park the
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parents are keen to look around but she
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here on the other hand is a little more
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hesitant as she gets an uneasy vibe from
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the whole place and suggests that they
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leave they discover an unmanned market
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stand which has an array of freshly
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cooked food captivated by the smell
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she Hiro's parents are quick to dig in
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while she hero continues to look around
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when she returns back though she finds
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how her parents have been turned into
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pigs and now that the night is beginning
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to fall sees all these mysterious
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ghost-like figures appearing around the
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park as she tries to escape she notices
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that the once grassy field has been
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replaced with a notion she meets a
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mysterious boy named Haku who tells her
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that she will need to lay low and get a
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job at the local bathhouse whilst they
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figure out a way to save her parents
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don't be afraid I just want to help you
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open your mouth and eat this chew it and
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swallow yeah probably not the best
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message for kids right there from there
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on we meet an abundance of whimsical
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characters including a spider-like man
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who kind of reminds me of dr. Robotnik a
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cloaked creature wearing a mask who
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swallows people whole adorable little
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sick creatures and a [ __ ] of a witch
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who runs the bathhouse now the reason I
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don't want to go too much into the plot
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is not because of spoilers but moreso
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because that's not where the film's
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strength lies the plan itself is fine
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but to be honest it's not really the
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story that's going to keep you
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captivated it's more so the visuals you
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see as the story has been told spirited
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away was not actually made with a script
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as explained in an interview from the
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director Miyazaki I don't have the story
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finished and ready when we start work on
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a film I usually don't have the time so
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the story develops when I start drawing
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storyboards it's not me who makes the
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film the film makes itself and I have no
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choice but to follow and you definitely
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feel this when watching because the
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highlight of the film without doubt is
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the artistic look and animation the
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animation for this film is beautiful
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full of highly detailed lush drawings
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which really help showcase the wondrous
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fantasy going on in this world I've
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always said that the greatest strength
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of animation is having no limits on the
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design and movements you can bring to
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the characters on screen and this film
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certainly makes the most of that
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strength there are also moments
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scattered through where additional
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frames are used to create a much
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smoother motion but while still
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maintaining that high level of detail
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and yeah the detail is amazing in this
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film prime example is looking at the
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character you Baba just look at the
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level of detail on her face with how the
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lighting and shading perfectly defines
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each wrinkle on her skin give her a
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really in-depth 3d look
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and as well as the realistic detail the
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movement is also impressive despite a
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lot of mythical creatures there's
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actually a lot of realistic movement in
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here similar to the Disney films where
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the animators would study the movement
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of real-life animals to better animate
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them on screen this film would do the
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same
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the scene where sure hero needs to
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force-feed her COO the medicine the
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animators would study a dog's mouth in
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real life as a vet would feed at treats
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whilst holding its lower jaw now let's
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move on to the music holy crap
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the music is right up there with the
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animation composed by joe hisashi
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forgive me if I pronounced that wrong
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the main theme features a beautiful
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piano piece which truly captivates the
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beauty and wonder that we see before us
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offering a balance of soothing wholesome
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yet emotional energy this soundtrack is
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so elegant and peaceful I actually found
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myself seeking out the piano score and
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having it play in the background whilst
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writing this review it's certainly one
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of those songs where you only have to
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hear the first few seconds of the
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opening melody to instantly associate it
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with this film another thing this film
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handles really well is the pacing
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because the amazing thing about this
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film is that it has a runtime of over
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two hours most animated films will tend
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to stick to an average runtime of about
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an hour and a half which makes sense
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mostly due to their target audience
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being younger and having less of an
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attention span cuz you know kids got to
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be kept entertained
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[Music]
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and secondly because animation itself is
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a long and expensive process so no point
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panning out your film with pointless
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filler but spirited away really didn't
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feel long at all and I was wondering as
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to why that was could it be just down to
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the distracting visuals and music well
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partly but I believe the main reason is
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down to how it's paced the film has a
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pattern throughout where we'll have
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small intervals of action sandwich
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between take a breather moments you can
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see this immediately in the opening
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scene where we start nice and peaceful
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as shahira and her family are seen
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driving towards their new home followed
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by an intense moment of action as a dad
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speeds along a shortcut in an aggressive
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manner nearly crashing the car but then
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back to choir as they begin to check out
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the abandoned amusement park
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this method of pacing ensures that the
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audience has kept on their toes but not
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overloaded with emotional information
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that they would become exhausted by air
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my favorite use of this pacing is
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towards the third act where we get an
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intense chase scene of no-face in
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Chihiro
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but then the film just comes to a
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complete stop as we get this beautiful
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moment where she hero no face are riding
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the train together and we simply stop
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and look at the world around them as the
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train travels across the land or um see
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allowing the audience themselves to
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become immersed in the world it's trying
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to present now I know I said this film
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didn't really have a massive plot
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element going on but it certainly did
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have some strong themes to it the most
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notable is the nature of breed such as
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how the parents get turned into pigs how
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no-face consumes those that are greedy
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for gold or even how no face himself
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turns into a monster after consuming too
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much food in the bathhouse and there was
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intentional reasoning to this theme
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agreed in the film as an interview from
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the director Miyazaki stated she heroes
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parents turning into pigs symbolizes how
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some humans become greedy
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and the very moment Shapiro says there
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was something odd about this town her
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parents turn into pigs there were people
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that turned into pigs during Japan's
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bubble economy of the 1980s and these
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people still haven't realized they've
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become pigs this also seems to somewhat
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tie into another important theme of the
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film and that's identity such as sure
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hero now losing a name to be known as
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sin Haku not be now to return to the
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real world as he has forgotten his real
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name
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you barber not recognizing her child
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after he's been transformed and she hero
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needing to identify her parents in order
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to save them there's also a little hint
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as well superstitious elements such as
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the parents stating that spirits are
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said to live in the little stone houses
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and performing a simple ritual to unbind
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yourself from bad luck finally let's
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take a look at the characters I love the
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characters in this film mainly because
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there is no definitive hero or villain
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most of the characters Chihiro meets
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will start off cold and hostile towards
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her but will grow softer as she proves
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herself as a hard worker showing that
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respect isn't just granted but needs to
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be earned
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[Music]
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even the seemingly villainous you barber
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shows compassion towards her at the end
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making you wonder if she actually was
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evil or just someone who likes to run a
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tight ship with the bathroom house then
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on the contrast you get a character like
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Haku who starts off warm and friendly
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but as the film goes on you hear how the
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other characters questioned his motives
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and it leaves you with doubt as to what
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his true intentions may be
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he's you baddest henchmen don't trust
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anything he says and then of course
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there's a hero herself whom I'm gonna
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leave best described in the words of
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Miyazaki I created a heroine who is an
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ordinary girl someone with whom the
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audience can sympathize it's not a story
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in which the characters grow up but a
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story in which they draw on
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thing already inside them bought out by
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the particular circumstances I want my
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young friends to live like that and I
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think they to have such a wish in
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conclusion this is a fantastic film and
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an absolute must watch if you haven't
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seen it already stunning visuals
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beautiful music and great pacing which
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unlike sure hero will leave you wanting
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to stay in this magical world for a lot
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lot longer in this film there certainly
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was an incredible level of talent and
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skill which went into the animation it
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sure would be nice to be able to learn
00:13:06
some of these skills in order to be able
00:13:08
to animate like that for ourselves but
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without having to pay the thousands of
00:13:12
pounds for university dare boy if there
00:13:16
was only some sort of website where
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people could share skills in order to
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help teach each other how the anime Oh
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skills share is an online learning
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community with more than 7 million
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creators involved and over 25,000
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classes premium memberships give you
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unlimited access so you can join the
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classes and communities that are just
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right for you for example there is an
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animation community which offers you
00:13:45
tutorials on how to create all sorts of
00:13:47
animations from traditional to digital
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to stop-motion to 3d to pixel to paper
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carts you get it within these
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communities you meet like-minded
00:13:58
learners give and receive feedback on
00:14:00
projects and speak with others who have
00:14:03
the same interest as you skill share is
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given away a free two month unlimited
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access child to my subscribers who click
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the link in the description box or you
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can simply go to still dot should avoid
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slash you know I just click the link and
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after that it's just $10 a month thank
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you so much for watching guys and until
00:14:25
the next one take care
