Analysis by Chloe Charlesworth and Chayse

Thompson
Plot Summary
When a young boy named Miguel dreams of being a musician like his idol Ernesto de la
Cruz, he finds himself in trouble because of his families despite for music and musicians. After
suspecting that his idol musician is his great great grandfather, Miguel chases after his dream of
playing music. In desperate need of a guitar he steals one which results in a conditional curse
leaving him trapped between life and death and the only thing that can bring him back to the
land of the living is his family. He later finds out that Ernesto de la Cruz is not family, but rather
the stranger/guide he met named Hector is his great-grandfather.
Plot Summary Continued
Now cursed, Miguel finds himself in a race against time to find his great great
grandfather Ernesto. Miguel requires his blessing in order to make it back to the land
of the living before he turns into a skeleton and becomes trapped in the land of the
dead forever. He works together with his family to make peace with all family
members and eventually reconnecting the memory of Miguel’s grandmother Coco’s
father instilling the importance of remembering and supporting our family, both living
and dead.

Miguel slowly
changes into a
skeleton as time
passes in the land
of the dead.
Use of Lighting no. 1
● In this scene, Miguel is playing his guitar in secrecy while watching Ernesto de la
Cruz sing. Miguel sits in his dark attic with nothing other than small amounts of
light from the t.v and small candles.
● This is a great use of Chiaroscuro lighting in the film.
● I believe that this scene was meant to show viewer’s great emotion and instill
hope into those who want to chase their dreams. The illumination on his face and
the contrast of dark light in the background creates focus
on Miguel and the guitar while making viewers pay
attention to the emotion he conveys with his expressions.
I agree that this scene was meant to make us feel for
Miguel as well as inspire us to pursue our own dreams.
Use of Lighting no. 2
● In this scene, Miguel is looking
upon the city of the dead from one
of the outlying bridges of flower
petals. This city has too many lights too count, yet there are still great varying
shadows providing the city with a very calming effect.
● This movie could be the description of Chiaroscuro lighting and this scene is a
great representation of such.
● I believe that this scene was used to represent a metaphor of the “light at the end
of the tunnel.” This gives hope to its viewers and further justifies the idea of life
after death. I agree with this idea that was conveyed very effectively; we see here
that the light fades away across the bridges, but is greatly concentrated around the
central destination of the city.
Use of Film Editing Technique no. 1
● This first scene was when Miguel and his family go to
cross one of the bridges in the land of the dead. They
speak to an attendant working his post, and after he sees
that Miguel is living, he is so shocked that his jaw
literally drops; then it transfers directly to them making
towards the city.
○ This was clearly a cut scene

● This was purposely used to help us move faster to the next important scene without wasting time
on them crossing the bridge. It helps keep the pace of the film so that our interest is kept constant.
I agree that this was a great use of the cut scene because the movie had nothing important to
show during these two scenes.
Use of Film Editing Technique no. 2
● This scene takes us into a flashback of Hector’s. This flashback took us to Hector’s
memory of when he was poisoned to death by Ernesto.
○ This scene uses the fade in and fade out techniques.
● This scene uses a fade in/out to help direct the viewer’s between memories and
reality. It is used a few times throughout the move and is constant with each
flashback. Giving the viewers this brief amount of time allows them to gather
their thoughts in order to take their knowledge into or out of the flashback. I
agree that this was the correct choice for the scene because without these clear
starts and stops, the viewers may become lost within the transitions.
○ It is important to note that flashbacks in the film used black fades while fades representing other
ideas used other colors.
Use of Film Editing Technique no. 3
● In this scene, Hector is telling Miguel a story about how he used to sing for his
daughter Coco. Hector takes us into another flashback, but I thought that it was
important to notice the difference in editing for these two types of flashbacks.
● This scene uses fade in and fade out editing techniques.
● In these flashbacks, they use white fades to help transition the viewers in and out
of the memories as opposed to black. I believe they chose this because it helps us
clearly contrast the good and the bad memories with the association of these
fades. In the white flashbacks, the fades don’t last as long as the black ones did,
most likely because the scenes didn’t need as much time to develop emotion. I
agree with editing the film to contrast these scenes from real time to past time,
but also because it contrasts different emotions with the different types of fade ins
and outs.
Use of Film Editing Technique no. 4
● Here, Miguel helps his great grandmother Coco remember her father (Hector) by
singing his song “Remember Me” to her. After coming to a realization and
remembering her father, the scene dissolves into a scene that is one year into the
future.
● This scene uses the dissolve technique of film editing.
● This dissolve was important because it helps the viewers connect the passage of
time. Although it is only a few seconds that we get to see both images on screen,
the dissolve make a year long transition seem brief and seamless. I agree with
using a dissolve in the transition between these two scenes because there is a lot
of things that the viewers don’t get to see when jumping a year forward. This easy
transition guides us along with the passage of time not questioning too much
about what went on during the time lapse.
 Shot Relationship No. 1
Type of Shot: Arc Shot

Scene Description: This scene shows the intimacy of Miguel’s relationship

with music. His passion for becoming a musician is exemplified as he admires his
idol musician, Ernesto de la Cruz, in an old television viewing. He plays the
sweet tunes on his replica guitar of the famous, de la Cruz, as the camera circles
around him to show his relaxed and content expression.

Purpose/Meaning: The purpose of this scene is to

introduce the true passion and relationship young Miguel has
with music. It shows the meaning of his journey to either seek
the acceptance of his family and their support, or find a way
to obtain his dreams of becoming a musician on his own
terms.
Shot Relationship No. 2
Shot Type: Zoom/ Reaction Shot

Scene Description: This scene is Miguel’s initial

entrance into the connection with the dead after
he attempts to steal a famous musician’s guitar. He
runs frantically and falls into a deep grave. A
considerate woman offers to help him out and he
screams at the sight of a skeleton woman. They
both are startled at the sight of one another and
the camera zooms in on their faces.

Purpose/Meaning: This shows both perspectives on the unexpected event of the living seeing
the dead as well as the dead seeing the living. It adds a humorous twist.
Shot Relationship No. 3
Shot Relationship No. 3
Shot Type: Shot/Reverse Shot

Scene Description: This is Miguel’s entrance to the land of the dead. Instead of being
scared it is actually a beautiful sight filled with charm and a weloming appearance. The
shot is a view from behind Miguel of the landscape of the city and it’s vibrant lights.

Purpose/Meaning: This scene shows the vastness of the land of the dead and provides
an enchanting feeling of the other side (dead) verses the common fear of mankind
such as dying or what it is like on the other side after death.
Color and Meaning No. 1
The color orange is a prominent color
throughout the entirety of the movie. It also is
accompanied by the complimentary color
blue. This allows warmth and contrast of
calmness. The purpose of orange is to exhibit
the invitation and warmth of the fmaily circle.
The blue creates a sense of tranquility
throughout the rollercoaster of emotions
throughout the film.
Color and Meaning No. 2
There is a variety of color used
throughout the film which may be
considered as technicolor. Especially
in spanish cultures there are vibrant
colors. In the party scenes as well as
the intense scenes it can be observed
that there is a greater sense of
vibrancy to the colors.
Color and Meaning No. 3
There are several scenes in which there are flashbacks to the past or there is
a viewing of past films. This is exhibited in black/white, sepia toned and
monochrome coloring. It makes it very apparent to the viewer that it is not a
current event. This also reminds the viewer to remember the past in which we
may be able to remember important events and use it to motivate or inspire us.
Use of Sound and Impact of the Scene
It can be observed that the use of shoes is frequent
throughout the film. It brings a comical element that the Rivera
family as long-time family-owners of their shoemaking business
use shoes as a defense weapon. The grandma hits the mariache
band member with her sandal, Miguel’s deceased great-great
grandmother hits the computer monitor with her shoe because
she isn’t able to pass through to the land of the living on dia de
los muertos. The prominent sound of shoe-smacking brings a
totally significant element to the movie that draws attention to
the event which is happening. The little objects such as breaking
a window, popping a bottle cap, dragon cat flying through the
sky.. All of those little things added up to one magnificent film
where the tiny details obviously mattered. I love it!
Special Effect Use and Meaning No. 1
The special effect of transparency is used
to exhibit the temporary presence of those
visiting the land of the living from the land of
the dead on Dia de los Muertos. It reminds us
that the living cannot see the dead although
they are still very much aware and around
those of their family they love. I definitely agree
with the use of this special effect. This movie
was extremely well-done and I enjoyed the
number of transitions which showed the
change from one element of the storyline to the
next. The distinction between the living and
the dead was significant in COCO.
Special Effect Use and Meaning No. 2
The special effect of the glow is very
prominent throughout the entirety of the film. It
varies from the candles to the moonlight resting
through the windows to the glow off an old
television screen to the vibrant orange petals used
to connect the land of the living with the land of
the dead. These special effects bring attention to
the symbolic nature of each item that is glowing
or the object it surrounds. I agree with this special
effect use because I see the intent of putting focus
on significant objects with symbolism. It also
creates the dreamy and charming setting of the
movie which totally caught my attention and kept
it throughout the whole movie.
Special Effect Use and Meaning No. 3
There is the special effect of the glow on the city buildings which create a
realistically enchanting feel to the land of the dead. The fog that appears in several
scenes in the land of the dead is also an interesting special effect. It offers a more
drudgy feel which is an indicator of the land of the dead or (in the case of Ernesto de
la Cruz’ shrine) the presence of death. Although it may come off as eerie in many
cases, in this movie it is simply a calming effect and intended to remind the viewer of
the nature of the film and the connection between the living and the dead. This is
something that I enjoyed because it reminded me that although there is a kid who
enters the land of the dead with his deceased ancestors who love and care about him…
HE STILL ENTERED THE LAND OF THE DEAD. I enjoy they played off that and
still made use of something that would reinforce the eerie, dead feeling. Overall, the
movie was captivating!
Special Effect Use and Meaning No. 3