How Audience Perception is Influenced in "Princess Mononoke"

Princess Mononoke In The Context of Musical/Sound and On-State Talent Ingredients

By: Nina Borja

The late 90s Japanese animated film, Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is one of Studio Ghibli’s earliest visual directions in environmental and cultural discussion. According to the film’s Wikipedia page, The film takes place in the late Muromachi period of Japan, where the main course of the story follows, Prince Ashitaka, as he searches to lift a curse set on him by a demon. 

    Prince Ashitaka finds himself in conflicts surrounding war, industrialization, and environmental crises, as he crosses paths with Lady Eboshi of Iron Town, San The Wolf Princess, and the ancient Forest Spirit. By the end of Princess Mononoke, the whole meaning of the film’s themes and messages should be evaluated within the contexts of musical/ sound ingredients as well as those that relate to on-stage talent, in order to understand how the audience perspective is influenced. 

Clarity, execution, continuity, and aptness are the four factors that coincide with a media text’s musical and sound ingredients. Since Princess Mononoke is a visual film medium, the musical score of the film, composed and performed by Joe Hisaishi, is all pre-recorded and edited to fit the animation’s scenes. 

    With that being said, there are zero to no clarity deficiencies in the score, resulting in a performance that does not have as much spontaneity or urgency as a live performance would have. However, this makes sense since visual mediums concentrate less on the music and rather on how it compliments the film’s imagery. 

     The ebb and flow of the music score overall assists in creating emotion for the audience as they watch the film, depending on whether it is a battle scene or a soft-spoken reflective scene. With that being said, the aptness of Princess Mononoke’s music score successfully showcases how producer, Hisashi, strives to capture the feeling. 

Joe Hiasashi

        In regards to how effective on-stage talent is within the film, the traditional definitions are applied abstractly to fit into the contexts of this film due to Princess Mononoke being fully animated with only voiceover actors on screen. 

        However, in order to obtain successful perception and consumer contact, Princess Mononoke’s voice actors achieve pleasing intimacy and focused intensity, despite remaining entirely anonymous. In regards to this, the communicative bond between the actors and the audience is without a physical presence, but abundant in fundamental likability.