Component 2a: Essay (Editing)

Essay

The directors of both Pan’s Labyrinth and Wild Tales employ aspects of editing to convey meaning throughout their films and have a wide range of effects on the audience.

The basis of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth revolves around the civil war in Spain. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government where Fascist and extreme-right forces responded with an army mutiny and coup attempt that turned into a civil war. The film is set in 1944 after the fascist victory as the remaining rebels are routed out and killed.

The scene begins by utilising continuity editing that shows a series of events as they happen, starting with a match on action shot of Ofelia climbing into her mother’s bed. One long continuous shot from her walking to the bed and talking to her mother makes the atmosphere more calming, showing she feels safe alongside her mother as there is no tension built with the camera moving slowly into position, resting in front of her mothers stomach as Ofelia leans over and begins to tell a story to the baby. There is a lack of editing as a cut is a visual reminder to the audience that what they are watching isn’t real so by using long takes it draws the audiences attention to the action and dialogue. A hidden cut is used to transition from Ofelia talking to the baby in her mother’s stomach in the real world to an interior CGI sequence inside the womb and of the story she is telling, followed by another hidden cut that transitions from the CGI world back to reality.

The use of a dissolve to cut from Ofelia to the Captain indicates that parallel editing is now being used to show that whilst the Captain repairs his watch, Ofelia is drawing to the end of telling her story in the other room. A glance object shot of his watch shows that his fill attention is on the task of fixing it, followed by another glance object shot after the doctor enters the room that shows his focus is on his watch rather than other distractions, signifying its importance to him.When he does look up from the process of fixing his watch to speak with the doctor, shot reverse shot us used as they talk that shows the distance between them as the Captain has isolated himself due to his views of being superior to others whilst the doctor is disconnected from the Captain due to his secret rebel sympathies.

A j-cut is used to smoothly transition the scene from inside the Captains room to leading his soldiers to the prisoners outside, slowly paced as they walk from the mill to where the farmers are located in one long shot in order to build tension compared to the rapid frequency of the shots later on in the scene where the Captain repeatedly beats the farmers face, appearing even more shocking as the rapid pace of these shots show his sudden change in attitude from intimidating the prisoners to killing them.Shot reverse shot between the Captain and the farmers son when he is being brutally pummelled highlights the ferocity of his power which is further shown through the low angle shots of the Captain that show his violence in comparison to the high angle shots of the farmers son that represents his vulnerability.

The scene ends with a fairly lengthy shot of the Captain walking away from where the two innocent farmers lye dead o the ground, signalling to the audience that the main action has taken place and the situation has been resolved.

Another film that appropriately uses Mise-en-scene to covey meaning is the portmanteau film Wild Tales, with six different stories, all connected by themes of violence and revenge, directed by Damián Szifron.

Focusing on the wedding sequence, the scene starts from a black screen where a longer interlude is present compared to the other sequences which helps to build anticipation for the audience whilst also establishing it as the final sequence of the film. The cutting in the opening scene of the sequence appear to frequently take place on the beat of the music, making the action seem smoother and more natural. Klezma music plays in the foreground of the scene and as it does, the pace of the editing increases to match a change in pace of the action, rhythm and joy if the characters who all dance around happily, allowing the audience to feel excited simultaneously. As the bride and groom dance along to the music whilst greeting their friends and family, shots alternate between them both with an equal amount of screen time that uses fast paced editing to add to a feeling of happiness, giving the audience a chance to compare their personalities. Its implied to the audience that the bride and grooms relationship is a performance as they emerge from behind a curtain as if in a theatre. A graphic overlay as the couple kiss further implies this as the look directly into the camera.

A jarring cut takes place in which the lively setting of the dancefloor and free flowing Steadicam shots are replaced by static shots as the music suddenly stops to focus on dialogue as the couple takes pictures with members of their family, taking the audience out of the action immediately which has the effect of making the audience consider what the characters have just witnessed in comparison to how they are being presented now.This more dialogue focused scene starts off by using contiguity editing as the couple take photos at every table of relatives in the hall which helps to show to the audience the time change between each photo, making clear that they have had to engage in this activity multiple times, juxtaposing the excitement of the previous scene as they have no desire to take part in these photos on a tedious amount of occasions which demonstrates that the party is over and therefore the happy and joyous part of this sequence is over. A large number of shot reverse shots are used in in the scene in order to allow the audience to focus on the dialogue which has importance to the narrative.

At this point in the sequence the pace of editing has slowed down to present a far less chaotic and calmer atmosphere and whilst Romina walks over to her table after becoming suspicious of her husband where there is no use of a cut so that the audiences attention is drawn to the brides performance as she slowly begins to realise that her husband might have been unfaithful to her. Shot reverse shot is used once again when the couple take their first dance and the bride begins to question Ariel, after Romina has called a number on the phone that she suspected as being suspicious, only for it to be answered by the mystery woman that Ariel appeared to be flirting with earlier on that caused these suspicions to be raised. As he is questioned during their dance, the shot reverse shot cuts to a wide shot when he confirms to her that her suspicions are true that outline both their change in attitude as he has revealed himself to be a liar and she has become of victim of adultery. Ariel gets increasingly more nervous as he is questioned, shown through an increase in the frequency of shots that focus on his reactions, reflecting his guilt as he attempts to brush the questions aside.

After Romina leaves the dinner hall, Ariel follows her to a long hallway where she has stumbled her way too as she attempts to escape the claustrophobic setting that she was in at that moment in time. Ariel looks both ways down the hallway as he opens the door, cutting just before it shows which way he decides to go, implying to the audience that he is going to go the wrong way which will give the bride more time to escape the hall.

Nearing the conclusion of the sequence, no cuts are used after Romina has returned from the rooftop and she has vented her anger at his deceit and begins to move the cake into position. This is done to show how he is both in control of the relationship as the focus is entirely dictated by her but she is also still disorientated by the entire terrible situation, making the audience feel awkward as she slowly moves the cake into position which reflects the current state of mind of all the onlooking guests present at her wedding.

Both Szifron and del Toro use aspects of mise-en-scene to convey meaning throughout their films to have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro utilises it to show the contrasting world’s from the realistic and the fantastical in Pan’s Labyrinth, and how they share similarities with each other that only Ofelia is compelled to see. Szifron on the other hand uses mise-en-scene to allow the audience to empathise with characters through the use of symbolic imagery that appropriately coveys how they are feeling or how they have changes as people on screen.