Childrens Film Analysis - Whole Film Analysis - The Goonies (Richard Donner 1985)

Narrative Structure 

1. Exposition - In the first part of the film we find out what/who the Goonies are. 4 younger boys plus one of the younger boys older brother. Also two girls who are friends with the older brother. Furthermore we find out a bit of the backstory which is that if they dont find this treasure that their house will be repossessed and turned into a further extension of a local golf club

2. Development - As the story goes on we see that they find the map in the collection of historical items in the attic and this starts the adventure to find the treasure. To do this they have to run from the older brother who then eventually follows

3. Complication - After finding the place from the map they go in and find where they need to go they are stopped by the Fratellis who are known criminals and after finding the entrance to caves/ underground tunnel one of them, Chunk, gets captured by them. Also as they progress through the tunnels underground they run into trouble with booby traps.

4. Climax - When they come to the end of all the booby traps they find a huge cave containing a pirate ship which has gold treasures and jewels inside. A huge fight between the Fratellis and the Goonies evolves and after the Goonies run away the Fratellis get caught in a final booby trap set by the captain of the pirate ship, One Eyed Willy.

5. Solution/Resolution - The Goonies managed to get out of the cave and run and are found by police who have been looking for them. The Fratellis follow but get arrested by the police who have been looking for them during the duration of the film. A maid who was hired by the mother of Mikey, one of the Goonies, finds jewels missed by the Fratellis and therefore marks the end of the owners of the local golf club trying to buy off the houses.

Genre

The Goonies is a mainly Adventure film but it includes many sub-genres such as Action and Comedy. It could be classed as a Hybrid of Adventure-Comedy.

Characterisation

Mikey - He is the leader of the Goonies but is also a bit soft and easily persuaded.

Chunk - Joker of the group who definately loves food. Stereotypical funny character in the film.

Data - Technical Geek/Inventor of the group. Has comedic value due to his failure inventions but also helps the plot move forward due to saving himself and the Goonies from close shaves.

Mouth - Typical "cool" guy of the group. Very obsessed with appearance but is the key character to the plot as he translates the map.

Brand - Mikey's older brother. At the beginning we are introduced to him and a "jock" figure but towards the end he becomes half of the token love couple. Also pretends not to care about Mikey but in the end he seems to care a lot about him. Makes sure he is safe.

Andy - The other half of the token love couple, Andy isnt introduced until later on in the film but we see that she is the typical girly girl of the movie - scared of little things etc.

Stef - Friend of Andy, Stef is almost the same as Andy being a girly girl but they also include a sort of geeky side to her demeanor by adding that she has glasses

Technical Features
Key Features of Camerawork

- During the Underground Tunnel scenes there is a lot of Close Ups and Extreme Close Ups to show emotion and create atmosphere for the film
- When the Goonies are searching for the place where the treasure is, using the Map and the piece of ancient metal with the clue, there are establishing shots of the location of the old restaurant.
- There are mostly panning shots throughout the film but during the car chase scene there are tracking shots following the cars.

Mise-En-Scene

Props - There were a range of props used in the Goonies but they were all related to the story line for example the instruments they used to locate the underground tunnels.

Setting/Location/Scenery - Set in suburbs in North America in a typical cul-de-sac of homes.

Hair And Makeup - Fitting to the time period, the hair and makeup was typical of the 80's.

Costumes - The costume worn in the Goonies is very fitting to the time period it was filmed in for example theres a lot of denim and Brand the "jock" figure is wearing the 80's style "jock" costume with the shorts and wife beater.

Lighting - There isnt really a lot of lighting used in the film due to it being mainly natural lighting but inside the underground tunnels they have used some lighting obviously to light the tunnel up.

Decor - Inside the underground tunnels they had designed it as if it was the time when the riddle was made and the traps set.

Editing


The editing in the Goonies was mainly Fade in's and Fade out's but they also included Fade to black. We believe that there isnt much editing due to the film being made in the 1980's and the technology wouldnt have been as advanced as today.


Sound


In the film, during the car chase scene/Mikey's house scene they had background music in the film which is tecnically called diegetic due to the fact that its not put on the film in the editing process but its naturally in the background. Most of the film, however, had music or sound effects added which is called non diegetic. This was put in during the editing process.


What Information Is Relayed In The OPENING SEQUENCE?

In the opening sequence of The Goonies we are introduced to the main characters of the film and the meaning of the title. We are also shown the location/setting of the film and the story line of the film begins with a slight backstory about the Fratellis and also about why the Walsh's (Mikey's family) house is under threat.

-Emma