An English Classic

Language

Selecting the Language: Medieval or Modern?
Director/animator Tim Fernée writes:
'It's worth mentioning that language is particularly important to this film. We want the audience to listen to the words so we construct the film something like an opera. Sumptuous visuals present the language, then recede or hold still, allowing the audience to relish the words. Also, the script uses longer, unbroken speech than is usual in animation. So sometimes we cut or move away from a character in mid-speech to see a reaction to what he or she is saying. This is unusual in animation.'

There is only one small weakness in 'An English Classic' which is that little attention is paid to the processes of scriptwriting. Discussion could follow from such key questions as:

• How does collaborative writing affect/improve the process?
• Are revisions made of the script during the animation or voice recording stages?
• How were archaic words such as 'trawthe' and 'gentillesse' interpreted?
• How different or similar is writing a script for an animation compared to scripts for other modern media?

The scriptwriters decided not to use the alliterative verse style of the original poem because there are 'unspoken rules' in screenwriting that stipulate no line should draw attention to itself, and that if something sounds contrived or artificial, it should go. Voice-over narration was also disregarded, as the visual images of the animation suffice in providing an ongoing commentary. The format selected, therefore, was modern English dialogue.

The Alliterative Form
A key feature of alliterative verse is the repeated use of sounds and variations of words. The pattern of repetition came about because such verse has its origins in the oral traditions of pre-history tribes. The stories would be memorised and spoken rather than written, and repetition is a good tool for remembering a poem. Synonyms are regularly used; while interchangeable, synonyms sometimes have slight differences in meaning or tone and can therefore develop or complicate a theme. Certain words are used that have common features – usually alliterative prefixes or endings. These words are repeatedly used in a line or across a few lines (creating three stresses in each line). The effect of this pattern is to emphasise a particular expression or idea.

Listen to the last few minutes of 'An English Classic', where modern English is used in a poetic form to query if the area might be the Green Chapel. Are our modern ears more used to plain dialogue than poetry? Would repetition of key sounds in the dialogue, as there is in the music track, have enhanced or detracted from the animation?