Genre
analysis - discuss how you know this is the genre and explain why?
Content analysis - this means how the film is advertised
to generate interest.
Narrative analysis - what is the story of the film?
Pans Labrynth
The film I am researching about is the film, Pans Labrynth, set
in Spain, 1944 a young girl meets a strange fairy while travelling with her
pregnant mother to meet her new stepfather, who is a merciless captain of the
Spanish army. The fairy then leads her to a mystical faune which tells her she
is the long lost princess of the underworld. To return to the underworld she
must successfully complete three tasks which will determine whether she is
worthy to return.
The genre of this film is drama and fantasy. This is
identifiable as a fantasy as it starts of with the heroine coming across a
mystical creature in a natural environment, which is common for fantasy films.
It also features a range of mystical creatures assisting the protagonist, as
well as the protagonist having to defeat similar mystical creatures in a
fantasy world. This movie could also be classified as a drama as it shows the
protagonist in conflict with others, such as the captain and herself, showing
her at her best and worst, reaching a resolution within herself at the end of the
film.
The majority of ways this film was advertisement would be by
posters, newspapers, magazines, radio,
television, as well as online reviews and trailers.
Film Theory
Auteur Theory-
Feminist Theory-
The idea of incorporating feminism into theoretical, fictional or philosophical discourse. Its goal is to understand the nature of gender inequality.
Queer Theory-
The notion of shedding light on the LGBTQ+ community through the inclusion of queer actors or characters.
Marxism Theory-
Marxism is a philosophical and practical framework for analyzing and changing society that was developed from the ideas of Karl Marx in the 19th century.
Symbolic Codes-
Setting
Mis en scene
Set Design
Acting
Colour
Pans Labrynth
The director of this film is Guillermo Del Toro, whom is an auteurist, which is somebody who uses the same techniques across all movies they create, the same actors, lighting and camera work.
Setting
Pans Labrynth is set in 1944 Spain, at a time where the Allies have just invaded Nazi-held Europe. The majority of the film is shot within the Captains house or around the surroundings woods, some takes being shot of the labyrinth towards the end of the film and snippets throughout.
Mis en scene
Some of the props that they would have used would be some dead rabbits, a root puppet as well as weaponry such as guns, knives, etc. For special effects they would have had to spend hours building the costume for the Faune, as well as the monster that Ofelia has to face for her second task.
Acting
In this particular scene, Ofelia is attempting her second task. In this task there is a feast laid out on the table, with an eye-less monster sitting at the end, his eyes on a plate beside him. Ofelia is accompanied by three fairies gifted to her by the faune to help her with her tasks, in which she much retrieve a dagger from the layer of this monster which seems to be dormant upon her arrival. In these scenes Ofelia brings out the key she retrieved from the first task and stands in front of three doors. Ignoring the fairies choice of what door to open, she was correct and get the dagger. Once Ofelia retrieves the dagger, she is tempted by the feast on the table, ignoring all the signs from the fairies which indicate her to not touch or eat anything. In this scene, Ofelia is seen with her eyes close, showing how she is ignoring the fairies again, indicating she thought from her first success that the fairies where misleading her and doesn't listen what their trying to tell her. In my opinion, in this scene the fairy should have been desperately pulling Ofelias hair to get her attention as they knew what would occur if Ofelia were to eat the fruit and should have tried to stop her more aggressively. This is another example of how del toro references how Ofelia has become mortal, as she is giving into temptation like a regular human. The fairies hands are seen to be frantically waving indicating that they understand the consequences of eating the food and are desperate to stop Ofelia.
In this scene following task 2, Mercedes is seen consoling Ofelia after her mothers illness worsens. Through Pans labyrinth Mercedes is seen as the mother Ofelia never had, as her biological mother struggles with her difficult pregnancy as well as her new husband Captain Vidal. Mercedes is shown to be holding Ofelia tightly, height being a symbolism of maternal care and how Mercedes wishes to protect Ofelia. Mercedes is seen throughout the film lingering in the background behind Ofelia, showing Mercedes looking longingly at her. Mercedes forlorn expression indicates how worried she is for Ofelia and with her hand on her head she brings Ofelia into her arms, embracing her. Her higher position in this scene show Mercedes in a authorial light, protecting Ofelia, paired with a maternal instinct Mercedes is seen to allow Ofelia to indulge in her child-like fantasies, discussing with Mercedes the Faune and the fairies.
Colour
In Pans Labrynth the colour schemes are used to show the separation of worlds. Scenes acted in the 'real world' during daytime are commonly amber and green, where as night time scenes are usually amber and cyan. When Ofelia first encounter the faune the colour scene is mainly greens, showing how he is a creature of the earth a like the fairy which is also green. The real world that features scenes with captain vidal as well as her ill mother have more of a blue tone filter to it, indicating that these real world scenes are sad and depressing for Ofelia hence the blue effect. The fantasy world that appears in a snippet in the beginning of the film is introduced as a dark blue, representing the sad events that occurred there. The fantasy world that appears at the end of the film after Ofelia completes her three tasks have contrasting colours to the real world scenes. In the fantasy world the main colours are deep crimson as well as gold and orange. As you watch this movie you can see the vibrancy of the colour saturation grow as the storyline continues, the colour schemes sometimes overlapping.The fantasy worlds provide an escape for Ofelia from the sadness she experiences in the real life world, as there she is seen as a young child who knows nothing, contrasting to the fantasy world which provides a promise of being a princess.
Camera Work
In the beginning of the film it opens with Ofelia lying on her side, which the camera itself is also lying on its side while a soft humming noise plays in the background. As it pans over Ofelia, the blood coming from her nose starts to disappear, as if to show the reversal of time indicating that the narrator is going to start from the beginning of how she died. The narrator then begins telling a fairytale about the princess of the underworld in which the camera then dives into her pupil where the movie begins takes place in the underworld as the camera pans across the landscape. The reason for the camera plunging into Ofelia's eye is to indicate to the audience that she is the main character, as well as showing that eyes are a reoccurring theme throughout the film.
The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey
In this scene from the movie, Gandalf and three of the dwarves appear to be in Bilbo's home discussing the journey they are about take on. Whilst all of the actors who payed the dwarves were shot together, the actor who played Gandalf, Ian Mckellen, had to shoot his scene separately from the rest. By filming Mckellen separately, surrounded by green screens creates this perspective of Gandalf towering over the other characters, which were edited into the scene later. The position of the camera in this scene would have to take into account the placement of the dwarves in the lower half as well as the positioning of where Gandalf would be added in later.
Editing
In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, there would have been an extensive amount of post production editing that would have gone into making this movie. For instance the editor, Jabez Olsen, discussed "some of the challenges the team faced" in brainwaves's online magazine ( inhttps://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2013/20131211001-01.html ) ;
Film Theory
Auteur Theory-
Feminist Theory-
The idea of incorporating feminism into theoretical, fictional or philosophical discourse. Its goal is to understand the nature of gender inequality.
Queer Theory-
The notion of shedding light on the LGBTQ+ community through the inclusion of queer actors or characters.
Marxism Theory-
Marxism is a philosophical and practical framework for analyzing and changing society that was developed from the ideas of Karl Marx in the 19th century.
Symbolic Codes-
Setting
Mis en scene
Set Design
Acting
Colour
Pans Labrynth
The director of this film is Guillermo Del Toro, whom is an auteurist, which is somebody who uses the same techniques across all movies they create, the same actors, lighting and camera work.
Setting
Pans Labrynth is set in 1944 Spain, at a time where the Allies have just invaded Nazi-held Europe. The majority of the film is shot within the Captains house or around the surroundings woods, some takes being shot of the labyrinth towards the end of the film and snippets throughout.
Mis en scene
Some of the props that they would have used would be some dead rabbits, a root puppet as well as weaponry such as guns, knives, etc. For special effects they would have had to spend hours building the costume for the Faune, as well as the monster that Ofelia has to face for her second task.
Acting
In this particular scene, Ofelia is attempting her second task. In this task there is a feast laid out on the table, with an eye-less monster sitting at the end, his eyes on a plate beside him. Ofelia is accompanied by three fairies gifted to her by the faune to help her with her tasks, in which she much retrieve a dagger from the layer of this monster which seems to be dormant upon her arrival. In these scenes Ofelia brings out the key she retrieved from the first task and stands in front of three doors. Ignoring the fairies choice of what door to open, she was correct and get the dagger. Once Ofelia retrieves the dagger, she is tempted by the feast on the table, ignoring all the signs from the fairies which indicate her to not touch or eat anything. In this scene, Ofelia is seen with her eyes close, showing how she is ignoring the fairies again, indicating she thought from her first success that the fairies where misleading her and doesn't listen what their trying to tell her. In my opinion, in this scene the fairy should have been desperately pulling Ofelias hair to get her attention as they knew what would occur if Ofelia were to eat the fruit and should have tried to stop her more aggressively. This is another example of how del toro references how Ofelia has become mortal, as she is giving into temptation like a regular human. The fairies hands are seen to be frantically waving indicating that they understand the consequences of eating the food and are desperate to stop Ofelia.
In this scene following task 2, Mercedes is seen consoling Ofelia after her mothers illness worsens. Through Pans labyrinth Mercedes is seen as the mother Ofelia never had, as her biological mother struggles with her difficult pregnancy as well as her new husband Captain Vidal. Mercedes is shown to be holding Ofelia tightly, height being a symbolism of maternal care and how Mercedes wishes to protect Ofelia. Mercedes is seen throughout the film lingering in the background behind Ofelia, showing Mercedes looking longingly at her. Mercedes forlorn expression indicates how worried she is for Ofelia and with her hand on her head she brings Ofelia into her arms, embracing her. Her higher position in this scene show Mercedes in a authorial light, protecting Ofelia, paired with a maternal instinct Mercedes is seen to allow Ofelia to indulge in her child-like fantasies, discussing with Mercedes the Faune and the fairies.
Colour
In Pans Labrynth the colour schemes are used to show the separation of worlds. Scenes acted in the 'real world' during daytime are commonly amber and green, where as night time scenes are usually amber and cyan. When Ofelia first encounter the faune the colour scene is mainly greens, showing how he is a creature of the earth a like the fairy which is also green. The real world that features scenes with captain vidal as well as her ill mother have more of a blue tone filter to it, indicating that these real world scenes are sad and depressing for Ofelia hence the blue effect. The fantasy world that appears in a snippet in the beginning of the film is introduced as a dark blue, representing the sad events that occurred there. The fantasy world that appears at the end of the film after Ofelia completes her three tasks have contrasting colours to the real world scenes. In the fantasy world the main colours are deep crimson as well as gold and orange. As you watch this movie you can see the vibrancy of the colour saturation grow as the storyline continues, the colour schemes sometimes overlapping.The fantasy worlds provide an escape for Ofelia from the sadness she experiences in the real life world, as there she is seen as a young child who knows nothing, contrasting to the fantasy world which provides a promise of being a princess.
Camera Work
In the beginning of the film it opens with Ofelia lying on her side, which the camera itself is also lying on its side while a soft humming noise plays in the background. As it pans over Ofelia, the blood coming from her nose starts to disappear, as if to show the reversal of time indicating that the narrator is going to start from the beginning of how she died. The narrator then begins telling a fairytale about the princess of the underworld in which the camera then dives into her pupil where the movie begins takes place in the underworld as the camera pans across the landscape. The reason for the camera plunging into Ofelia's eye is to indicate to the audience that she is the main character, as well as showing that eyes are a reoccurring theme throughout the film.
ln this scene, eyes are again referenced, as Ofelia replaces the statues eye, causing an insect like creature to reveal itself from with the statue, which we later realise is a fairy. This symbolism and use of eyes in Pans Labrynth show Ofelia literally seeing her reality in a new light, as magical creatures keep revealing themselves, prompting issues for Ofelias relationships with people as she prioritises returning to the underworld. As you can see the camera is positioned as if it was resting on Ofelia's shoulder, making the audience feel like they were right there with her. The majority of this clip is shot with slight shadowing, light exposure being most apparent at the top of the statue as its shot in natural light. In my opinion, this scene should have happened later in the film, first finding the eye, arriving at the captains house, then finding the statue would have made it seem more destined for her to go to the captains house and find the labrynth, referencing to the theme of fate throughout the movie.
Editing
In this scene specifically, Ofelia is attempting her second task, in which she must open a door to another realm, where she meets a terrifying monster whose eyes lies beside him as he sits inactive. As she comes across the monster, it is done so in wide angle, slower clips, indicating Ofelia's hesitation to perform the second task whilst also helping the audience establish the layout of the lair of this creature; where we see a mural of the mythology of the beast and a pile of shoes from all of its past victims. In this image you see Ofelia staring inquisitively at the monster, in a shot reverse shot angle which is common with scenes that involve two people talking. As danger gradually increases the editing gets more rapid and more stable, helping exaggerate the panic and fast movement of the scene. These quick cuts help the audience relate to Ofelia, as they induce panic and an urgency within the viewers for Ofelia's safety, whilst keeping the 180 degree rule as to not confuse the audience. As Ofelia escapes the monster, the cuts start to slow down and revert back to wide panning clips and tracking shots.
This technique is dissimilar to the first task she had to attempt, in which she must crawl underneath a tree and defeat a large toad. In this scene its full of wide long shots, slowed down to accentuate the slow movement of Ofelia moving through the mud and sludge further and further underneath the tree. As she encounters the beast, it is not as rapid editing as you see in the second task, as this creature is unable to cause mortal danger to Ofelia.
Audio
In the opening of Pans Labrynth there is a soft non-diegetic humming sound, which sets the tragic tone of the film, as this sound is almost motherly and meant to be comforting, contrasting to the scene in which is a flash forward of Ofelia dying. This melody is repeated again in the film, as mercedes is seen to act as maternal towards Ofelia, singing this lullaby in attempt to comfort her. As well as this soft humming there is another non-diegetic sound which is the voice of the narrator, who is telling a fairytale about the underworld and its princess. As this voice is very similar to that of the faune's, who Ofelia encounters later in the film, it shows his importance in the film, as he not only guides the audience with the introduction of the storyline but also Ofelia herself
.
An example of audio in The Pans Labrynth, is the sounds used for the insect Ofelia meets. At first it seems like a ordinary insect, paired with diegetic sounds of clicking, buzzing and the fluttering of wings who seems to have taken an interest in Ofelia. However this turns surreal as we discover this insect possess's anthropomorphic qualities, as it turns into the fairy Ofelia shows it from one of her fairytale books, leading her to the labyrinth as well as helping her with her tasks. This creature becomes recognisable by the sounds it had when it was an insect.
Lighting
In the Pans Labrynth there are two types of lighting used, High-key lighting and Low-key lighting. High-key lighting produces little shadows and barely any contrast between light and dark. This is used mostly for the fantasy world, allowing the reds and golds of this world pop and be highlighted, as well as referencing to how this world symbolising innocence and the good. This provides a sense of hope for Ofelia as she wishes to live in the fantasy world where everything seems brighter and better.
This is in stark contrast to the low-key lighting, which creates deep shadows around most of the set. This type of lighting casts a dark tone on the real world Ofelia lives in, a harsh reality compared to the light of the fantasy world, which may be the reason for why Ofelia is so invested in her fairytales as she want to escape her life in the real world. This shadowy effect makes the audience feel a sense of despair and entrapment for Ofelia, relating to the evils that she must face in her reality such as Captain Vidal. This again references the theme of evil vs good, as low-key lighting is often used in horror films to create an unsettling atmosphere.
The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey
Setting The Hobbit is set in the fictional land of Middle Earth, another fantasy world similar to the Pans Labyrinth although based off the books written by Tolkien. In the Hobbit the characters are restricted to the western parts of Middle Earth, starting and ending in the shire, which is a peaceful region of the land and is where the main character lives. The events the occur in The Hobbit series are set before the time of The Lord Of The Rings, which also features Bilbo Baggins.
Mis En Scene
In the beginning of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first prop we see is the candle held by an old Bilbo Baggins walking in his hobbit hole, which indicates that it is night time. Bilbo is then seen opening a chest full of various artefacts, some of which feature later in the film, foreshadowing later scenes in the film. Some of the other props that would have featured would have been the infamous big feet that hobbits have, as well as their fair skin and rosy cheeks, shortness and curly hair.
Acting
In this scene, Bilbo Baggins is having his routine dinner when suddenly he was interrupted by a knock at the door. From this snapshot of the scene, the audience can infer from Bilbo's facial expressions that this knock was unexpected and he does not know who has knocked on the door. The slight pause before he goes to open the door, suggests a hesitation to stop what he's doing, indicating that he would rather eat his dinner than find out who the mystery guest is. This is a good representation of Bilbo before he develops as a character, as at the beginning he is not willing to go on adventure and hates the idea of differing from routine. Later in the scene, when Bilbo meets all of the dwarves you can see how overwhelmed he looks by the amount of people in his home.
In this shot from The Hobbit, Bilbo displays a contrasting personality to the scene before. In this picture Bilbo is seen running towards the dwarves, after initially refusing their invitation, to take part in the adventure. This is in stark comparison to the image above, where he was hesitant to even open the door. This already shows Bilbos gradual development as a character in the beginning of the film, as he runs with the paper he has signed in his hands as if he ran out the door immediately after signing, indicating that he was determined to catch up to the dwarves and didn't want to miss out.
Colour
In the movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey there is a visible contrast of colour schemes when compared to Guillermo del toro's Pans Labyrinth. When watching The Hobbit, it is full of vibrant colours and high saturations, making the colours pop off the screen, whereas in Pans Labyrinth the colour palette is mainly dull blues, greens, with intense saturation on only the golds and reds.I think this idea to accentuate the colours by making them more luminous and bright helps make the locations visited in The Hobbit seem more surreal and magical, for instance in the shire, where Bilbo Baggins lives, you see bright greens and yellows, indicating that the land is healthy and a happy place. This is interesting to see as in the Pans Labyrinth blue was the most common colour to appear, symbolising the sadness Ofelia feels there as well as the unhappiness that Captain Vidal brings.
Camera Work
Camera Work
In this scene from the movie, Gandalf and three of the dwarves appear to be in Bilbo's home discussing the journey they are about take on. Whilst all of the actors who payed the dwarves were shot together, the actor who played Gandalf, Ian Mckellen, had to shoot his scene separately from the rest. By filming Mckellen separately, surrounded by green screens creates this perspective of Gandalf towering over the other characters, which were edited into the scene later. The position of the camera in this scene would have to take into account the placement of the dwarves in the lower half as well as the positioning of where Gandalf would be added in later.
Editing
In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, there would have been an extensive amount of post production editing that would have gone into making this movie. For instance the editor, Jabez Olsen, discussed "some of the challenges the team faced" in brainwaves's online magazine ( inhttps://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2013/20131211001-01.html ) ;
Bibliography
Jim Emerson. (28/01/07). Opening shots: Pans's Labyrinth. Available: https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/opening-shots-pans-labyrinth. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Kevin Coyne. (16/12/2017). Pans Labyrinth (2006). Available: http://kevincoynedp.com/illumination/panslabyrinth. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Nipen Sher. (9/12/2014). How did director Guillermo del Toro use color in his film Pan's Labyrinth? Would the movie be the same if it were made in black and white?. Available: How did director Guillermo del Toro use color in his film Pan's Labyrinth? Would the movie be the same if it were made in black and white?. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Robin Russell Booker . (5/8/19). Use of Colour in Pans Labyrinth (del Toro 2006). Available: http://reviewreportreveal.blogspot.com/2013/08/use-of-colour-in-pans-labyrinth-del.html. Last accessed 13/02/19.
n/a. (27/03/19). Pan's Labrynth. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan%27s_Labyrinth. Last accessed 20/02//19.
Jack Picone. (29/01/15). The Best Cinematography: Exploring The Light And Dark In Pan’s Labyrinth. Available: https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/best-cinematography-exploring-light-dark-pans-labyrinth/. Last accessed 20/02/19.
Alicia Mathews. (10/03/14). Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey Opening scene. Available: https://prezi.com/8hyxuuznuzzf/hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-opening-scene/. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Jim Emerson. (28/01/07). Opening shots: Pans's Labyrinth. Available: https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/opening-shots-pans-labyrinth. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Kevin Coyne. (16/12/2017). Pans Labyrinth (2006). Available: http://kevincoynedp.com/illumination/panslabyrinth. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Nipen Sher. (9/12/2014). How did director Guillermo del Toro use color in his film Pan's Labyrinth? Would the movie be the same if it were made in black and white?. Available: How did director Guillermo del Toro use color in his film Pan's Labyrinth? Would the movie be the same if it were made in black and white?. Last accessed 13/02/19.
Robin Russell Booker . (5/8/19). Use of Colour in Pans Labyrinth (del Toro 2006). Available: http://reviewreportreveal.blogspot.com/2013/08/use-of-colour-in-pans-labyrinth-del.html. Last accessed 13/02/19.
n/a. (27/03/19). Pan's Labrynth. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan%27s_Labyrinth. Last accessed 20/02//19.
Jack Picone. (29/01/15). The Best Cinematography: Exploring The Light And Dark In Pan’s Labyrinth. Available: https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/best-cinematography-exploring-light-dark-pans-labyrinth/. Last accessed 20/02/19.
Alicia Mathews. (10/03/14). Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey Opening scene. Available: https://prezi.com/8hyxuuznuzzf/hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-opening-scene/. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Luna Guthrie. (19/12/12). Mise-en-Scene: The Hobbit: An unexpected journey. Available: http://lunaguthrie.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-hobbit-unexpected-journey-2012-dir.html. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Matt matum. (19/12/12). The Hobbit: An unexpected journey : 50 best moments. Available: https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-50-best-moments/. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Andrew Pulver. (20/11/13). The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.Available: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Last accessed 27/02/19.
N/A. (7/03/19). The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey . Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit:_An_Unexpected_Journey. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Matt matum. (19/12/12). The Hobbit: An unexpected journey : 50 best moments. Available: https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-50-best-moments/. Last accessed 27/02/19.
Andrew Pulver. (20/11/13). The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.Available: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Last accessed 27/02/19.
N/A. (7/03/19). The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey . Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit:_An_Unexpected_Journey. Last accessed 27/02/19.
No comments:
Post a Comment