Component 2a: Global Film – Aaron Bruce's Film Studies Blog

19th Mar 202123rd Mar 2021 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Mise-en-scene – Updated

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

Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth focuses on the Spanish Civil War. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government causing Fascist and extreme-right forces to respond 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.

In the Pale Man sequence, Ofelia creates a doorway to the hidden lair of an ancient monster so that she can retrieve a golden dagger using the key she found earlier. At the start of the sequence, Ofelia is located within her room with del Toro using a dark and cold colour palette to demonstrate her confinement in the Captain’s world, with one singular window the main source of light, barred by planks of wood and overgrowing plantation that shows that she is a prisoner, creating fear for the audience as we feel as confined and hopeless as she feels under the Captain’s grasp. When she opens the book given to her by the Faun, the pages change from being black to reveal a picture of the Pale Man she is soon to encounter, depicted in a similar style to the drawings of Alice in Wonderland with pastelly colours that make the picture appear less threatening for an audience, thereby deceiving the audience as to the dangerous nature of the monster which makes its appearance all the more terrifying as suspense is created for its eventual emergence. After drawing a small door shaped outline with chalk given to her by the Faun, Ofelia pushes open the new door in the wall to gaze into the piercingly bright lair of the Pale Man. Del Toro’s creative decision to change the colour palette from a cold blue to a far warmer red indicates a change from the reality of the Captain’s world to the fantasy world that she is about to step into which shows the audience that Ofelia is temporarily free from the Captain’s entrapment.

Del Toro gives the appearance of the Pale Man’s lair aspects of typical gothic design as the vaulted ancient ceiling gives the impression of catacombs underneath a cathedral with a chessboard-like floor which gives the audience the impression that the creature is mythological and enhances the mystery and intrigue surrounding the monster. There are further references made to the story Alice in Wonderland such as the oversized sand timer that she places in the doorway before she steps down to keep track of how much time she has left, emphasising to the audience its importance to the plot. The corridor that leads to the main chamber curves around a winding corner to show how deep the lair is whilst the windows are smaller than typical windows which demonstrates that she will be unable to get out; these various elements of the lair present to the audience that Ofelia is small in comparison to the task she is facing and how the task will be overwhelming for her, creating anticipation as it seems that she will inevitably face trouble in escaping from this place. Ofelia emerges into a huge expansive chamber, dominated by a large table that almost extends the length of the entire room with a figure at the end of it, resembling the Captain in a previous scene when he had previously held his feast for a group of the most important people including the doctor and other fascist sympathisers, heading the table as a commanding and evil figure and showing that both characters are as evil as each other, creating a further sense of foreboding for the fate of Ophelia. Del Toro uses an extraordinary collection of different foods including jellies and overflowing fruit piled up on this table to form a large banquet, something that a child might possibly imagine as all this food is unavailable due to the rationing brought into effect by the war, hinting towards the fact that she could be imagining what she used to have but can now only dream of which has increased relevance given the ending of the film which can be left up to interpretation as to whether Ophelia imagines all these events.

The towering figure that heads the table is the Pale Man; a skinny giant with large flaps of pale skin that dominate its body as the murals on the wall of his lair depict him eating large amounts of children as a creature of legend, but he hasn’t been able to eat in a long time, causing him to grow thin and frail allowing for him to look even more visually horrifying to the audience. There is a substantial amount of shoes piled up across the chamber; a visual reference to the concentration camps at Auschwitz during WW2 which is when the story is set and so the atrocities that resulted in the deaths of thousands of children would have been occurring at the time, links the creature to the atrocities of real life events and how its actions have caused the deaths of an enormous amount of innocent people, further influencing the audiences mindset that Ophelia is in grave danger. A fire situated behind the Pale Man appears to represent satanic imagery such as the mouth of hell, further utilising the hellish imagery seen in the murals to show how this monstrosity of a creature has a clear evil intent.

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

Focusing on the wedding sequence, the scene starts with a montage of old childhood photos, giving the audience an initial impression of the innocence of the couple and helps an audience to infer relevant information about the event which later contrasts the nature of the sequence after the revelation that Ariel has cheated on Romina. Szifron uses a bright setting with a rich appearance as champagne glasses, golden chandeliers and tuxedos contribute to a disturbing feeling for the audience when Romina later threatens to take everything away from Ariel, allowing for the audience to grasp the severity of her threats. When the bride and groom first appear, they emerge from behind a curtain, implying to the audience that their relationship is a facade and that they are putting on a show to appease their guests as they wish to avoid criticism, with Ariel’s appearance as unshaved further providing the audience the impression that he lacks care towards his wife, foreshadowing his unfaithful nature and juxtaposes the montage of photos that originally led the audience to believe that the couple had a caring and loyal nature.

After a jubilant scene in which the newly married couple dance as a band plays on stage, with an emphatic trumpet solo, the crowded setting is replaced by a much calmer and open setting, where Romina’s guests are seated as she talks to them, greeting family members and pointing to different tables, giving background to everyone in the room in relation Ariel and herself. Romina finds herself drawn to her husband who is talking amongst guests and specifically a woman he appears to flirt with across the room, using her phone to check her suspicions. Szifron focuses the audiences attention on the phone which is used as a device to show that her suspicions are true and he has cheated on her with the woman he is flirting with, allowing for a sense of dramatic irony in the following scene in which the couple share their first dance as although Romina questions Ariel to seek the truth, it is made clear to the audience that she is already fully aware of what is going on and that Ariel is completely unaware of his wife’s discovery, building tension throughout the scene as the decay of their relationship seems to become inevitable.

As the sequence reaches the resolution, destruction is evident across the scene. Romina’s white wedding dress, a symbol typically of purity and innocence, is laden with blood after she smashes the woman she had been cheated on with into a mirror, showing to the audience that her innocence has become fragmented and the blood that has stained her dress symbolises the stain left in the couples relationship that can never wash out and return to its original purity, creating further conflict between the two characters which helps to establish the dark and twisted mood of the scene as Ariel and Romina come together. Broken glass, cake, and ripped out hair represent the destruction taken place at the wedding both physically and mentally which makes Ariel’s act of giving Romina his hand as they make-out on the table all the more jarring for an audience as the setting of hatred and anger juxtaposes the actions of love, with the final shot of the sequence depicting a statue of the bride and groom once standing up top of the cake but now on the floor, symbolic of the fall of the couple but that they still remain together, an ending that strays from the typical revenge themes of the other sequences of the film and therefore leaves the audience feeling uneasy about the events on screen.

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 perspective, contrasting the realistic world of the Captain with the fantastical world of Ophelia, setting them apart from each other while Szifron uses mise-en-scene to allow the audience to empathise with the characters through the use of symbolic imagery which depicts the changing emotions of each character as their lives fall apart.

5th Mar 202116th Mar 2021 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Mise-en-scene and Cinematography Essay

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

Ofelia goes out on an adventure, searching for her first task located inside of a mysterious tree. Simultaneously, Captain Vidal rides out with his men to search for the last remaining Republican survivors. At the start of the sequence, the camera pans from right to left for both of these journeys, indicating to the audience that they are both venturing out on a journey at the same time. The smart, gold and blue uniforms worn by the soldiers and the powerful looking horses they ride symbolise their strength and the harsh, quick camera movement shows that they ride with purpose, whereas the rebels have adopted dark brown clothing as they are forced to live in the forest in seclusion. This wealthy appearance of the soldiers also contrasts Ofelia’s green dress that’s appearance is reminiscent of the Alice in Wonderland books which also explores the fantasy world and shows her strong connection to the fantastical while its green colour is representative of the style of clothing of the rebels, demonstrating her efforts to go against the Captain’s oppression and the influence of her mother to follow her own path, with much more gentle arc movements used in variation to the soldiers, suggesting to the audience that she is lost in the elements of the fantasy world as it has a floaty and dreamy effect.

Once Ofelia arrives at the tree, a wide shot focuses on her movements, moving into a close-up shot and arcing around her to reveal a large tree that has captured her gaze, tilting up to show the large size of the tree is comparison to her and showing its significance to the audience, allowing for them to empathise with her challenge as its presented as being extremely difficult. In the interior of the tree, damp and dark tunnels twist continuously with the camera positioned at Ofelia’s height to indicate to the audience that she is the main focus for the story’s progression. Black CGI bugs surround and crawl over her which helps to evoke feelings of disgust from the audience and show her courage as she is entering a place that no one else would want to venture in to. Upon transitioning to the Captain’s world, the appearance differs as he is located in a large open space which looks more inviting and less threatening than the tree, making the audience want to spend less time focusing on Ofelia because of the conditions she is having to endure. Also, the warm colour palette of the fantasy world in comparison to the cold blue colour palette associated with the Captain’s world as can be seen when Ofelia journeys towards the tree remains warm, although has now transgressed to become slightly darker as she is underground and the tree is a mysterious and yet fantastical place. This also shows a collision between the Captain’s world and the fantasy world which further adds to the influence that he has over her.

When the soldiers reach their destination in the forest, the Captain steps down from his horse to search for signs that might indicate signs of rebel activity in the area. A medium shot focuses the audiences attention on his commanding body language, transitioning to a close-up shot that fully focuses on his actions and dialogue, separating him from his soldiers and showing his superiority over them. The use of a long lens shot when looking at the Captain has the effect of appearing to focus on him from a distance, placing the audience on the side of the rebels, viewing the action from their perspective as the Captain taunts them to come out and fight rather than hide. The warm colour palette associated with the fantasy world is present when focusing on the Captain as he is in the forest, a place of fantasy and home to the rebels which shows he is out of place there but the camera positions him as being in control and therefore allows for the audience to fear him. An opposite pan from right to left shows the soldiers are returning from their journey as they saddle up and return to the mill, similar to the movement of turning over a page in a book.

When returning to Ofelia in the following scene, she continues her search through the depths of the tree looking for any sign of her task, with the camera movement alternating, appearing to differentiate from the typical pattern of moving from right to left and then left to right. This movement depicts the nature of the environment she is in as disorientating for her and is therefore unsettling for the audience who are made to feel lost with her as she clambers through the dark and winding tree, stumbling through slime and covered in mud. Ofelia’s encounter with a giant toad seems representative of the baby living inside her mother with this uterine imagery showing the effect that the baby is having on her and foreshadows her mothers death as the toad is causing the tree to decay through sickness.

Finally, after completing her task by retrieving the key, Ofelia emerges from the tree, covered in mud and noticeably feeling distressed rather than accomplished, indicated by a change in the colour palette, switching from the typical warm and bright palette when she headed out on her journey to a cold dark blue. These grim colours associated with the Captain’s world shows his returning influence and while she is left dishevelled by the ordeal and aware of the trouble she has caused, the audience are aware of her transformation from a little girl on a fantastical adventure to fearing the serious consequences of her actions at the hands of the vile Captain.

Another film that appropriately uses mise-en-scene and cinematography to convey meaning is the portmanteau film Wild Tales, directed by Damián Szifron, showing six different stories, all connected by extreme themes of violence and revenge.

Focusing on the wedding sequence, the scene begins with the camera pulling out to a wide shot which shows the vast amount of guests present at the wedding all focusing an a montage of old childhood photos that present the idea of innocence which contrasts the events later in the sequence and help the audience infer information about the couple. The setting is bright with a rich appearance as champagne glasses, golden chandeliers and tuxedos contribute to a disturbing feeling when Romina later threatens to take everything away from Ariel. When the bride and groom first appear, they emerge from behind a curtain, implying to the audience that their relationship is a facade and they are putting on a show as a steadicam pushes in on them, centrally framing them before arcing around them to focus on them greeting their parents, showing the audience that they are the main stars of the show and placing us as a spectator to the intimacy of the opening scene. Ariel’s appearance as unshaved gives the impression that he shows a lack of care towards his wife, foreshadowing his unfaithful nature and contradicts the caring attitude that we were originally led to believe that he had, replaced with suspicion at his unloyal nature.

After the jubilant dancing finishes, the change in location produces a shift from dark lighting to warm yellow lighting as the guests all happily eat in a far less crowded setting with much slower and less frequent stable shots. Romina talks with her guests, pointing out how she is related to each table and a long lens is used to make the audience feel as if they are a a part of this crowd before the camera pans to the left, centrally framing the bride in a close-up shot, isolating her within the frame as a shallow depth of field allows for the focus to be on her reaction as she watches her husband flirting with a woman across the room. A zoom on her face shows the importance of the woman and is followed by a reaction shot of the brides face which shows the importance of the revelation to the progression of the narrative. The camera tracks the bride as she moves towards a table with a mirror shot placing the woman in the centre of her focus as a wrack focus shows that the number she has dialled on her phone to test whether her husband has been cheating on her is answered by the woman, moving focus from the phone to the woman. This mirror shot could also foreshadow her apparent dual nature later on in the film after the husband confirms her suspicions.

After confronting her husband and feeling overwhelmed at his revelation that he has cheated on her, Romina escapes this distressing situation by leaving the room and frantically runs down a long, narrow hallway away from the guests towards the rooftop. As she runs, the camera is positioned on the ground looking up which contributes to the trapped and claustrophobic feeling present in the narrow hallway as she feels betrayed and alone. On the rooftop, pathetic fallacy is used to demonstrate her ferocity as she lashes out at him as a bolt of lightning simultaneously strikes behind her, positioning her in a mid-shot showing that she commands the frame and allows the audience to understand the seriousness of her threats while the camera is consistently handheld and the scene constantly breaks the 180 degree rule further indicating her change to a controlling attitude. When she returns, the white wedding dress, a symbol of purity and innocence, becomes tainted with blood when she discovers the truth of her husbands deceit and throws the woman he had been cheating on her with into a mirror, symbolising that her innocence has become fragmented and has stained her as a person which can’t wash out and return to its original white colour just as she can’t unlearn what she has discovered.

Both Szifron and Del Toro use aspects of mise-en-scne and cinematography to convey meaning throughout their films to have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro uses cinematography to show perspective, using camera height to position the audience with specific characters while using mise-en-scne to differentiate each set of groups from the other, setting Ofelia apart from the Captain and with the rebels. Szifron also uses cinematography to position the audience with characters, allowing the audience to empathise with Romina through techniques that convey the feelings of the characters. Mise-en-scene also creates empathy for characters through the use of symbolic imagery that depicts a characters changing emotions as their life falls apart.

17th Mar 202011th Nov 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film, Induction

Global Film Mock Exam

20th Feb 202011th Nov 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

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.

19th Feb 202024th Feb 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Essay (Cinematography)

Plan

Pan’s Labyrinth: Fig tree sequence (Cinematography)

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

Fig tree sequence:

Shots are closer into Ofelia as she is exploring on her own. As Ofelia arrives at the tree, a wide shot moves into a close-up shot, arcing around her to reveal the tree, tilting up to show the large size of the tree in order to show how small Ofelia is in comparison which also shows its significance. The camera then dolly’s back and tilts up to show her enter the tree that uses the frame within a frame technique which focuses the audiences attention on her movements down into the tunnel, then panning to the left to show a close-up of the dress waving in the wind, suggesting its going to fall off, creating fear and dread at what could happen if her dress is ruined due to it being a gift from her mother and something she must wear to impress the cold hearted Captain. The camera is always positioned at Ofelia’s height throughout this sequence in order to show that she is the main point of focus for the audience to see the story progress. The colour palette is till warm as she is surrounded by elements of the fantasy world but is now slightly darker because she is underground but she is also aware of both the dangers she will face in the tree and what she might expect when she returns to the mill and the fear of the Captains reaction to her dirty state forces the fantasy world and the Captain’s world to collide.

The Captain steps down from his horse to search for any objects that might indicate signs of rebel activity, shown through a medium shot that focuses on his commanding body language which transitions to a close-up shot so that we see just the Captain and his reaction to his discovery before a medium shot shows the reaction of the soldiers around him awaiting their orders. Following this, the camera then arcs around him so we are left to focus on what he is thinking and feeling as he comes to the conclusion that they are being watched by the rebels from a distance. Another use of a long lens shot once again gives the impression that the audience are watching the Captain from the rebels perspective as he taunts them before returning back to the mill, indicated by the camera movement panning from right to left as the soldiers exit the frame that contrasts the movement from previous when they were headed out on their journey.

Despite this, the movement in the next scene appears to differentiate from this pattern as Ofelia moves from left to right and then from right to left whilst still searching for the object of her desires that sent her on this journey. It presents the fact that the environment that she is presently located within is disorientating and unsettling for her as she attempts to move through the tree. Finally, when Ofelia completes her task and emerges from the tree the setting is dark and there has been a complete transformation in colour palette from the warm and bright setting as she headed out on her journey to the fantastical warm colours inside the tree that was tainted by the captains world and the effect he has on Ofelia until it reaches almost complete darkness as she is now in deep trouble, foreshadowing what the effects of her adventure might have on her due to the captains influence.

Wedding sequence:

Steadicam is used throughout these shots and pushes in as the song increases in tempo to focus on the bride and groom, centrally framed and emerging from behind a curtain before arcing around them greeting their parents and in-laws to give the impression that the person watching the film is a spectator as the shots are very intimate with a sense of family unity followed by a series of handheld close-up shots focusing on the interactions between the partners and their in-laws making it more personal and meaningful. The steadicam arcs around the couple from a low angle to give the impression that the camera is dancing along with them in a crowred area. Tracking shots match the pace of the dancing whilst the movement matches the energy of the music to give the scene a lively appearance.

After the party, there is less dramatic movement shown by less frquent, slower and more stable shots. the camera pans to the left to centrally frame the bride, isolating her in the fram with a shallow depth of field to focus on her reaction as she begins to suspect her husband might be cheating on her. The zoom draws attention to the woman sitting down in the centre of the frame but not clearly as the bride is unaware that she existed until now using a POV shot, followed by a reaction shot of the brides face to show the importance of the revelation to the development of the story and that her attenton is fully focused on the mystery woman. The camera tracks the bride as she crosses the room to the mirror, sandwiching the woman in the centre of her focus. the mirror shot foreshadows her apparent dual nature later on and a wrack focus from the brides phone the the womans phone implies that the bride has uncovered her husbands dirty secret

the camera arcs around them as they dance to present the ffect that the audience is a guest that dances with them but cuts to different arcing shots, making it disorientating as the bride is puuting her husband under pressure so that he might reveal the truth.The focus is entirely on the couple as a shallow depth of field makes the background barely visible so that the audience can focus on what they are saying. A series of close-up shots between the newlyweds as they dance whilst the bride questions him changes to a wide shot when he confirms her suspicions and the camera stops dancing immediately when the couple stop dancing, becoming less smooth and more jarring to represent the brides shock and confused state of mind.

The lighting is darker on the bride when she doesnt know the truth but becomes lighter when its been revealed to her as she walks through the corridor, tracked by low angle shots from both in front and behind her to show she feels surrounded and overwhelmed with a declining sense of reality.

A BEV shot of the bride looking over the edge of the roof suggests she feels nauseated and is about to jump. The lighting in the background of the shots appears romantic, foreshadowing the romantic interaction between the bride and the chef and a romantic shot subverts the expectations of the audience as the seductive intention of the bride contrasts her despair. The long lenses with a wide aperture makes the scene seem more dreamy and the scene is shot on a spherical lens rather than an anamorphic lens and extended to widescreen which makes it appear more realistic.

A reaction shot of shock from both the chef and Ariel as Romina lets out a violent outburst directed at her husband that neither were expecting. The 180 degree rule is broken during the confrontation to present the idea that the shoe is now on the other foot. The camerawork alternates to handheld as she feels free as she’s released her anger that she had stored inside her, indicating a change in attitude towards her chaotic relationship.

Context: The viewer gets the impression that Argentine society is dangerous and violent, with a repulsive setting and nature. The film appears to show a corrupt society with a dissatisfied people. Corruption in Argentina remains a serious problem suffering from widespread corruption in the public and private sector. However, it has improved since the films release in 2015, moving from the 107th least corrupt country out of 175 to the 85th.

Conclusion:

Essay

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

Ofelia goes out on an adventure, searching for her first task located inside a mysterious tree. At the same time, Captain Vidal also rides out with his men to search for the last remaining Republican survivors. At the start of the sequence, there are two different journeys occurring simultaneously with one following the soldiers as they ride out and the other following Ofelia search for her first task. The camera pans from right to left for both of these scenes, indicating to the audience that they are venturing out on a journey. When focusing on Ofelia however, the camera uses much more gentle and slower arc movements compared to the harsh, quick movement of the charging horses that suggests to the audience that she is lost in the elements of the fantasy world as it has a floaty and dreamy effect compared to the soldiers. Also, there is a warm and bright colour palette when following Ofelia, suggesting that the influence of the Captain has disappeared at this point in time due to a lack of his dark blue colour palette typically associated with his world as they are both in the forest setting which is the rebels’ territory.

Once Ofelia arrives at the tree, a wide shot focusing on her movements moves into a close-up shot, arcing around to reveal a large tree that has captured her gaze, tilting up to show the large size of the tree in comparison to her, showing its significance to the audience and allows them to sympathise with her as it presents her task as being on a scale that is extremely difficult. The camera then dolly’s back and tilts up to show her enter the tree, utilising the frame within a frame technique which focuses the audiences attention on her movements down into the tunnel before slowly panning to the left to show a close-up of her dress which she has taken off to prevent it from getting dirty, waving in the wind to suggest that it is inevitable going to fall off, creating a sense of fear and dread for Ofelia as it was a gift from her mother and something she must wear in order to impress the cold hearted Captain who has already been displeased with her, so should it be ruined, the audience fears what the consequences might be for Ofelia. Inside the dark and damp tunnels, the camera is always positioned at Ofelia’s height to indicate to the audience that she is the main focus point for the story’s progression. The colour palette remains warm due to the fact that she is still surrounded by elements of the fantasy world but has now transgressed to become slightly darker as she is now underground but also because the tree is a mysterious and unknown place for her, lacking any knowledge as to the dangers she might face inside it and what the reactions of her mother and the captain might be when she returns to the mill, fearing their reaction to her dirty state and the consequences it will bring. Furthermore, it shows a collision between the Captain’s world and the fantasy world which further adds to the influence that he has over her.

Returning the focus to the Captain, he and his soldiers are shown to have reacher their destination as they look for the rebels, causing the Captain to step down from his horse to search for for any objects that might indicate signs of any rebel activity in the area. A medium shot focuses on his commanding body language, transitioning to a close-up shot in order to fully focus on his actions and dialogue as he is superior to his soldiers. The camera then proceeds to arc around him, leaving the audience to focus on what he is thinking and feeling as he realises they are being watched by the rebels from a distance. The use of a long lens shot when looking at the Capatin has the effect of appearing to focus on him from a distance, placing the audience on the side of the rebels and viewing the action from their perspective as the Captain taunts them to come out and fight rather than hide in the trees. This effort however comes to nothing and they saddle up and return to the mill, indicated by a pan from right to left that contrasts the left to tight movement that originally showed them heading out on their journey, just like the movement of turning over a page in a book.

Despite this, when in the next scene we return to Ofelia, searching further through the depths of the tree to look for any sign of her task, the camera movement appears to differentiate from this typical pattern of moving from right to left to indicate she is returning home and elects to combine a movement from left to right and then right to left. This contrasting movement presents the fact that the environment that she is presently located within is disorientating for her and therefore unsettling for the audience who are made to feel lost with her as she clambers through the winding tree.

Finally, after killing the giant toad and retrieving the key, Ofelia emerges from the tree whereas instead of being triumphant, her situation has become distressing, indicated by a complete transformation in colour palette, switching from a warm and bright setting as she headed out on her journey that became slightly tainted by the dark and grim colours associated with the Captain’s world and his influence until finally, almost complete darkness is reached as she appears dishevelled by the ordeal and becomes increasingly aware of the trouble she has caused, transferring her from being a little girl on an adventure to fearing the serious consequences og her actions at the hands of the Captain.

Another Global film that appropriately uses cinematography to convey meaning is the portmanteau film Wild Tales, with six different stories, all connected by themes of violence and revenge, directed by Damián Szifron.

At the start of the wedding sequence, Szifron uses steadicam throughout the opening shots that depict guests reacting to a series of pictures being projected as a slideshow, combining this with the use of a series of handheld close-up shots in order to focus on the interactions between the couple and their in-laws which has the effect of making the performance appear more personal and meaningful to the audience. The couple is also centrally framed as they emerge from behind a curtain to focus the audiences attention on them as they greet family members, giving the impression that the person watching the film is a spectator of the wedding as the shots are made to feel very intimate with a sense of family and unity. This is further insinuated by the low angle shot of the camera arcing around arcing around the couple that gives the impression that the camera is dancing along with them as one of the guests at the wedding, matching the pace of the lively and upbeat movement and the high energy of the music to give the scene a lively appearance and show the audience that this is a jubilant occasion where everyone is unified in having a tremendous time. The emergence from behind a curtain could suggest to the audience that what they are watching is a facade however, and the affectionate attitude of the couple is a performance, foreshadowing the later events in the sequence.

As the action changes location, the joyous dancing still remains but is accompanied by a change to a warm, yellow colour palette that suggests to the audience that this is a happy time for the couple and the guests. The camera moves quickly, pulling back from a close-up shot of an energetic sousaphone, directing focus on the instrument and therefore a clear focus on the joy surrounding the room at the party as everyone dances to the music, immediately becoming engrossed.

However, as the dancing suddenly stops and there is a change in setting to guests eating and the couple moving from one table to the next to take a photo with their families, there are less dramatic movements, shown through the use of less frequent, slower and more stable shots that focus on the dialogue of the characters rather than the chaos of the party. The bride is engaged in conversation with two relatives that query who all the vast amount of people attending their wedding are and their connection to the couple. Romina proceeds to point out several groups of tables somewhere in the distance occupied by friends of clubs that they attend before spotting the table where her husbands coworkers are seated and Ariel is talking teasingly to a woman that Romina doesn’t recognise. The camera pans to the left, centrally framing the bride in the shot and therefore isolating her in the frame with a shallow depth of field utilised in order for the audience to focus on the brides reaction as she begins to suspect her husband might be cheating on her with this mystery woman. The camera zooms in on the woman sitting at the table to draw attention to her, centrally framed although not clearly due to the brides lack of awareness that this woman existed up until this point in time which puts the audience at the brides perspective, further shown by the use of a POV shot in order to make the following reaction shot of her seem more personal and makes the audience increasingly empathetic towards her character. It also shows how the revelation is significant to the development of the story and that Romina is entirely focused on the mystery woman seen before her. As the bride crosses the room to the mirror located by her table, the camera tracks the brides movement, sandwiching the woman in the centre of focus as she looks in to the mirror with her reflection staring back at her. The mirror shot both has the effect of clearly demonstrating the reaction of both characters as Romina calls an unknown number belonging to the woman in order to find out who she might be and appears to be foreshadowing her apparent dual nature as the sequence progresses after learning that her husband has in fact cheated on her. The use of a wrack focus to differentiate between the reaction of the brides phone as she dials the number and the woman picks up her phone implies to the audience that the bride has uncovered her husbands dirt secret as the truth is slowly becoming clearer for her.

Romina, now clearly in distress after learning about this apparent secret, is joined in shot by her husband as they begin to slowly dance, arcing around them to once again give the effect that the audience is a guest dancing alongside them but instead elects to cut to a variety of different arcing shots that make the scene disorientating for the audience as the bride is putting her husband under a lot of pressure as she begins to question him so that he might reveal the truth to her. At this pint, the focus is entirely on the couple, with a shallow depth of field making the background barely visible so that the audience focus completely on the dialogue as it will distinguish a turning point in the sequence for all the characters. These effects are combined with a series of close-up shots between the newlyweds as they dance, continually alternating between the two partners until Ariel finally confirms her suspicions at which point it cuts to a wide shot which stops the camera from giving the effect that its dancing with them as they are no longer dancing as the bride begins to break away from Ariel and becomes far less smooth and increasingly jarring, representing the current state of mind of Romina as she reals back in shock and confusion from her husband due to his unfaithful actions.

After storming out of the hall, there is a change in colour palette as the lighting becomes lighter when the truth has been revealed to her as she stumbles through the cramped corridor, unlike the darker setting she was previously in when only her suspicions were aroused. When stumbling through this corridor, the bride is tracked by low angle shots of her from both in front and behind, signifying to the audience that she feels overwhelmed and claustrophobic with a declining sense of reality after learning the truth as it gives the appearance that the corridor is even smaller than it actually is.

A BEV shot of the bride leaning over the edge of the unnerving effect of making the audience get the impression that she is about to jump due to the recent devastating events. The lighting in the background of the following shots showing the conversation between Romina and a kindly chef comforting her appears romantic, foreshadowing the romantic interaction between the bride and the chef later on, subverting the expectations of the audience is this is uncharacteristic of Romina and suggest to the audience that she is in a vulnerable place at the moment as the seductive intention of the bride contrasts the despair that is feeling as a result of the fear that her guests might negatively look down at her for being cheated on with a guest at her wedding. There is also a prevalent use of long lenses combined with a wide aperture that contribute to the effect of the setting appearing dreamy, linking to her current vulnerable state and is shot on a spherical lens rather than an anamorphic lens and extended to widescreen, allowing the current events to appear more realistic and therefore heightening the suspense and emotions felt by the audience as she begins to kiss him and lets out an enraged rant about what she intends to do in order to attain revenge for Ariel’s deceitful acts. Reaction shots of shock from both the chef and Ariel during this violent outburst from Romina highlight the fact that this is an unforeseen change in attitude from Romina, causing Ariel to vomit because of it. To present the idea that the shoe is now on the other foot, with Ariel and Romina now reversing roles due to her taking control, eventually causing him to breakdown just like she did previously, the 180 degree rule is broken during the heated confrontation between the couple as she is now in a stronger and commanding position over him.

Both Szifron and del Toro use aspects of cinematography to convey meaning throughout their films so that they have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro utilises it to contrast the different conflicting worlds in Pan’s Labyrinth, from the perspective of the fantastical and adventurous Ofelia to the cold and calculated manner of the Captain. Szifron on the other hand t allows the audience to empathise with characters such as Romina through his clever use of different techniques that appropriately convey the attitudes and feeling of the characters on screen.

Essay re-draft

The directors of both Pan’s Labyrinth and Wild Tales employ aspects of cinematography to convey meaning throughout their films in order to 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, that was followed by Fascist and extreme-right forces response, causing 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.

Ofelia heads out on an adventure, searching for her first task located inside a mysterious tree as she follows instructions from a magical book. At the same time, Captain Vidal rides out with his men to search for the last remaining Republican survivors located in a forest near the mill they reside in. At the start of the sequence, there are two different journeys occurring simultaneously, one following the soldiers as they ride out and the other following Ofelia locate her first task. The camera pans from right to left for both of these scenes, indicating to the audience that they are venturing out on a journey, however; When focusing on Ofelia, the camera uses much more gentle and slower arc movements compared to the harsh, quick movements of the charging horses, suggesting to the audience that she is lost in the elements of the fantasy world as it has a floaty and dreamy effect compared to the violent world of the soldiers. Also, there is a warm and bright colour palette when following Ofelia, suggesting that the influence of the Captain has disappeared at this point due to a lack of the dark blue colour palette typically associated with his world as they are both in the forest setting which is the rebels’ territory.

Once Ofelia arrives at the tree, a wide shot focusing on her movements moves into a close-up shot, arcing around her to reveal a large tree that has captured her gaze, tilting up to show the large size of the tree in comparison to Ofelia, presenting the significance of it to the audience and allows them to sympathise with her as it implies that her task will be extremely difficult. The camera then dollies back and tilts up to show her enter the tree, utilising the frame within a frame technique, focusing the audiences attention on her movements down into the tunnel before slowly panning to the left to show a close-up of her dress which she has taken off to prevent it from getting dirty, waving in the wind to suggest that it is inevitably going to fall off, creating a sense of fear and dread for Ofelia as it was a gift from her mother and something she must wear so that she might impress the cold-hearted Captain, already displeased with her, so should it be ruined, the audience fears what the consequences might be for Ofelia. Inside the dark and damp tunnels, the camera is always positioned at Ofelia’s height to indicate to the audience that she is the main focal point for the story’s progression. The colour palette remains warm since she is still surrounded by elements of the fantasy world but has now transgressed to become slightly darker as she is underground and the tree is a mysterious place, lacking any knowledge as to the dangers she might face inside it and what the reactions of her mother and the Captain might be when she returns to the mill, fearing their reaction to her dirty state and the consequences it will bring. Furthermore, it shows a collision between the Captain’s world and the fantasy world which further adds to the influence that he has over her.

Returning the focus to the Captain, his soldiers are shown to have reached their destination as they look for the rebels, leading them through the forest, causing the Captain to step down from his horse to search for any objects that might indicate signs of any rebel activity in the area. A medium shot focuses on his commanding body language, transitioning to a close-up shot to fully focus on his actions and dialogue as he is superior to his soldiers. The camera then proceeds to arc around him, leaving the audience to focus on what he is thinking and feeling as he realises they are being watched by the rebels from a distance. The use of a long lens shot when looking at the Captain has the effect of appearing to focus on him from a distance, placing the audience on the side of the rebels, viewing the action from their perspective as the Captain taunts them to come out and fight him rather than hide in the trees. This effort, however, comes to nothing and they saddle up and return to the mill, indicated by a pan from right to left that contrasts the left to right movement that originally showed them heading out on their journey, just like the movement of turning over a page in a book.

Despite this, when in the next scene we return to Ofelia, she is searching through the depths of the tree to look for any sign of her task, with the camera movement appearing to differentiate from this typical pattern of moving from right to left, electing instead to combine a movement from left to right and then right to left. This contrasting movement presents the fact that the environment that she is presently located within is disorientating for her and therefore unsettling for the audience who are made to feel lost with her as she clambers through the dark and winding tree.

Finally, after killing the giant toad and retrieving the key, Ofelia emerges from the tree, feeling distressed rather than accomplished, indicated by a complete transformation in colour palette, switching from a warm and bright setting as she headed out on her journey that became slightly tainted by the dark and grim colours associated with the Captain’s world and his influence until finally, almost complete darkness after appearing from the depths of the tree, dishevelled by the ordeal and increasingly aware of the trouble she has caused, transferring her from being a little girl on an adventure to fearing the serious consequences of her actions at the hands of the Captain.

At the start of the wedding sequence, Szifron uses Steadicam throughout the opening shots that depict guests reacting to a series of pictures being projected as a slideshow, combining this with the use of a series of handheld close-up shots to focus on the interactions between the couple and their in-laws which has the effect of making the performance appear more personal and meaningful to the audience. The couple is also centrally framed as they emerge from behind a curtain to focus the audience’s attention on them as they greet family members, giving the impression that the person watching the film is a spectator of the wedding as the shots are made to feel very intimate with a sense of family and unity. This is further insinuated by the low angle shot of the camera arcing around the couple that gives the impression that the camera is dancing along with them as one of the guests at the wedding, matching the pace of the lively and upbeat movement and the high energy of the music to give the scene a lively appearance and show the audience that this is a jubilant occasion where everyone is unified in having a tremendous time. On the other hand, the emergence of the couple from behind a curtain could suggest to the audience that what they are watching is a façade and the affectionate attitude of the couple is a performance, foreshadowing the later events in the sequence.

As the action changes location, the joyous dancing remains but is accompanied by a change to a warm, yellow colour palette that suggests to the audience that this is a happy time for the couple and the guests. The camera moves quickly, pulling back from a close-up shot of an energetic sousaphone, directing focus on the instrument and therefore a clear focus on the joy surrounding the room at the party as everyone dances to the music, immediately becoming engrossed.

However, as the dancing suddenly stops and there is a change in setting to guests eating and the couple moving from one table to the next to take a photo with their families, there are less dramatic movements, shown through the use of less frequent, slower and more stable shots that focus on the dialogue of the characters rather than the chaos of the party. The bride is engaged in conversation with two relatives that query who all the vast amount of people attending their wedding are and their connection to the couple. Romina proceeds to point out several groups of tables somewhere in the distance occupied by friends of clubs that they attend before spotting the table where her husband’s coworkers are seated and Ariel is talking teasingly to a woman that Romina doesn’t recognise. The camera pans to the left, centrally framing the bride in the shot and therefore isolating her in the frame with a shallow depth of field utilised so that the audience focus on the bride’s reaction as she begins to suspect her husband might be cheating on her with this mystery woman. The camera zooms in on the woman sitting at the table to draw attention to her, centrally framed although not clearly due to the brides lack of awareness that this woman existed up until this point in time which puts the audience at the bride’s perspective, further shown by the use of a POV shot to make the following reaction shot of her seem more personal and makes the audience increasingly empathetic towards her character. It also shows how the revelation is significant to the development of the story and that Romina is entirely focused on the mystery woman seen before her. As the bride crosses the room to the mirror located by her table, the camera tracks the bride’s movement, sandwiching the woman in the centre of focus as she looks into the mirror with her reflection staring back at her. The mirror shot both have the effect of clearly demonstrating the reaction of both characters as Romina calls an unknown number belonging to the woman to find out who she might be and appears to be foreshadowing her apparent dual nature as the sequence progresses after learning that her husband has cheated on her. The use of a wrack focus to differentiate between the reaction of the bride’s phone as she dials the number and the woman picks up her phone implies to the audience that the bride has uncovered her husband’s dirty secret as the truth is slowly becoming clearer for her.

Romina, now clearly in distress after learning about this apparent secret, is joined in shot by her husband as they begin to slowly dance, arcing around them to once again give the effect that the audience is a guest dancing alongside them but instead elects to cut to a variety of different arcing shots that make the scene disorientating for the audience as the bride is putting her husband under a lot of pressure as she begins to question him so that he might reveal the truth to her. At this pint, the focus is entirely on the couple, with a shallow depth of field making the background barely visible so that the audience focus completely on the dialogue as it will distinguish a turning point in the sequence for all the characters. These effects are combined with a series of close-up shots between the newlyweds as they dance, continually alternating between the two partners until Ariel finally confirms her suspicions at which point it cuts to a wide shot which stops the camera from giving the effect that it’s dancing with them as they are no longer dancing as the bride begins to break away from Ariel and becomes far less smooth and increasingly jarring, representing the current state of mind of Romina as she reels back in shock and confusion from her husband due to his unfaithful actions.

After storming out of the hall, there is a change in the colour palette as the lighting becomes lighter when the truth has been revealed to her as she stumbles through the cramped corridor, unlike the darker setting she was previously in when only her suspicions were aroused. When stumbling through this corridor, the bride is tracked by low angle shots of her from both in front and behind, signifying to the audience that she feels overwhelmed and claustrophobic with a declining sense of reality after learning the truth as it gives the appearance that the corridor is even smaller than it is in reality.

A BEV shot of the bride leaning over the edge of the unnerving effect of making the audience get the impression that she is about to jump due to the recent devastating events. The lighting in the background of the following shots showing the conversation between Romina and a kindly chef comforting her appears romantic, foreshadowing the romantic interaction between the bride and the chef, subverting the expectations of the audience is this is uncharacteristic of Romina and suggest to the audience that she is in a vulnerable place at the moment as the seductive intention of the bride contrasts the despair that is feeling as a result of the fear that her guests might negatively look down at her for being cheated on with a guest at her wedding. There is also a prevalent use of long lenses combined with a wide aperture that contribute to the effect of the setting appearing dreamy, linking to her current vulnerable state and is shot on a spherical lens rather than an anamorphic lens and extended to widescreen, allowing the current events to appear more realistic and therefore heightening the suspense and emotions felt by the audience as she begins to kiss him and lets out an enraged rant about what she intends to do to attain revenge for Ariel’s deceitful acts. Reaction shots of shock from both the chef and Ariel during this violent outburst from Romina highlight the fact that this is an unforeseen change in attitude from Romina, causing Ariel to vomit because of it. To present the idea that the shoe is now on the other foot, with Ariel and Romina now reversing roles due to her taking control, eventually causing him to breakdown just like she did previously, the 180-degree rule is broken during the heated confrontation between the couple as she is now in a stronger and commanding position over him.

18th Feb 202011th Nov 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Essay (Performance)

Essay

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

The sequence starts with Ofelia walking gingerly across the wooden floor, wary that her mother is tired and the floor is cold on her feet, moving to lie close to her on the bed, showing that the bond between them is strong and they protect each other, speaking softly to comfort her pain. Carmen is a rational mother, blaming the creaking noises that disconcert Ofelia on the wind whereas Ofelia is continually looking for the fantastical in all elements of reality such as what might be causing the noises. Ofelia is clearly disappointed that her mother decided to marry the Captain, lacking understanding about why she had to in order to survive but fails to show any animosity towards her as she cares for her as she is her mother, but feels that they are in this unsavoury situation because of her mother. Carmen is pregnant with Ofelia’s unborn baby brother and in great pain that continues to unsettle her. Ofelia leans over her stomach and whispers gently to the baby as she has a kind nature, supposedly comforting her brother to ease her mothers pain despite the fact that the baby is causing agony as she cares for them both as a maternal figure, beginning to tell him a story as the audience goes inside her mothers womb where her voice transitions to narration and takes on an echoey quality.

Ofelia continues telling her story until her mother falls asleep, shifting to focus on the Captain who sits with a precise and accurate posture in his separate room, fully uniformed as he is disciplined even when off duty with a calculating nature, gently caring for his gold watch which contrasts his brutality that he has shown so far in the film against those he views as inferior to himself. He begins by enquiring about the welfare of his wife, giving the impression that despite his cruel appearance he does care about her but then brushes the matter aside after the doctor confirms that she is fine, swiftly moving on to ask about his unborn son, preventing his own troops from delivering a message to him so that they might complete the task they were originally sent to the mill for to check that his son is doing well. The fact that he rejects the possibility of his baby being a daughter shows his attitude towards women, creating tension for the audience as he now has two vulnerable women staying at his place of residence who he is likely to disregard and unlikely to go out of his way to ensure their protection once he has the son that he desires. After he learns that his soldiers have captured two prisoners he heads outside to interrogate them. When interrogating the farmers, he disregards their possessions as he has a lack of care for the property of others, also implying that he has already made up his mind about what course of action he should take with them, meaning that when the farmers son bravely backs up his fathers statement that they are merely farmers, doing so in the knowledge that he is surrounded by armed and imposing soldiers, the Captain brutally beats his face repeatedly, leaving his body to drop lifeless to the floor, demonstrating the level in which the Captain’s callous extends too. His savage nature appears to be a predictable trait of his as the soldiers holding the father is able to move quickly out the way before he is shot, showing that his violence is predictable. Two innocent farmers now lye dead on the ground, but after discovering they were telling the truth about simply hunting for rabbits, rather than accepting any blame himself for not searching through the contents of their bag thoroughly, he puts blame on his soldiers who all stand to attention as he addresses them, fearing his command. The Captain need never shout or raise his voice as he shows what the consequences of disobedience will be through his collected and sadistic personality.

Another Global film that appropriately uses performance to convey meaning is the portmanteau film Wild Tales, with six different stories, all connected by themes of violence and revenge, directed by Damián Szifron.

At the beginning of the wedding sequence, there is shown to be a large group of guests sitting at tables, laughing and cheering whilst a montage of photos is projected onto a large screen in front of everyone, suggesting that this sequence is going to be taking place during a happy and joyful occasion. The room is filled with energy, moving to the pace of the music as people begin to dance around the room, further showing that this is a lively event. The bride and groom affectionately greet their in-laws with the bride, Romina, embracing her mother-in-law with open arms to show their love and respect for one another that will contrast later on in the sequence when Ariel’s mother will attempt to physically hurt Romina after she threatens her son. This affection sets up a cheerful atmosphere at the start of the sequence noticeably absent later on and also where the first dialogue is spoken, roughly one and a half minutes into the sequence, involving Ariel’s father-in-law congratulating him whilst also providing a passive-aggressive warning to him, implying that there will be consequences should anything negative happen to his daughter during their marriage, giving a sense of foreboding to the remainder of the sequence due to the themes of violence and revenge employed by Szifron throughout the film. Szifron also uses foreshadowing by separating Romina and Ariel when they are dancing which suggests to the audience that they will have a broken relationship in the future.

This lively scene then abruptly cuts to a scene where everyone is seated at tables eating and talking whilst the newlywed couple take photos alongside their relatives and Romina speaks to several in which she clearly tries to force a smile during their conversation to appear interested in what they are saying, often giving artificial responses which could show the audience a possible first glimpse of her fake nature that will grow even more apparent as her and Ariel’s relationship declines after the revelation that he has cheated on her. Her facial expression changes from happiness to appearing suspicious as she spots Ariel with a woman that she doesn’t recognise, slowing down her speech as she focuses on the woman and what they are saying, making it clear to the audience that she feels negatively towards this apparent flirting between her husband and this woman which makes the audience suspicious of Ariel too. This causes her to clearly become distressed compared with the confident swagger of the groom as he almost glides over to her, unaware that Romina suspects anything of him. His face and body language when being questioned by Romina as they take part in their first dance alludes to the fact that he is lying as feebly attempts to act oblivious, neglecting to make eye contact with her as he feels guilty and instead looks around the room at the guests as he cares more about what impression they have on him than being faithful to his own wife. Romina breaks down crying as she moves away from Ariel to dance with her father who seems to be much more empathetic than her mother in law, comforting her as she cries on his shoulder, making the audience sympathise with her more as she is presented as having a much more caring family than Ariel’s mother who seems to show a lack of understanding.

After storming out of the room to get some fresh air upon the rooftop of the building, a chef already up there unprofessionally smoking attempts to calm her down, using a gentle, soothing voice to make her feel safe which works initially in preventing the bride from stressing out any further. This is then however followed by a subversion of the audience’s expectations as Romina leans in to kiss the chef leaving both the chef and the audience in shock, showing how it was an unpredictable move brought on by a feeling of vulnerability now that she has been cheated on by someone she had faith in. This shock is also seen from Ariel who vomits after finding her on the rooftop having sex and threatening him in an enraged speech that transitions her previous feeling of vulnerability and frailty to power and strength as she plots revenge against him, threateningly pointing at him in an accusatory manner whilst yelling at him that demonstrates the suppressed anger she has towards his action. In order to cope with this after they both return to the hall indoors, Ariel drinks alcohol to calm his nerves down just as Romina had done when she feared he had cheated on her, making the drinking of alcohol a repeated device that shows how unstable the mindset of a character has become. This fails to stop his inevitable breakdown at the climax of the sequence, elevating his voice just as Romina had done previously on the rooftop so that she can understand how he is feeling, just as Romina had used shouting for earlier on. Although finally, Szifron chooses to subvert the audiences expectation again as Ariel offers out his hand to the dishevelled looking Romina in tears on the floor just as he did before the truth was uncovered when they first danced together, before proceeding to get intimate on the wedding table and causing a swarm of guests to flood out the door, suggesting that they have both re-kindled their once strong bond whilst showing that they need each other to remain happy as they both end up in abhorrent states of mind when apart.

Both Szifron and del Toro use aspects of performance to convey meaning throughout their films so that they have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro utilises it to show characters react to key information and how certain actions will affect them. Szifron, on the other hand, uses it to allow the audience to understand the mindset of a character and how they changes over time.

18th Feb 202011th Nov 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Essay (Sound)

Essay

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

As the sequence starts, a J-cut is used as the gentle sound of diegetic wind whistling in the background can be heard, giving an ominous tone that builds tension and anticipation for the audience before the story begins. Simultaneously, non-diegetic narration accompanies the wind that gives exposition whilst delivering context to the story that is about to be told. The wind continues to whistle gently as the diegetic sound of blood dripping draws our attention to the blood and the hand, revealing Ofelia lying injured on the ground. The sound mix in this opening scene contributes to a feeling of melancholy for the audience as Ofelia slowly dies from wounds that we are unsure of how they were inflicted upon her. Transitioning from the reality to the fantasy world, an accompanying ominous bass sound indicates a change in location and the non-diegetic score attains a lullaby quality similar to something that a child might sing and changes from being haunting to mystical as there is a shift from death to life and from reality to fantasy. An important factor to note is that the non-diegetic score takes on a slight choir-like quality after switching to the fantasy world, implying a sense of the unknown as it could be linked to ideas of religion and how different people interpret ideas differently depending on their beliefs which plays a strong part in the film as Ofelia is the only one willing to believe in the fantasy world whilst those around her push ideas that involve what they cant be certain is in the real world aside.

As the sequence progresses, there is a change from the fantasy world back to the real world as the non-diegetic score completely stops as Ofelia and her mother are now shown to be in a car, allowing the diegetic dialogue to define the scene, giving important context to the story. When Ofelia is inside the car and standing outside of it, the noise from the car engine is far more prominent than when she begins to walk away from the car later on and stumbles across a mysterious statues and an insect that captures her attention. This has the effect of showing the event from Ofelia’s perspective rather than the soldiers or her mother, further establishing that she is an important character in terms of the upcoming events. The sound mix is used very selectively throughout this scene, for example, when Ofelia picks up the rock, an exaggerated sound of the rock hitting her foot draws attention to the object before the audience sees it, whilst the non-diegetic score starts briefly after she picks it up to show how the rock has significance, becoming more orchestral with the sound of a deep cello as she looks over the ancient statue, adding to the effect on the audience and implying that something isn’t right. her placing of the rock inside the hole in the statue causes a non-diegetic rumble and flutter, building tension before a large insect emerges from the hole in the statue, resulting in the non-diegetic rumble and composed score stopping as it has been revealed to the audience what was causing the noise. This ominous rumble has the effect of creating anticipation , implying that something bad is about to take place before subverting the audiences expectation as they are given reason to believe that they should fear what might possibly be lurking inside whereas in reality, there was no immediate threat of danger, indicated by the stopping of this rumbling noise. The scene changes however from Ofelia’s perspective due to the diegetic dialogue of her and her mother talking not increasing after they both move towards the car, focusing on the insect that emerged from the statue, meaning the dialogue becomes less distinguishable and the fluttering of the insect and the engine noise produced by the car now have a far more prominent place in the sound mix. The sequence ends with the use of another j-cut, as the slow ticking of the hands on the Captain’s watch can be heard as the cars drive off into the distance and during the following close-up shot that focuses on his watch. This indicates to the audience that time has passed before they have reached their destination without showing the rest of their journey.

Another film that appropriately uses sound 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.

At the beginning of the scene, the diegetic song ‘Titanium’ starts playing in the background of the following scene where guests are laughing at a slideshow of old photos and dancing joyfully. The song has a very uplifting beat, making the audiences first impression of the event as a happy and exciting occasion. The lyrics of the song suggest connotations of power and strength which would imply that the couple have a sturdy bedrock for their relationship whereas the reality juxtaposes these ideas as the audience watches their relationship breakdown in dramatic fashion. Diegetic laughter and cheering from the guests are lower in the sound mix but can still be heard clearly in the conflict of the loud diegetic music, conveying the fact that there are a large amount of guests watching, emphasising how many people want to see this momentous occasion for them and the positivity in the room at this point in time, assisting in giving the later scene where the bride verbally lashes out at her husband all the more shocking as everyone appears to be having a wonderful time.

When the bride and groom begin to enter the room, the diegetic music increases slightly in volume, appearing overwhelming in comparison to the other sounds that make up the sound mix that are virtually inaudible. Throughout this scene the music acts as a device that is utilised to set the mood of the characters, so when the music is playing loudly, there is a general feeling of joy and happiness that engulfs the room but when its silent, there is typically something wrong between a selection of the characters and their changing attitude towards each other. As the bride and groom dance with their friends, there is a much more audible sound of men cheering when Ariel is separated from Romina, whilst the sound of women screaming is accentuated in the sound mix when focusing on Romina, insinuating that the couple are putting on a façade for their guests, hiding away from the fact that they aren’t as committed to each other as they are presenting whilst the separation of the couple in the sound mix suggests that the relationship is already unbalanced and incapable of remaining stable.

After cutting to an alternate dancing scene, the diegetic song ‘Titanium’ stops playing and is immediately replaced by the sound of diegetic Klezma music bellowing loudly in the foreground, performed by a live band in front of a large group of dancing guest including Ariel and Romina. The Klezma music increases the pace of the scene as the rapid music presents a lively atmosphere, further demonstrating to the audience that this is an exciting wedding that everyone is currently enjoying. Klezma music is typically performed during Jewish celebrations, signifying to the audience that this is a Jewish wedding which gives context to the sequence and provides insight into the religious culture of Argentina.

The music continues as they dance until it abruptly stops after a time change that transfers the audience from watching a buoyant dancing scene to a quiet and calm scene where guests are eating at tables and the couple move from table to table to take a picture with them. The music is replaced with the diegetic sound if cutlery clanking together and slow indistinct chatter which gives less significant items much more prominence in the mix than previously to show a much calmer situation. Romina speaks with members of her family as she tries to appease them, pointing out how she knows certain people sitting at different tables before spotting Ariel appearing to flirt with a woman that she is unfamiliar with whilst its implied that she believes there is something dubious going on between them. The diegetic sound of Ariel and the mystery woman speaking comes from the brides perspective with the focus directed on their conversation whilst other sounds in the mix decrease in volume as they are less important to the story, telling the audience that her doubts about whether Ariel has cheated on her will be important to the outcome of both characters. Romina starts to walk over to her own table so that she can take out her phone, hoping to uncover whether she is correct. Diegetic phone ringing sounds reveal her intention to call someone which is then revealed to be the mystery woman. After picking up the phone, the diegetic voice of the woman comes from the perspective of Romina, as the faint sounds come through her own phone, allowing a feeling if sympathy towards her from the audience as by showing the events happening from her point of view, the audience us more capable of understanding the trauma she is going through and is therefore able to more easily connect with her. Romina is unable to consider what she has just learnt as the lights grow darker and the soft and gentle melody of ‘Blue Danube’ begins to play as Ariel approaches his wife to dance with her, presenting a sense of irony as the sing is slow and romantic but there is a lack of romance between the couple now that she discovered he has been unfaithful to her, contrasting her current emotions and making Romina’s situation appear even more tragic.

After becoming overwhelmed by the dance she quickly leaves the room and stumbles her way to the roof where she is followed by Ariel, unleashing her bottled up anger towards his actions leaving him shocked and vomiting on the rooftop. As she returns from the rooftop, liberated and free, the previously fast paced non-diegetic music returns combined with a variety of conflicting sounds in the mix, adding to the feeling of chaos at the wedding whilst the bride and her guests exuberant dancing shows her newfound feeling of control and freedom. Romina’s resentment for being created on remain however as she forces the woman she had been cheated on with to dance, spinning her around rapidly and sending her flying into a mirror. The sound mix becomes increasingly conflicted during this scene with the loud and disorientating sounds of the diegetic music and dialogue promoting a sense of dizziness for the audience that only stops after she crashes into the mirror, leaving the audience with a sense of horror as all non-diegetic sounds have abruptly stopped to focus on the severity of her injury.

As the sequence reaches its climax, there is a feeling of suspense in the scene due to a lack of music. The diegetic sound of the wedding guests are now more prominent than before such as their faint talking and Ariel popping open a champagne bottle. As the couple reconnect hands, the non-diegetic song ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ begins to play after they immediately connect hands once again. The irony of this is that the song doesn’t reflect the current attitude shared amongst the majority of the guests or between the couple as everyone appears stressed and detached. The couple however begin to slow dance in front of the bewildered guests lookin on whilst the non-diegetic song continues to play, leaving Romina and Ariel to have sex on the wedding table where the cake once stood with no diegetic sounds present to signify that the film is coming to an end.

Both Szifron and del Toro use sound to convey meaning throughout their films to have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro utilises it to show the importance of different object and creatures whilst using it to create suspense and build tension. Szifron on the other hand uses sound to allow the audience to empathise with characters and create a sound mix that reflects their attitudes at the time, showing how they are changing over the course of the sequence.

17th Feb 202017th Mar 2021 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Component 2a: Essay (Mise-en-scene) – Improved

Essay

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

Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth focuses on the civil war in Spain. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government causing Fascist and extreme-right forces to respond with a 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.

During the Pale Man sequence, Ofelia opens a doorway to a hidden lair of an ancient monster so that she can retrieve a golden dagger with a key she found from her earlier task. At the start of the sequence, Ofelia is located within her room with del Toro using a dark colour palette to demonstrate how she is confined in the Captain’s world with one window the main source of light, partially barred by wooden planks and leaves which only provides a small glimpse of light shining into the room, showing that she is a prisoner, creating fear for the audience as we feel confined and as hopeless as she feels in his grasp. When she opens the book given to her by the Faun, the pages change from being a blank to reveal a picture of the Pale Man she is soon to encounter, depicted in a similar style to the drawings of Alice in Wonderland with pastorally colours that make the picture appear less threatening than its real life counterpart, thereby deceiving the audience as to the dangerous nature of the creature which makes its appearance all the more terrifying. Del Toro foreshadows this appearance of the Pale Man in order to have an effect on the audience, creating suspense for the creatures emergence. After drawing a small door shaped outline with chalk given to her by the Faun, Ofelia pushes open the new door in the wall to gaze into the piercingly bright lair of the Pale Man. Del Toro’s creative decision to change the colour palette from a cold blue to a far warmer red indicates a change from the reality of the Captain’s world to the fantasy world that she is about to step into which shows the audience that Ofelia is temporarily free from the Captain’s entrapment.

Del Toro gives the appearance of the Pale Man’s lair aspects of typical gothic design as the vaulted ancient ceiling gives the impression of catacombs underneath a cathedral with a chessboard-like floor which gives the audience the impression that the creature is mythological and enhances the mystery and intrigues surrounding the monster. There are further references made to the story Alice in Wonderland such as the oversized sand timer that she places in the doorway before she steps down to keep track of how much time she has left, emphasising to the audience its importance to the plot. The corridor that leads to the main chamber curves around a winding corner to show how deep the lair is whilst the windows are smaller than typical windows which demonstrates that she will be unable to get out; these various elements of the lair present to the audience that Ofelia is small in comparison to the task she is facing and how the task will be overwhelming for her, creating anticipation as it seems that she will inevitably face trouble in escaping from this place. Ofelia emerges into a huge expansive chamber, dominated by a large table that almost extends the length of the entire room with a figure at the end of it, resembling the Captain in a previous scene when he had previously held his feast for a group of the most important people including the doctor and other fascist sympathisers, heading the table as a commanding and evil figure and showing that both characters are as evil as each other, creating a further sense of foreboding for the fate of Ophelia. Del Toro uses an extraordinary collection of different foods including jellies and overflowing fruit piled up on this table to form a large banquet, something that a child might possibly imagine as all this food is unavailable due to the rationing brought into effect by the war, hinting towards the fact that she could be imagining what she used to have but can now only dream of which has increased relevance given the ending of the film which can be left up to interpretation as to whether Ophelia imagines all these events.

At first Ofelia chooses to acknowledge the figure before moving on to focus at the task of finding the dagger. She uses the shining and golden key with a twig handle, referencing Ofelia’s natural elements that link her to the rebels, to open a hatch so that she can obtain an ancient looking knife wrapped in a cloth with a golden handle that further links to the colour palette used to identify the fantasy world. Her temptation to take and eat the grapes is caused by them being oversized which gives them a succulent and divine appearance, referencing to the forbidden fruit in genesis where Eve was tempted to eat the fruit from the tree of life that had been forbidden from her, and like Eve, Ofelia’s actions lead to loss as two fairies die as she attempts to make her escape.

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, it starts with a montage of old childhood photos that present the innocence of the couple which will later contrast their nature in the sequence and help the audience to infer relevant information about the sequence such as it being a family event that wouldn’t be available at this point in the scene without this context. The setting of the wedding gives a distinct rich and privileged appearance with lots of champagne glasses, expensive alcohol, golden chandeliers and tuxedos that all contribute towards this whilst also creating a disturbing feeling later on in the sequence when the bride later threatens to take everything away from him as they speak on the rooftop after she discovers he’s been cheating on her, allowing the audience to grasp the scale and severity of her threats and what she would be taking away. There is also a use of pathetic fallacy on the rooftop, used to demonstrate her ferocity as she lashes out at him and simultaneously, a bolt of lightning can be seen striking behind her in the distance as the sound of thunder follows thereafter.

Before these events however, the bride and groom first appear from behind a curtain as they joyously bound towards their in-laws, greeting them affectionately. The fact that they appear from behind a curtain immediately implies to the audience that their relationship is a façade and they are putting on a show to appease their guests as they wish to avoid criticism. The groom, Ariel, has neglected to shave for his own wedding showing his lack of care for his new wife, foreshadowing the fact that is unfaithful to her and the caring attitude that we were originally led to believe that he had is replaced with suspicion as it is a sign of his intention to conceal his cheating nature. After the buoyant dancing, the crowded setting is replaced by a much calmer and spacious one, where all their guests are sitting down as the bride, Romina, talks with them and points out from what backgrounds everyone is from in relation to them. Romina is drawn to her husband appearing to flirt with a mystery woman across from the room and therefore uses her initiative to uncover whether her suspicions that her husband might not be as caring as she once thought, by using her phone. The phone is used as a device to discover the secret that Ariel has cheated on Romina and is used to call the mystery woman who he had been flirting with earlier, leading to her confronting her husband during their first dance where its revealed to her that her suspicions were true. To escape this embarrassing and distressing situation, Romina runs frantically down a long, narrow hallway that leads to a fire escape and on to the rooftop. This hallway suggests to the audience that she feels trapped and claustrophobic because of the events that have just transpired and now feels as though everything is closing in around her, betrayed and alone. Her white wedding dress is intended to represent the idea of purity and innocence that is present in her character before she discovers the harrowing truth of her husband’s deceit, but the white becomes tainted with blood later on after she smashes the mystery woman into a mirror, showing that her innocence has been fragmented by this act and has stained her personality that can never wash out and return to her original purity, symbolised by this dress.

As the film reaches its climax, a broken cake, glass and ripped out hair show the destruction both physically and mentally inflicted on one another and how it has caused chaos for both them and their guests. At this point it seems unlikely there will be a happy ending for either of them, until Ariel offers out his hand possibly in forgiveness and apology and they slow dance alone on the stained floor as their guests look on in amazement. The final image is a particularly striking one, depicting a bride and groom statue resting crooked on the floor as the couple have sex on the adjacent table where the cake once stood, which could be symbolic of all the evenets that have occurred at the ceremony and how as a couple. they have both fallen down but still remain together despite the anguish they have caused each other.

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Wild Tales – Editing

The sequence starts from a black screen with a longer interlude between sequences than any other that helps to build the anticipation and establishes it as the final sequence before fading in. The cuts in the opening scene of this sequence appear to frequently take place on the beat of the music, making the action seem smoother and more natural. Klezma music begins to play and as it does, the pace of the editing increases to match a change in pace of the action, rhythm and excitement of the characters that allows the audience to feel excited simultaneously. Alternating shots between the bride and groom with an equal amount of screen time and fast paced editing also add to a feeling of happiness and gives the audience a chance to compare their personalities. A graphic overlay further shows it’s a performance as he looks towards the camera as they both kiss.

A jarring cut from the lively and free flowing steadicam shots to static shots as the music suddenly stops is surprising to the audience as it completely takes them out of the action, making them consider what they have just witnessed from the leading characters in relation to how they are being presented now. This scene starts off by using contiguity editing when the couple is forced to take a photo at every table of relatives which shows the time change between each photo and makes clear that they have had to engage in this activity a multitude of times which juxtaposes the excitement of the previous scene which demonstrates that the party is over and therefore the happy part of this sequence is over. In this scene, a lot of shot/reverse shots allow a greater focus on the dialogue as its important to the narrative. At this point, the pace of the editing has slowed down to present a less chaotic and calmer atmosphere. As Romina walks over to her table after becoming suspicious of her husband, there is no cut to draw attention to her performance as she slowly begins to realise what has happened. Shot/reverse shot is also used once again when Romina questions Ariel as they dance, cutting to a wide shot when he confirms her suspicions that shows a change in character attitude. Ariel gets increasingly more nervous, shown through an increase in frequency of shots focusing on his reaction as he reveals his guilt. After Romina leaves, Ariel follows her to a long hallway where he looks both ways and then cuts before he decided which way to go, implying to the audience that he is going to go the wrong way which will give the bride more time to escape. Nearing the end of the sequence, there are no cuts when Romina has returned from the rooftop and begins to move the cake into position. This is done to show both how she is in control of the relationship but also how the whole situation has disorientated her, making the audience feel awkward as she slowly moves it into position reflecting the current state of mind of all her guests at the wedding.

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Wild Tales – Mise-en-Scene

A montage of old childhood photos present the idea of innocence which contrasts the later events in this sequence and helps the audience to infer relevant information about the sequence such as it is a family event that wouldn’t be available at this pint in the scene without this context. There is a distinct rich and privileged setting in the scene with lots of champagne glasses, expensive alcohol, golden chandeliers and tuxedos that contribute towards a disturbing feeling when she later threatens to take everything away from him on the rooftop after she discover he’s been cheating on her, allowing the audience to grasp the scale and severity of her threats. The use of pathetic fallacy in this scene also demonstrates her ferocity when she lashes out at him, simultaneously a bolt of lightning can be seen flashing in the distance and the sound of thunder follows thereafter.

Before this, however, The fact that the bride and groom appear from behind a curtain implies to the audience that their relationship is a façade immediately and they are putting on a show to avoid criticism from their guests. Ariel hasn’t shaved which shows a lack of care for his wife that we were originally led to believe he had which is a sign of his intentions to conceal the fact that he cheated on her. The phone is used as a device to discover the secret that Ariel has cheated on Romina and is used to call the mystery woman who he has been talking to that further arouses her suspicions and leads to her questioning her husband where she learns that he ahs in fact cheated on her. To escape this situation, Romina runs down a long, narrow hallway which suggests to the audience that she feels tarped and claustrophobic die to what has occurred and now feel betrayed and alone. The white wedding dress is supposed to represent the idea of purity and innocence that is present in Romina’s persona before she discovers she’s been cheated on but the white is tainted with blood after she smashes the mystery woman into a mirror, showing that she has lost that innocence because she has claimed revenge. Also, the mirror smashing could be representative of how the truth being unveiled has destroyed them as a couple.

The broken cake, glass and hair show the destruction both physically and mentally inflicted on one another and how it has caused chaos for everyone. The final image is a particularly compelling one, showing a bride and groom statue on the floor as the couple have sex on the table, which could be symbolic of the events that have taken place at the ceremony and how as a couple they have both fallen down but still remain together despite these chaotic events.

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Wild Tales – Performance

At the beginning of the sequence, a large group of guests laugh and cheer and a montage of photos being projected onto a large screen that suggests this sequence is going to be taking place on a happy occasion. Everybody is energetic, moving to the pace of the music as people begin to dance around the room, further showing that it is a lively and joyous event. The bride and groom affectionately greet their in-laws with Romina embracing her mother in-law with open arms which shows love and respect for one another that contrasts further on in the sequence after Ariel’s mother attempts to physically hurt Romina due to her threats against her son. This sets up a cheerful atmosphere at the start of the sequence which is noticeably absent later on and is also where the first dialogue is spoken, roughly one and a half minutes into the sequence, involving Ariel’s father in-law congratulating him but also warning him, implying consequences should anything negative happen to his daughter which gives a sense of foreboding to the remainder of the sequence due to the trend throughout the film of themes of violence and revenge. Romina and Ariel are typically separated when dancing which could foreshadow a broken relationship in the near future.

After cutting to a scene where everyone is less mobile and sitting down eating, the couple takes photos alongside relatives whilst Romina speaks to several in which she clearly forces a smile during their conversation to appear interested in what they are saying, often giving artificial responses which could imply to the audience a first glimpse at her possible fake nature that will become even more apparent after the revelation that Ariel has cheated. She changes from appearing happy in her facial expression to suspicious as she spots Ariel with a woman, slowing down her speech as she focuses on what she has seen and making it clear to the audience that she feels negatively towards what is happening, making the audience suspicious of Ariel too. This distresses her compared to the confident swagger of the groom as he is not aware that she suspects anything of him. When being questioned by Romina, Ariel’s face and body language allude to the fact that he is lying as he attempts to act oblivious, neglecting to make any eye contact with her as he feels guilty and instead looking around the room at their guests as he cares what impression they have of him. The father of the bride seems much more empathtic than her mother in-law, comforting her as she cries which makes the audience empathise with her more as she is presented to have a much more caring family.

After storming out of the room and getting some air at the top of the roof, a chef already there attempts to calm her down with a gentle soothing voice that makes her feel safe. Romina then subverts the expectations of the audience and kisses the chef as he gives a look of shock towards her, showing it was an unpredictable action as she feels very vulnerable. This shock is also seen from Ariel, who vomits after walking up to the roof and catching them both having sex. Its at this point that Romina lets out an enraged threatening speech towards Ariel, transitioning her position from vulnerability and frailty to power and strength as she plots revenge against him, threateningly pointing her finger at him an accusatory manner and loud vocals that demonstrate the supressed anger she has towards his actions. To cope with this, Ariel can late be seen drinking alcohol just as Romina once did before to calm his nerves and appears as a device to frequently use as they both breakdown. Also, as Ariel does breakdown at the climax of the sequence, he elevates his voice, mirroring the way Romina did previously on the roof but then proceeds to subvert the audiences expectations by offering his hand to her just as he did when they first danced, before he admitted to cheating on her. They then get intimate on the wedding table which suggests to the audience that they have both re-kindled their bond but also that they need each other as they are both in abhorrent states of mind when apart.

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Wild Tales – Sound

At the beginning of the scene, the digetic sound of the song ‘Titanium’ is playing in the background of the shots which has a very uplifting beat, giving the audiences first impression of the event as happy and joyful. The lyrics of the song suggest connotations of power and strength which would imply that the couple have a sturdy bedrock to their relationship whereas the song juxtaposes these ideas as the audience watches their relationship breakdown dramatically. The digetic laughter and cheering is lower in the sound mix but can still be heard clearly over the loud digetic music which conveys the fact that there is a large amount of guests watching the slideshow, emphasising the positivity in the room at this point in time and also assists in making the later sequence of events increasingly shocking as everyone appears to be having a great time initially. As the bride and groom enter the room, the digetic music increases in volume, appearing overwhelming compared to the other sounds in the mix that are virtually inaudible. Throughout this sequence the music seems to act as a device utilised to set the mood, so when the music is playing loudly, there is a general feeling of joy in the room but when it’s silent, there is typically something wrong between a set of characters. As they dance, there is a much more audible sound of men cheering when Ariel is separated from Romina in the shot and the sound of women screaming accentuated in the mix when focusing on Romina, insinuating that they are putting on a performance for their guests, hiding away from the revelation that they aren’t as deeply in love as things would appear from an exterior point of view whilst the separation of the couple in the sound mix suggests that the relationship is already unstable.

Upon cutting to an alternate scene, the digetic song ‘Titanium’ stop playing and is immediately replaced by the sound of diegetic Klezma music, performed by a live band in front of a large group of dancing guests. It increases the pace of the scene as the rapid music presents a lively atmosphere and further demonstrates to the audience that this an exciting occasion. This type of music is often performed during Jewish celebrations, signifying to the audience that this is a Jewish wedding which gives context to the sequence and tells of the religious culture of Argentina. The Klezma music stops suddenly after there is a time change that transfers the audience from watching a buoyant dancing scene to a quiet scene where their guests are eating at tables. The music is replaced with the diegetic sound of cutlery clanking together which gives less significant items more prominence in the mix to show a much calmer situation than before. Romina spots Ariel with a woman that she doesn’t recognise and its implied that she believes there is something dubious going on between them. The sound comes from her perspective with the focus directed on them and other sounds in the mix other than their dialogue decreasing in volume as they are less important to the story, telling the audience that her doubts have an important meaning to the outcome. The bride walks over to her own table and takes out a phone. Diegetic phone ringing sounds reveal her intentions as she calls the mystery woman. After picking up, the diegetic voice of the woman is presented from Romina’s perspective as the faint sounds of the woman’s voice come through the phone, allowing a feeling of sympathy for her as by showing the events happening from her point of view, the audience is more capable of understanding what trauma she is going through. The soft melody of ‘Blue Danube’ starts playing as Ariel approaches his wife to dance with her. This presents a sense of irony as the song is slow and romantic but there is a lack of romance between the couple after she has discovered that he has cheated on her, contarsting her emotions and making Romina’s situation appear even more tragic. Romina returns from the roof after liberating herself and the fast paced music previously played starts once again with a variety of conflicting sounds in the mix, showing the chaos of the wedding and their loud and exuberant dancing also shows how her newfound feeling of control, free from the awful feeling of being cheated on. the sound mix becomes increasingly conflicted in the scene where Romina and the woman she has been cheated on with spin around rapidly. the loud and disorientating sounds of the diegetic music and dialogue promotes a sense of dizziness that stops after the woman crashes into the mirror, leaving the audience with a sense of horror as it highlight that there has been a serious injury. As the sequence reaches its climax, there is a feeling of suspense to the scene due to a lack of music. The diegetic sound of the wedding guests actions such as Ariel popping open the champagne bottle, leaving the guests to gasp in shock or the footsteps as he approaches the crying Romina all add to this feeling. However, as the couple reconnect hands, the non-diegetic song ‘Fly me to the moon’ starts playing. This is very ironic as its a happy song with protruding themes of love throughout that heavily juxtaposes the events that have occurred, presenting a definite change in attitude between the couple as they begin to slow dance in front of the bewildered guests looking on.

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Wild Tales – Cinematography

To start off the sequence, the camera pulls out to a wide shot that contributes to showing the large amount of guests at the wedding focused on the slideshow of old photos, crabbing right to further show the chow many happy guests are present, focusing on the cheerful pictures on screen. Steadicam is used throughout these shots and pushes in as the song increases in tempo to focus on the bride and groom, centrally framed and emerging from behind a curtain before arcing around them greeting their parents and in-laws to give the impression that the person watching the film is a spectator as the shots are very intimate with a sense of family unity followed by a series of handheld close-up shots focusing on the interactions between the partners and their in-laws making it more personal and meaningful. The steadicam arcs around the couple from a low angle to give the impression that the camera is dancing along with them whilst crowding the audience. Tracking shots match the pace of the dancing whilst the movement matches the energy of the music to give the scene a lively appearance. The lighting becomes harsher as the sequence progresses whilst the blue lighting could suggest the stability, trust and loyalty in the relationship at this point in time. The camera is kept at a low angle below eye level to give the audience the impression they are in a crowded area.

A change in location is accompanied by a change to warm yellow lighting, suggesting happiness. The camera pulls back from a shot of an energetic sousaphone, directing focus on the instrument and therefore a focus on the joy of the party as everyone immediately becomes engrossed in the music. after the party, there is less dramatic movement shown by less frquent, slower and more stable shots. A long lens is used to make the audience feel as if they are a part of the crowd the bride points out too before she moves away from the people she is talking to as the camera pans to the left to centrally frame the bride, isolating her in the fram with a shallow depth of field to focus on her reaction as she begins to suspect her husband might be cheating on her. The zoom draws attention to the woman sitting down in the centre of the frame but not clearly as the bride is unaware that she existed until now using a POV shot, followed by a reaction shot of the brides face to show the importance of the revelation to the development of the story and that her attenton is fully focused on the mystery woman. The camera tracks the bride as she crosses the room to the mirror, sandwiching the woman in the centre of her focus. the mirror shot foreshadows her apparent dual nature later on and a wrack focus from the brides phone the the womans phone implies that the bride has uncovered her husbands dirty secret whilst an over the shoulder shot using a long lens gives the impression that the bride is isolated because she now feels alone.

The crowd is darkened and the lighting focuses on the bride and groom with darker lighting on him to represent his apparent morally evil nature as the camera tracks the brides eye movement, focusing on his hand and the ring. the camera arcs around them as they dance to present the ffect that the audience is a guest that dances with them but cuts to different arcing shots, making it disorientating as the bride is puuting her husband under pressure so that he might reveal the truth.The focus is entirely on the couple as a shallow depth of field makes the background barely visible so that the audience can focus on what they are saying. A series of close-up shots between the newlyweds as they dance whilst the bride questions him changes to a wide shot when he confirms her suspicions and the camera stops dancing immediately when the couple stop dancing, becoming less smooth and more jarring to represent the brides shock and confused state of mind. the long lens suggests that the guests are watching him from a distance, tightening in on his reaction that could suggest their judgement as she has left the room in tears. the camera is attached to the door in order to track the motion of both characters and establishes the direction they are both heading. The lighting is darker on the bride when she doesnt know the truth but becomes lighter when its been revealed to her as she walks through the corridor, tracked by low angle shots from both in front and behind her to show she feels surrounded and overwhelmed with a declining sense of reality.

A BEV shot of the bride looking over the edge of the roof suggests she feels nauseated and is about to jump. The lighting in the background of the shots appears romantic, foreshadowing the romantic interaction between the bride and the chef and a romantic shot subverts the expectations of the audience as the seductive intention of the bride contrasts her despair. The long lenses with a wide aperture makes the scene seem more dreamy and the scene is shot on a spherical lens rather than an anamorphic lens and extended to widescreen which makes it appear more realistic. A reaction shot of shock from both the chef and Ariel as Romina lets out a violent outburst directed at her husband that neither were expecting. the 180 degree rule is broken during the confrontation to present the idea that the shoe is now on the other foot. The camerawork alternates to handheld as she feels free as she’s released her anger that she had stored inside her, indicating a change in attitude towards her chaotic relationship.

8th Jan 202020th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Wild Tales Contextualised

Define a portmanteau film. What are other notable examples from recent years?

A film that combines two or more aspects or stories, often tied together by a single theme or event. Recent examples include City of God and Pulp Fiction.

Give a brief synopsis of each of the stories in the film. Which are the most effective? Why do you think these stories have been chosen?

“Pasternak” – While on a plane, two people realise they both know the same person before discovering that every board on board knows him, each with their own story on how they grieved the mysterious character, leading them to come to the conclusion that it is no coincidence that they are all on the plane, together as they desperately attempt to flee the plane as it crashes into the garden of the mysterious “Pasternak’s” parents house.

“The Rats” – A young waitress recognises a customer in the restaurant she works in who once caused a tradgedy in her family. The cook suggest putting rat poison in his food but she rejects the idea but the cook goes ahead with her plan anyway, causing both his son and himself to be violently ill before the cook attacks him with a knife, killing him whilst being sent to jail.

“The Strongest” – Two drivers come into conflict when one driver continually swerves in the way of the other, blocking them from getting past. After the overtaking driver gets a puncture, he stops by the side of the road and is joined by the other driver who attempts to destroy his car before they both attempt o kill each other, one by ramming them off a cliff and running them over the other by hanging them but in the end, a fire igniting the petrol gets the better of both of them.

“Little Bomb” – A demolition engineer has his car towed after parking in the wrong place to pick up his daughters birthday cake, cauding him to be late to her party which results in the breakdown of marriage and then his career after he has a heated argument with an employee of the towing company. These events lead him to plant a bomb in his car after being towed on purpose causing a huge explosion, which ruins the company and sends him to jail; however, he arns the respect of the city and his family.

“The Proposal” – The son of a wealthy family kills a mother and her unborn son in his car, going to his parents for help who phone their lawyer. They persuade the groundsman to take the fall after bribing several people but soon learns that he is a victim of extortion of his lawyer, neglecting to go through with the deal. After a new term is agreed, he willingly pays up and the groundsman heads outside to take the blame before having his head smashed by the Victims husband.

“Until death Do Us Part” During a wedding party, a bride learns that her new husband has cheated on her with one of their guests, deciding to get revenge by threatening to take all his money and making his life a misery. After breaking down in front of all their guests, the husband goes into an emotion shock whilst his wife ends up in tears. The depressing ending however alternates paths and results in the couple slow dancing among the ruined venue and getting risqué which causes all their guests to dissolve from the room

The most effective story in my opinion is the “little Bomb”. It presents the breakdown of a characters welfare over time and shows the motives behind his decision to engage in a terrorist act. It also puts society into question as the company he bombs is free to exploit he citizens of the city for personal gain.

Each of the stories all have one theme in common, revenge. All six stories show how different people are brought to acts of violence based on their different experiences. The first two stories show how past events and the build up of time causes someone to consider violent actions to achieve satisfaction in terms of revenge whilst the second set of two show how a steady life can be broken down rapidly due to an individual action which can spiral out of control. The final two show how manipulation and deception causes a breakdown mentally and physically, in one case leading to death.

The literal translation of the title is Savage Tales. How is this a more appropriate title and how well does it apply to each of the stories in the film?

It fits the film better than ‘Wild Tales’ as the acts of revenge and violence throughout the film are savage, often leading to the deaths of multiple people. The savage and senseless acts of violence can be seen in each individual story, ranging from a hijacking that causes an aviation disaster, the bombing of a company and the brutal murder of a groundsman.

What does the viewer learn about Argentine society from watching the film? Does this accurately reflect the political and social reality?

The viewer gets the impression that Argentine society is dangerous and violent, with a repulsive setting and nature. The film appears to show a corrupt society with a dissatisfied people. Corruption in Argentina remains a serious problem suffering from widespread corruption in the public and private sector. However, it has improved since the films release in 2015, moving from the 107th least corrupt country out of 175 to the 85th.

Are there aesthetic differences between each of the stories? How do the aesthetic support the story being told?

18th Dec 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Wild Thoughts On Wild Tales – Review

Wild Tales (Szifron, 2014) is comprised of 6 different short stories that arent linked by story, but instead are linked by themes of retribution and violence that explore the extremities of human behavior when people come into conflict.

My initial thoughts are very conflicted regarding this film but what i do know is that i found it to be very entertaining and what i would describe as ‘Brilliantly insane!’. Out of the 6 stories in the film i would be inclined to say that ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ story was the superior out of the bunch as it was emotional and yet surprisingly unpredictable in a film where the audience knows that someones going to end up seriously hurt at the end.

Leonardo Sbaraglia in Relatos salvajes (2014)

One of my favourite aspects of the film was sound. It’s more prominent in some scenes but i found it to be captivating and felt it really helped to draw me in to what i was watching and make it appear entirely convincing.

Ricardo Darín in Relatos salvajes (2014)

Despite having the same general themes, all the stories seem entirely unique and fuelled my fascination with the characters, making it virtually impossible to predict the outcome of the action that’s unfolding. This gave me a sense of being overcome with information that i had to process to work out a characters motives and helped me to appreciate what they were feeling in a realistic manner.

In order to improve, i would have liked to see all the stories connect in some way other than the theme of violence as i think that it would have added more context to the stories and made it even more entertaining overall.

SCORE: 8.5/10

17th Dec 20193rd Feb 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth – Pale Man Sequence

Mise-en-scene

The colour palette is dark to show how Ofelia is in the captain’s world when she is confined to her bedroom which looks plain with a window that is partially barred by wooden planks and leaves, showing that she is a prisoner. Ofelia opens up her storybook which changes from blank page to reveal pictures similar to that of Alice in Wonderland with pasterlly colours that make it appear less threatening and foreshadows the pale man in the following encounter. When entering through the newly crafted door in the wall to the lair of the pale man in the fantasy world, a change to a warm colour palette indicates a change from the reality of the Captain’s world to the fantasy world.

Ivana Baquero in El laberinto del fauno (2006)

A vaulted ancient ceiling gives the impression of catacombs under a cathedral with a chessboard-like floor and gothic features which further references to Alice in Wonderland. Ofelia places a chair on the floor so she is able to step down from her room but it is also foreshadows her necessity to use it later to escape and places an oversized sand timer as she steps down which emphasises it’s importance to the plot. The corridor curves around the corner to show how deep the lair is and the windows are small to show she will be unable to get out. She then emerges in a large chamber thats dominated by a large table with a figure at the end of it that resembles the Captain when he had his feast earlier on to show they are both evil. A collection of jellies and overflowing fruit are piled up on the table as a large feast, something that a child would imagine but is unavailable due to the rationing after the war, hinting that she is imagining what she used to have but now can possibly only dream of.

The pale man is a towering figure with large flaps of pale skin that dominate his body as he used to be much larger and fatter because he would eat a large amount of children but he hasn’t eaten for a long time so is now thin and frail, also shown by the murals of his victims that depict him as a creature of legend. The shoes are a visual reference to the concentration camps at Auschwitz during WW2 which resulted in the deaths of thousands of children, linking the pale man to the atrocities of real life events and how his actions result in the deaths of a vast amount of children. The fire that is situated behind the pale man appears to be like the mouth of hell which further utilises diabolic imagery, showing his evil intent.

The key that Ofelia uses to open the hatch to obtain the knife looks ancient as if from a fairy tale with a twig handle, referencing to Ofelia’s natural elements that link her to the rebels. Also, the shiny knife has a golden handle that links to the colour palette seen in the fantasy world. Her temptation to take and eat the grapes is caused by them being almost plum sized that makes them look appealing and references to the forbidden fruit where Eve was tempted to eat fruit from a tree that had been forbidden from her and like Eve. Ofelia’s actions lead to loss.

6th Dec 201923rd Mar 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth – Fig Tree Sequence

Cinematography

When following the horses and Ofelia, the camera pans from right to left indicating that they are venturing on a journey with much more gentle and slower arc movements with Ofelia as if she is lost in a fantasy world is it gives a floaty and dreamy effect compared to the harsh and quick movement of the horses with a warm and bright colour palette that suggests the effects of the Captain have disappeared for the time being as they are in the forest which is the rebels’ territory. The use of long lenses when looking at the soldiers places the audience on the side of the rebels as we can see the action from their perspective whereas shots are closer into Ofelia as she is exploring on her own. As Ofelia arrives at the tree, a wide shot moves into a close-up shot, arcing around her to reveal the tree, tilting up to show the large size of the tree in order to show how small Ofelia is in comparison which also shows its significance. This is followed by a close-up shot of the magical rocks she has been given and tilts up to show her determination for completing the task before a close-up of her shoes follows as they are going to be significant to the story. The camera then dollies back and tilts up to show her enter the tree that uses the frame within a frame technique which focus the audiences attention on her movements down into the tunnel, then panning to the left to show a close-up of the dress waving in the wind, suggesting its going to fall off, creating fear and dread at what could happen if her dress is ruined due to it being a gift from her mother and something she must wear to impress the cold hearted Captain.

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A crab to the right reveals her climbing through the tree and possibly shows that time has passed since we last saw Ofelia begin to undertake her task. The camera is always positioned at Ofelia’s height throughout this sequence in order to show that she is the main point of focus for the audience to see the story progress. The colour palette is till warm as she is surrounded by elements of the fantasy world but is now slightly darker because she is underground but she is also aware of both the dangers she will face in the tree and what she might expect when she returns to the mill and the fear of the Captains reaction to her dirty state forces the fantasy world and the Captain’s world to collide. The Captain steps down from his horse to search for any objects that might indicate signs of rebel activity, shown through a medium shot that focuses on his commanding body language which transitions to a close-up shot so that we see just the Captain and his reaction to his discovery before a medium shot shows the reaction of the soldiers around him awaiting their orders. Following this, the camera then arcs around him so we are left to focus on what he is thinking and feeling as he comes to the conclusion that they are being watched by the rebels from a distance. Another use of a long lens shot once again gives the impression that the audience are watching the Captain from the rebels perspective as he taunts them before returning back to the mill, indicated by the camera movement panning from right to left as the soldiers exit the frame that contrasts the movement from previous when they were headed out on their journey. Despite this, the movement in the next scene appears to differentiate from this pattern as Ofelia moves from left to right and then from right to left whilst still searching for the object of her desires that sent her on this journey. It presents the fact that the environment that she is presently located within is disorientating and unsettling for her as she attempts to move through the tree. Also, when engaging with the toad, a whip pan effectively shows the quick movement of the toads tongue as it grabs the bugs in her hand. Finally, when Ofelia completes her task and emerges from the tree the setting is dark and there has been a complete transformation in colour palette from the warm and bright setting as she headed out on her journey to the fantastical warm colours inside the tree that was tainted by the captains world and the effect he has on Ofelia until it reaches almost complete darkness as she is now in deep trouble, foreshadowing what the effects of her adventure might have on her due to the captains influence.

Sound

The sequence starts with the diegetic sound of horses galloping rapidly away from the mill whilst simultaneously accompanied by the non-diegetic composed score that gives the scene a lively and adventurous tone. Cutting to Ofelia, the sound of the horses can still be heard as she is going on her own adventure at the same time but is lower in the sound mix as we are focusing on her and tells the audience that these two events are happening at the same time. The non-diegetic composed score changes to be more mystical and fairytale-like compared to the sinister and quick paced tone when cutting to the soldiers wHich is a trend throughout this sequence.

Upon arriving at the tree, her narration comes to an end and the soundtrack becomes far more eerie as the tree comes in to frame and is revealed to the audience, showing its dying state and the danger that it will hold for Ofelia. The magic stones she carries in her hand are given exaggerated clanking noises as they come into contact with one another to show their importance to the story. Before entering the tree, she takes her dress off in order to prevent damage to it as she climbs down through the tree, leaving it on a branch. The diegetic sounds of wind flowing through the air implies to the audience that when she emerges from the tree, her dress will have blown away, creating a sense of fear as the audience knows it was a gift from her mother in order to please the Captain. Inside the tree, the score has stopped so the audience can focus on Ofelia’s surroundings as she crawls through the tree with the added diegetic gurgling sound of mud that presents the revolting conditions that she’s in but could also link to her mothers womb and just as the toad is killing the tree from the inside, it is implied her unborn baby brother is doing the same to her mother.

When being taken back to the Captains world, there is an immediate sound of the galloping of horses and the jangling of their holsters before the Captain steps down from his horse to inspect the fire, accompanied by a low crackling sound that indicates people were there not long ago but they have gone now. After realising they are being watched, he walks over in the direction of where he believes them to be and starts shouting into the distance. His voice is elevated to make him sound commanding and authoritative so as to intimidate the rebels. Also, the core is composed the timing of his movements and sounds sinister and jarring, matching his emotions and making him appear like a conductor as a loud bass sound proceeds the downwards movement of his arm. This sinister score continues as they leave until the onlooking rebels come into view, transitioning the non-diegetic score to be heroic and noble, showing that they are our protagonists who are fighting for freedom whilst the fascists are evil.

Cutting back to Ofelia, as she makes her way through the tree, the diegetic croaking of the toad can be heard before it comes into frame, foreshadowing the encounter that is about to take place and builds tension, making the toad seem powerful and oppressive. She is almost drowned out by the malevolent sounds of the toad that seem atypical for a toad, showing its ferocity and how it’s from a world not familiar to the real world. The audience is forewarned about Ofelia’s idea and the destruction of the frog when the non-diegetic composed score starts which is followed by the death of the toad after eating the rocks, with its heart coming apart from the rest of its body whilst it deflates. Exaggerated squelching noises bring the audiences focus on that object which is accompanied by a noise similar to that of a gust of wind as its body slowly deflates. Ofelia picks up the key which gives off an exaggerated metallic sound to show the importance of the key and its shiny and fantastical nature. After emerging from the tree, the sound of thunder shows that time has passed and strikes loudly when she realises that her dress has disappeared and goes to pick it up in the muddy conditions that has ruined it, made all the more prominent by further moist and squelchy sounds.

Editing

A multitude of hidden cuts start off the sequence, making the change in locations flow smoother from one another without it feeling jarring which would fail to immerse the audience in the action. The cuts used for the soldiers are far more rapid than when focusing on Ofelia to show they are travelling with purpose whereas Ofelia is lost in her book in a dream-like state and the slow cuts reflect this as she wanders through the forest. A glance object shot draws attention to the rocks in her hand as they have significance to the story. The scene utilises contiguity editing when she looks up at a branch and then cuts to her hanging her dress on that branch to keep the action interesting and maintain a steady pace. Further use of contiguity editing occurs as it cuts to Ofelia already crawling through the depths of the trees tunnels and a hidden cut is once again used as the camera pans to the right behind a wall in the twisted tunnels, continuing to pan right in the next shot that makes the storytelling smooth and shows that these events are occurring simultaneously.

The match on action technique is used when the Captain dismounts from his horse and lands on the ground. Contiguity editing is used as he departs from the camp as he begins to walk to his horse before cutting to him mounting his horse and leaving. Returning to Ofelia’s journey, shot/reverse shot shows the toad and Ofelia coming face to face with one another and interacting. After successfully defeating the toad and claiming the key, a cut from her holding the key to out side of the tree in the dark shows the change in time so that once again the pace of the film isn’t made slower.

Mise-en-scene

A group of large and powerful looking horses symbolise their strength in the fights against the Republicans whilst the soldiers wear wealthy, smart, gold and blue uniforms whereas the rebels wear dark brown clothing as they are forced to live in the forest in seclusion, hiding in the tress when the soldiers ride out to find them; however, they leave behind a lottery ticket which suggests that they still have hope despite the war being over that the republicans shall regain power and the nationalists be overthrown. At the same time as the soldiers ride out, Ofelia goes out exploring in the forest with a dress that’s appearance is similar to that of the dress in the Alice in Wonderland books which also explores the world of fantasy which is what Ofelia is continuously engrossed in, just as she is lost in her book rather than the real world around her, showing her strong connection to the fantastical than reality and takes of an white overlaying layer of her dress to reveal a pure green top, representative of the style of clothing that the rebels wear, demonstrating how she is going against the oppression of the Captain and the influence of her mother to follow her own path. Various floating objects give the impression that multiple fairy-like creatures are present to indicate the crossing over from the real world to the fantasy. The vast amount of passages in the interior of the tree are dark and twisted, with black CGI bugs that surround her and crawl over her are designed to evoke feelings of disgust from the audience and deliberately make it seem like a disgusting place to be. However, there Is a contrast when there is a transition to the Captain’s world where he is in a large open space that appears more inviting and less threatening almost making the audience want to spend less time focusing on the fig tree because of its grotesque nature. After entering the tree, Ofelia comes across a large toad, representative of the baby living inside her mother and how this uterine imagery shows the effect that the baby is having on her, just as the toad is slowly killing the tree causing it to decay. When the toad dies, the heart is left behind whilst its body deflates, foreshadowing the fate of her mother as she will die and leave the child that she cares for behind. Upon emerging from the tree, the dress is covered in mud as its been blown off in the wind overtime but shows that Ofelia doesn’t care about the materialistic value of such items.

Performance

The soldiers are experienced riders, heading out enthusiastically towards a suspected rebel camp where they intend on completing their mission of wiping out the remaining republican cells that are hiding in the forest. At the same time as they venture out, Ofelia goes on a journey of her own, engrossed in her book and moving slowly through the forest which contrasts woth the rapid and loud movements of the horses. Her narration has taken on a fairy tale style of narration as she discovers what task has been set out to her by the faun. She enters the tree willingly which shows that she isn’t scared of the danger that she could possibly face inside the tree and has a curious nature. When inside the tree, her appearance makes her look vulnerable and is clearly repulsed by her surroundings, breathing heavily to show her fear. The Captain is focused on the task set before him without expressing any emotion towards what he sees whilst the soldiers look at him in expectation of his next orders which they follow without any question. He doesn’t look at any of the soldiers around him when talking as he believes himself o be above all of them whilst his formal nature is contrasted with that of his soldiers who have a less formal physicality and are easily distracted from the task they are undertaking. One soldier takes the bag from the Captan immediately, willing to serve him without hesitation whilst another is silenced by the Captain holding up his hand towards him as he realises they are being watched by the rebels in the trees who he threatens and establishes his superiority over by giving a commanding shout, taunting them as he feels in power and invincible. After giving the order to mount up, all the soldiers leave the camp, leaving the rebels in the trees to watch them leave in the distance as they stand with a heroic stance with his hands clutched on his weapons as a result of his lack of fear to the Captain’s threats.

Sergi López in El laberinto del fauno (2006)

We then see Ofelia still searching in the twisted tree looking aimlessly around covered in bugs but choosing to ignore them as she is focused on the bigger problem set before her. Upon seeing the large toad, she introduces herself as the Princess Moana rather than as Ofelia because she has embraced the fantasy world that has been revealed to her, acting as though she is a princess by appearing outraged rather than scared as she is disgusted by the toad and the conditions that it lives in. When she has an idea on how to kill the toad, she begins to smile and act more confidently as she knows how to complete her task but still remains fearful as she reaches gingerly for the key that the toad leaves behind as she recognises the danger. Exhausted and weary, she emerges from the tree after completing the task and transitions back from being a princess in the fantasy world to the reality of being Ofelia who understands that she will be in deep trouble given the upset look as she locates her ruined and muddy dress that was made for her by her mother.

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4th Dec 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth – First Shaving Sequence

Cinematography

The camera starts by moving backwards to change the shot from a close-up shot to a wide shot when he starts to play his grammaphone and begins to start shaving, where he remains still whilst the camera moves around the room to give the effect of the movements being like a dance with the gentle and slow camera movements reflecting this. The camera then arcs around the Captain as a close-up shot, focusing on the razor before becoming a mirror shot as he shaves which could possibly be interpreted as presenting his commanding nature as the camera has to move around him and be active rather than being static, causing the audience to focus on everything he is doing and so giving him an imperial nature. These movements all appear as one long continuous shot that incorporates a variety of other shots to make the action appear engaging for the audience who are able to fully orientate themselves with the surroundings of the Captain and his own private nature.The sunlight in the background is shown through a blue light rather than white as its the Captains room meaning that the colour palette is affected by his blue and grey colour palette. A slowly tightening wide shot of the Captain shows him polishing his boot with care before changing to a two shot that slowly tightens into both the Captain and Mercedes, who holds the dead rabbits attained from the night prior. Her entrance causes the Captain to stand up to query his burnt coffee and as he does so, the camera pedestals up to haves the effect of making him look taller than her, showing his power over others and accentuating his influence on them.

Sound

The diegetic sound of the grammaphone record playing can be heard after the Captain places the tone arm on the record, producing patriotic sounding music which presents him as a patriarchal nationalist and shows how his manner is different when he is alone and taking time to smartly present himself. The sound of the razor is exaggerated to draw the audiences attention to it as he runs his hand along the blade. The music remains diegetic until the first hidden cut as time has moved forward from when he first started shaving but there is no alteration in the timing of the music so it becomes non-diegetic and from the transition to diegetic polishing of his boots, different diegetic music is playing as time has moved forward and lowers in the sound mix when they start the Captain and Mercedes start talking. Mercedes takes an exaggerated gulp of burnt coffee as she has been ordered to drink, fearing what the Captain’s intentions are whilst he puts a hand on her shoulder, indicated by a stroking noise that shows that she belongs to him, causing her to walk away quite and submissive at his command.

Editing

The sequence starts with a lengthy shot to establish that the Captain is about to shave before the cuts start. This is followed by several hidden cuts that make the scene flow better to the music and uses contiguity editing as his cigarette is smaller after the cut which also demonstrates match on action which demonstrates the passing of time when shaving and polishing his boots and the pacey editing when shaving contrasts the longer shot when he is polishing his boots. A series of shot/reverse shot favours the Captain over Mercedes to show that he is in control whilst the use of a two shot shows the distance between them. Finally, the lengthy frequency of shots show that despite his tactics, she isn’t intimidated by the captains efforts as she is able to ignore them and feels more in control as she has valuable information that he is unaware the she knows of.

Mise-en-scene

The grammaphone demonstrates the Captain’s wealth, showing he is allowed luxuries that others don’t have the privillege or status to attain along with a selection of various grooming tools that are a necessity for maintaining his proud appearance, whilst his multitude of possessions that would have been hard to obtain such as soap and cigarettes shows that he treats himself better than those around him, giving connotations of corruption. However, he polishes his own boots, something which would have traditionally been the responsibility of servants but he takes it upon himself to care for them as he takes pride in his appearance so much that he is reluctant to let others do the job for him.

Performance

The scene starts with the Captain gliding his hand over the tone arm of the grammaphone so that it produces music for his own enjoyment when he is shaving, shown when he picks up his shaving tools and moves over to the mirror. His slow and careful movements appear to match the rhythm of the patriotic music that the grammaphone is playing, giving the impression that this whole routine is like a dance and he takes great pride in how precisely he completes the task. When picking up the knife, he brings it close to his body in order to inspect it, highlighting his attraction to violence in all forms and further portrays him as being evil. Also, the posture he holds when shaving is just as precise as his actions and appears to be standing in a position just as you would for a ‘matador’; an element of Spanish dancing that involves the use of a very straight posture. Upon transitioning to a new location, the Captain polishes his boots whilst speaking with Mercedes, touching her shoulder to make him appear powerful and her weak, doing so slowly as he wants to intimidate her and presents his controlling nature.

3rd Dec 201923rd Mar 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth – The First Bedtime Sequence

Cinematography

The scene starts with a wide shot that highlights Ofelia walking over to her mothers bed, crossing over the floor and climbing in to bed as the camera pans to the right as it follows her slow movement as she walks gingerly across the floor whilst also crabbing to the right via the use of stedicam that gives the shot a dream-like feel to it. The colour palette of the bedroom is juxtaposed by a bright and warm light source from the fire and the cold, dark and dreary blue colours that are coming from the window. This presents how the different worlds collide with the warm fantasy colours from the fireplace reflecting strongly on Ofelia whilst her mother is lit by the dark and grey colours of the Captain’s world from the window which connects her with the fascists and shows how the Captain’s influence has conformed her to living in his world in order to supply for herself and Ofelia. The camera then arcs around the bed to focus on the conversation between Ofelia and Carmen, proceeding to then slowly push into them both to draw the audiences attention into what they are saying and how they are feeling before stopping to rest just before her mothers stomach, allowing the audience to see ofelia rest her head on her mother to speak to her brother. to show this, the camera tilts and pedastols down into the womb at the same time to reveal her unborn brother inside the womb. The following sequence starts when a pan to the right from the womb reveals a flower at the top of a mountain which is made to look significant as the camera rapidly pedastols down whilst tilting upwards.

Transitioning from the bedroom to the Captain’s office is done so in a smooth manner as it combines tow shots that slowly push in with a cut to connect them both. This sequence looks at Captain Vidal fixing his watch, giving a close-up of the watch to show what he is concentrating on which then tilts up, pedastoling down to show the captain from a low angle in order to relect his power. An important part of cinematography is the framing which is clearly used for effct in this sequence. The Captain is always framed in the centre of the frame as he has authority and control whereas the the soldiers and the doctor are either framed to the right or the left as they are never in control throughout this sequence.

When interrogating the farmers, a series of close-ups of the farmers face getting repeatedly bashed in makes the act appear even more violent and jarring to the audience with a static wide shot used when shooting the farmer on the floor, centrally framing the captain to make this act of violence all the more disconcerting for the audience, firmly disavowing any thoughts that he isn’t a maniacal killer. Also, the colour palette has once again changed when outside with the farmers being lit by dark blue and grey colours that reflect that they are under the captain’s control and his actions represent the actions of the fascist regime and his methods of asserting power.

Sound

The sequence starts with a shot that focuses on Ofelia, the digetic crackling of the fire and the chirping of crickets gives a sense of comforting every day sounds which don’t suggest any danger as well as the safety and protection provided by the rustling bed sheets as Ofelia climbs in to bed to join her mother. These digetic sounds are then replaced by a new sinister creaking noise and wind from the open window which only becomes more prominent after Ofelia’s mother mentions that there is nothing sinister and it is merely the wind, putting her mind at ease; the bird sounds also link with the dialogue as her mother mentions that they are from the city and wouldn’t be used to such wildlife in a remote area. Rather than focusing on all the noises simultaneously, the sound perspective is isolated on the thing that the audience are supposed to engage with which is why we can’t hear the fire anymore as we are now concentrating on the creaking noises from the house. At this point, the non digetic composed score rises in the sound mix, linking it to the dialogue that can be heard as it begins to play when they are talking about a fantasy story. To comfort her unborn child, Carmen asks Ofelia to tell him one of her stories in order to calm him and allow her to go to sleep. A transition from the real world to the womb is accompanied by a sinister rumble and the digetic sound of a beating heart and embryonic fluid flowing is now present before these digetic womb sounds lower in the mix and the non-digetic whistling wind can now be heard and the score has increased in volume. Ofelia’s voice sounds more echoey when her narration of the story transitions from the real world to the womb and fantasy world in order to indicate the fact that she is telling a story unlike before when she was speaking to the baby in the real world at a lower tone so she was soothing the baby to stop causing her mother pain so that she could go to sleep. Upon telling the story, the sound of a cricket can be heard fading in before it reaches it’s peak noise when it has landed on the branch because it shows its approach and the digetic gust of wind that moves the branches indicate the speed of the camera when it moves away from them and begins to follow the cricket which gets louder or quieter depending on it’s distance from the camera. A gentle whoosh sound when the cricket lands on the window shows that the barrier between the fantasy world back to the real world has been crossed.

The score get more dramatic and sinister after cutting to the captain whilst Ofelia’s narration continues as she talks about being forgotten and lost which links to the captains personality as he wants to leave a legacy behind and for it to carry on with his son, stopping only when the doctor walks into the room. Emphasising the digetic sounds of the cogs in the watch draw attention to it and represents his own mechanical nature, these digetic sounds have now become more functional rather than having any meaning such as the closing of the watch and the approaching footsteps. The score that accompanied her narration has now stopped but the watch can still be heard as heard ticking as time is a continual motif that is linked to the captain. Before stepping outside, a soundbridge separates the two locations from inside the mill to outside when the wind can be heard increasing in volume before he steps outside. There is still no score as it’s important to concentrate on the conversation and particular sounds such as the digetic sound of the cork and liquid in the bottle which shows it’s significance and once again draws the audiences attention to it before the farmers son is hit with the bottle. The initial hit of the bottle on his nose is far louder than the following hits received to show the brutality of the captain making us fear his nature. The digetic sound of his nose crunching is repeated as the beating progresses and the more it does so, the more the sound of moisture can be heard to represent the blood from his broken nose. Also, as the beating starts a violin can be heard getting louder, screeching violently as the old man is shot ,coming to an abrupt end when they are both left dead. The captain puts his gun back in the holster attached to his uniform which is made more prominent than other sounds to focus attention on Vidal with the digetic sound returning to being functional to show how everything is normal once again.

Editing

The scene utilises continuity editing at the beginning to show a series of events, starting with a match on action shot of Ofelia climbing into bed. One long shot makes the atmosphere more calming and shows how she feels safe alongside her mother without any tension as the camera slowly moves into position, coming to rest before reaching her mothers stomach. an edit is a visual reminder to an audience that what we see isn’t real so the long take draws our attention. A hidden cut transitions from Ofelia talking in the real world to a CGI sequence inside her mothers womb, followed by another hidden cut that transitions from the CGI sequence back to the real world. The dissolve indicates that parallel editing is now being used to show that as the captain is in the process of fixing his watch, Ofelia is telling the story to the baby. Now in the captains room, a glance/object shot of his watch shows his focus on the task of fixing it which is then followed by a glance/object shot after the doctor has entered the room to show his priority is his watch. shot/reverse shot when talking with the doctor shows his distance from those around him as he has isolated himself from others as he views himself as being superior. a j cut transitions the scene from being inside his room to leading his soldiers outside which is slowly paced as its one long shot in order to build the tension as later on the shots are much more frequent and rapid to make it appear more shocking as he is beating the young farmer showing how the rapid sequence of cuts represents his quick change in attitude. shot/reverse shot between the captain and the farmers son that he is brutally beating shows his face being smashed in from a high angle shot to show his vulnerability whereas a low angle shot of the captain shows his power and violence. The scene ends with a lengthy shot after both farmers are dead that signals to the audience that the main action has taken place and the situation has been dissolved.

Mise-en-scene

a carving on the headboard of the bed shares similarity to the Faun’s thawns and the uteurs tree in the forest. Ofelia’s wearing a green jumper which links her to the environment and the Rebles who are hiding in the forest as she isnt a fascist like her step-father. inside the womb the colour palette is orange suggesting warmth as the baby hasnt been exposed to the cruel real world and is also associated with the fantasy world.. the mountain appears miniature whic is what the kingdom is. purple flower represnt royalty. focuses `on the crescent moon as ofelia has to complete the challenges before the full moon. fire si warm and comforting. cogs in the background of the shot and the watch represnt his mechanical nature. gold on the captains uniform is symbolic of wealth and authroity. the doctor wears a lot of brown clothing and has a brown suitcase linking him with with the republicans. he smokes whilst it was difficult to obtain tobacco showing his power and influence. the framers wear more natural colours raising the suspicion of the captain that they are rebels. blue colour palette when interrogating the farmers to hsow they are in cpntrol. physical effects used when smashing his nose to make it more realistic and horrifying.the rabbits show the innocence of the farmers after they have been murdered

Performance

Ofelia walks gingerly across the floor as it’s cold on her feet and she is wary that her mother is tired and lies close to her mother showing that the bond between them is strong and they protect each other and she speaks softly to comfort her. Carmen is rational blaming the creaking noises on the wind whereas Ofelia looks for the fantastical that might cause the noises. She is also clearly disappointed that her mother got married to the Captain but neglects to show any animosity towards her as she cares for her because she is her mother but knows that they are in this situation because of her. Ofelia whispers to her brother because of her kind nature and does so despite the fact that he is causing her mother a lot of pain as she cares for him and begins to tell him a story, where her voice takes on an echoey quality as the story becomes narrated when looking at her mothers womb.

The Captain has a precise and accurate posture, fully uniformed that shows his disciplined and calculating nature whilst gently caring for his watch which contrasts his brutality towards those he views as inferior. he begins by asking about the welfare about his wife which gives the impression that he cares about her but then brushes the matter aside and moves on to asking about his son, stopping his own troops in their task for being there to check on his son. The fact that he rejects the possibility of a daughter shows his attitude towards women, creating tension for the audience as now he has two vulnerable woman staying ta his place of residence who he is likely forgo any protection if it comes down to himself or them. When interrogating the farmers, he disregards their possessions showing his lack of care, implying that he has already made up his mind about what to do with them so when his son bravely backs up his father, doing so in the knowledge that he is surrounded by soldiers because he cares about his father, for which he is brutally beaten and his body is left to drop to the floor that demonstrates the level of the Captain’s callous. This savage nature appears to be a predictable trait of his as the soldier holding one of the farmers moves quickly out the way when he is shot as his violence is predictable. Finally, rather than accepting any blame, he puts blame on his soldiers instead who all stand to attention as they fear him, despite never shouting or raising his voice as he is both collected and sadistic.

2nd Dec 201923rd Mar 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth – Opening Sequence

Cinematography

The opening shot of the sequence crabs from right to left, showing the blood that is dripping from Ofelia’s hand and then tilts anti-clockwise. It is at this point that the audience realises that the blood was moving from undeground to the top of the hole, reminescent of the idea that time is moving backwards. The colour palette is blue and grey, giving it a distinctly cold feel as it’s currently in the captain’s world and his influence which becomes more apparent as the film progresses because the opening shot is blue and grey as the Captain has killed Ofelia. The camera then pushes in to Ofelia’s face and we see her pain, making the audience feel sympathetic towards her. It then moves from a close-up shot to an extreme close-up shot oh her eye, suggesting that we will see the story from her perspective and and reveals the first glimspe of the fantasy world, crabing to the right. The camera moves in to focus on where the princess is going, moving to a frame within a frame then tilting up to reveal the top of the tower where the light suddenly overexposes the frame, washing everything out and creating a transition. A low angle shot is used when looking at the ruins of the cathedral and the camera journeys from left to right to reveal a small grave which is followed by a crane shot that glides over a skull and then a wall to show the vast amount of destruction to the landscape due to the effects of the Civil War. Cut to a close-up of a book which is followed by a cut to a shot of Ofelia reading which frames the character so that the audience understands that she enjoys the idea of the fantastical. Rather than using a steadicam, a handheld camera gives the scene movement on the forest trail. The camera is always at Ofelia’s eye level rather than her mother’s hinting towards the fact that she is the main character. The centre frame of Ofelia cuts to a POV shot of Ofelia looking up at the towering trees in the sky to show what she is looking at but the camera pans down turning the POV shot into a tracking shot as she walks inquisitively down a muddy path. The use of a glance/object shot draws the audiences attention to the rock that she pick up in her hand as it shows how it is of significance to the story with an over the shoulder shot to see what Ofelia sees whilst viewing her reaction to the object. Cut to a follow shot of Ofelia walking towards a mysterious statue which is framed on the left whilst Ofelia is framed on the right, used to effectively show what the soldiers are doing in the background in the centre of the frame. After placing the rock in the hole of the statue, an arc shot reveals her mother and a soldier waiting for her to come down from the small grass mound where the statue is positioned. The deliberate use of a wide angle lens makes the shots appear submersive, making us feel like we are actually following what Ofelia is doing and where she is going. The camera pillars up then focus pulls to transfer the focus from from the cars to the insect that has landed on the tree and arcs around to show the cars exiting the frame whilst still following the insect. Finally, as the convoy disappears up the road, the shot cuts to the captain who is introduced with a close-up shot of his pocket watch before seeing who it belongs to showing that it has major significance to him.

Sound

In the opening sequence, a ‘J – cut’ is used of the digetic sound of wind whistling in the background, giving an ominous tone to build tension and anticipation before the story begins. The non-digetic narration gives exposition and delivers context to the story that is about to be told. The wind continues to be gently heard as the digetic sound of blood dripping draws our attention to it which reveals Ofelia lying injured on the ground. The sounds in the mix contribute to a feeling of melancholy as we see Ofelia dying after being shot. Upon the transition from the reality to the fantasy world, an accompanying ominous bass sound shows that we have changed locations and the non-digetic score attains a lullaby quality similar to something a child would sing and now sounds more mystical rather than ominous as there is a change from death to life and from reality to fantasy. An important factor to note is that a part of the non-digetic score takes on a slight choir-like quality when changing to the fantasy world. This could imply a sense of the unknown as it could be linked to ideas of religion and how different people interpret ideas differently depending on their beliefs which plays a strong part in the film as Ofelia is the only one willing to believe in the fantasy world whilst those around her push ideas that involve what they cant be certain is in the real world aside.

Ariadna Gil and Ivana Baquero in El laberinto del fauno (2006)

The non-diegetic score completely stops when we see ofelia and her mother in the car in order to allow the diegetic dialogue to define the scene as it gives important context to the story. Also, when inside the car and standing outside it, the noise from the engine is far more prominent than when Ofelia begins to walk away later on, showing that we are seeing this event from her perspective rather than the soldiers or her mothers, further indicating that she is important in terms of the upcoming events. Sound is used very selectively throughout thescene, for example, when Ofelia picks up the rock, a exaggerated sound of the rock hitting her foot draws attention to the object before we see it. After picking up the rock, the score starts briefly to show how the rock has significance and then becomes more orchestral with the sound of a deep cello adding to the effect on the audience and showing that something isn’t right when she is overlooking the overgrown statue. A diegetic rumble and flutter builds ominous tension before the impending action occurs, when a large insect emerges from the hole in the statue and stops as it has been revealed to the audience what was causing the noise. The ominous rumble subverts the audiences expectation as it implies that something bad is about to take place, building this tension which causes the audience to fear what might be lurking inside whereas in fact the stopping of the noise shows how there is no imminent threat of danger. The scene still maintains that it is from Ofelia’s perspective due to the diegetic dialogue not increasing after she moves away with her mother back to the car whilst focusing on the insect, meaning the dialogue becomes less distinguishable and the fluttering of the insect and the engine of the car now have a more prominent place in the sound mix, before a J-cut of the ticking of the Captain’s watch indicates that time has passed before they reach their destination.

Editing

To begin with, a set of titles appear at the start and move towards us to draw the audience into the information that is being relayed to us, giving us a greater understanding of the historical context in Spain that will be important for fully understanding the story.

The opening shot is shown in reverse so that it shows the film is not in chronological order, choosing to start at the end instead. As the camera moves in towards her eye, there is a hidden cut in the blackness of her eye that transitions the scene from the real world to the fantasy aswell as from the end of the story to the beginning. When escaping, the princess runs up a large spiraling staircase that leads to the top where she can be free from the fantasy world, where the sunlight is harshly facing down on her and is used to fade to a white transition so that it appears that it is the effect of the sunlight. A dissolve effect indicates the passing of time so the audience knows that there is a large period of time between the two events. The audience are implicitly told that Ofelia is the main character due to the shot/ reverse shot and the edit favouring a longer amount of screen time over her mother when they are conversing in the car. Contunuity editing is used in the next shots when a cut to a shot of the sky shows the focus of her attention, leading to Ofelai stumbling over a rock on the floor where a glance/object shot shows that it has an important meaning in setting up the story. Shots are focalised on what Ofelia is focused on such as when she looks at the statue which is treated like a person as shot/reverse hsot is once again used before the insect emerges and a reaction shot shows what she is thinking in order to affect the way he audience feels about her. At the end of the sequence there is a switch to contiguity editing after the cars are shown to be starting to carry on their journey but changes to the perspective of the Captain who is already seeing them arriving.

Mise-en-scene

The white text on black background is used for exposition, giving necessary context to the audience in the titles that represents the good and evil portrayed in the film whilst the font appears gothic just like you would see on a tombstone. The fantasy world has a grand and cavernous empty space with an exotic storybook landscape similar to Gaudi’s style of architecture such as the Casa Milà in Barcelona, looking ancient as if its crumbling and in need of help. The two sphynx displayed demonstrate an Egyptian style of architecture which shows a mix of landscape that could have been constructed from a childs point of view due to the various types of abstract structures from different parts of the world. The clothing she wears is similar to red riding hood, suggesting that the story is going to be an adventure as the story of red riding hood follows a young girl who ventures into the unknown just like Ofelia. The crumbling cathedral appears as though it was once magnificent, symbolic of the effects of the war. The tree branches have no leaves on them as the princess has died because of the exposure to sunlight whilst the skull found in the cathedral represents the death present in the film. Ofelia reads a book that appears to show a young girl just like in Peter Pan who is surrounded by fairies and shows the fantasy world crossing into reality which looks worn that suggests its comforting to her. She is wearing the same coat as her mother as its a layer of protection that the Captain gives to them but her mother is wearing blue shirt, showing the Captain has tainted her whereas Ofelia is wearing a green shirt, showing her connection to nature is being covered up by the influence of her mother and the Captain. The statue that Ofelia discovers faces inwards, away from the others so that only Ofelia is able to see the fantasy world, looking ancient with a ruined face which is a typical motif of toro’s films.She is also surrounded by seeds and flowers floating around her that represent the fairies that she will have a connection to over the course of the film. The name Ofelia in Greek means ‘help’, linking to her caring nature and foreshadows her actions in the film when she attempts to help her mothers child and the faun. Finally, the watch that the captain is holding is another reference to fantasy as it references to Alice in Wonderland which also follows the adventures of a young girl just like Ofelia.

Performance

The rapid breathing of Ofelia shows the fear she has as she knows that she is about to die, suffering in great pain from the wound caused by the Captain shooting her and it’s because of this look of pain that the audience can sympathise with her. After transitioning to the fantasy world, the young princess running quickly in the distance shows the desperation that she has to flee her world and explore above the surface which contrasts Ofelia, who when first introduced, appears lifeless and immobile after being shot and then engrossed in her book about the world that the princess attempts to flee from. Ofelia’s strong connection to the fantasy world is first shown when she strokes a page that depicts a picture of fairies that surround a young girl, implying that she feels close to them, wanting to involve herself with fantasy rather than the real world. Ofelia’s mother, Carmen, appears disappointed as she doesn’t believe in fairy tales whilst Ofelia is more interested in the contents of her book than her mother speaking, who is cradling her stomach to draw attention to her pregnancy, making her weary and ill which foreshadows her death later. Ofelia looks emotionless at her mother’s pain, disliking the fact that her mother is pregnant as she doesn’t agree with her marrying the Captain, choosing to instead wander off in curiosity and shows her habit of not doing what she is told. Upon finding an insect, Ofelia briefly jumps backwards in shock as it reveals itself but is unafraid of it, letting her curiosity take over her rather than consider any possible danger she might be putting herself in. After her mother tells her to move away from the statue, guiding her back to the car, her mother puts her arm around her for support whereas Ofelia doesn’t touch her mother as she took her away from the fantasy world and brought her back into the real world. Finally, the Captain immediately shows his sternous when we first see him, clutching his watch in his dark black gloves, showing he is disciplined and more concerned in the time than with the safety of his wife.

25th Nov 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pan’s Labyrinth Contextualised

1. Synopsis

Real world: It is 1944 and General Francisco Franco is the fascist ruler of Spain. Captain Vidal and his falangist troops have taken control of a mill in the mountains of Spain. They stockpile food there, giving the civilians barely enough to eat so that they can’t afford to give any supplies to the leftist guerrillas in the woods. Vidal has married Carmen, who bares his child. He sends for her because he wants to be present at the birth of his son. Vidal has little time for Carmen’s young bookish daughter, Ofelia.

Unbeknownst to Vidal, his housekeeper (Mercedes) has a brother who leads the rebel maquis. She and Doctor Ferriero secretly supply the guerrillas.

The communist rebels retake the mill shortly after Carmen dies during childbirth. As the falangists are overrun, Ofelia kidnaps the newly born child. Vidal follows her into a nearby labyrinth where he shoots the girl and reclaims the baby. He is confronted at the entrance of the labyrinth by Mercedes and a large group of maquis. Pedro (Mercedes’ brother) shoots Vidal under the right eye and kills him. A weeping Mercedes cradles Ofelia. Ofelia dies.

Fantasy world: Princess Moanna sneaks out from the underworld to become mortal and dies. Her spirit passes through countless humans. The king of the underworld vows to wait for Moanna’s return. A fairy leads Ofelia to a labyrinth where a faun tells her she is a reincarnation of Princess Moanna and that she needs to return to the underworld.

However, to make sure that her magical spirit is still intact, Ofelia has to successfully perform three tasks — obtain a key from the belly of a giant toad (that is killing a tree where enchanted creatures rest); use the key to retrieve an item from a locked door guarded by a demon (the Pale Man); spill the blood of an innocent into the portal of the underworld.

The faun instructs her in sorcery. Ofelia is distracted because of her sick mother and fails the second task. Ofelia passes the final test by sacrificing her life instead of her brother’s.

Princess Moanna returns to the underworld where she rules with “justice and a kind heart”.

2. When and where do the events in the film take place? The period featured, 1944 in Spain, is intriguing to the non-specialist as it is clearly a period where the rumblings from the Spanish Civil War are still being felt despite the war itself having finished in 1939. The main setting of the film is a military outpost in Catalonia surrounded by a rural area.

3. Briefly, what was the Spanish Civil War about? When and how did it start and end? The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 and ended in 1939 and started due to economic hardship experienced in the 1920’s and 30’s caused by the Great Depression. It caused a large amount of unrest and an election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government. Fascist and extreme-right forces responded with an army mutiny and coup attempt that turned into a civil war.

The final Republican offensive stalled at the Ebro River in 1938. Within months Barcelona would fall, and in 1939, some 200,000 Nationalist troops entered Madrid unopposed. The city had endured a siege of nearly two-and-a-half years, and its residents were in no condition to resist. The following day the remnant of the Republican government surrendered; Franco would establish himself as dictator and remain in power until his death on November 20, 1975.

4. Which of the factions does the Captain represent? Why is he stationed at the mill? The Captain represents both the Nationalist and Spanish factions lead by General Franco. He is stationed at the mill in order to find the last remaining cells of Republican rebels hiding in the mountains.

5. Which of the factions do the people in the mountains represent? Why are they hiding? They represent the Republican rebels who are hiding out in the mountains after the fascists were victorious in the civil war. They are hiding from Vidal and the Nationalists who are looking for the last remaining Republicans groups.

6. Which of the factions do the political and religious elite support? Why? A local priest, attending a meal held by the Captain, dismisses the possible pain felt by the rebels on theological grounds. His representation lacks humanity and is clearly a barbed commentary on an out of touch and complicit Catholic church: “God has already saved their souls. What happens to their bodies hardly matters to him.” Del Toro uses the cinematic conceit of a banquet to heighten the corruption of the local middle classes and ruling elite.

Despite his criticisms of Catholicism as a dogma and institution it is clear that Del Toro admires the spirituality of his native religion — in a later film Crimson Peak, a ghost story, he commented on his belief in ghosts. The scene above is strongly redolent of a stylised heaven with its church-like setting, a rosary window flooded with golden light and a grey bearded father figure flanked by a doe-eyed mother. It is all rather stuffy and formal befitting a royal court perhaps but not a fairy domain. That said it is clearly Ofelia’s (Princess Moanna’s) ‘happy place’ – she has come home to a loving warm family and an adoring people.

Political and religious elites supported the nationalist faction because of the power and wealth of the catholic church and due to the fact that the majority of political parties agreed to the Spanish Coup in 1936 including the falangists. The priest shown at the feast also shows that the church are in support of the nationalists. There were only small groups of republican Catholics called the Basques but they were only made up of small groups.

7. Which of the factions do the peasants support? Why? They were supporters of the Republicans as the right-wing government had attacked workers’ and peasants’ living standards with wages being cut in half. Republicans were also eradicated from the military, universities and the public sector so when the civil war broke out between the far left and right, they supported the right.

8. What role do women play in the two factions? The representation of women is evidence of the social problems women faced in this patriarchal and macho era.

Parties worked to encourage women in their ranks, but women would be locked out of other opportunities and their concerns were ignored on both the Nationalist and Republican sides. Women for the first time would be involved in in combat on the front and Republican women had the choice to be actively involved in fighting fascism.

In the film, Mercedes takes a lead role in fighting the fascists but she doesn’t actually fight on the front line and acts more as a spy and a messenger for the Republicans. Carmen on the other hand doesn’t see any fighting and instead raises her child and cares for unborn son. Other women in the film include those who work to clean and cook for the men who are actively fighting.

9. How is food an important symbol in the film? Part of the fascists propaganda was that no family will go without bread and water which is why rationing out the food became so important so that all families could survive and be given provisions equally. However, it’s also used as a symbol if wealth. The fascists clearly deprive food from poorer families and instead hold great banquets with vast amounts of food that could feed large groups of people but instead choose to feed only powerful and influential people showing the level of corruption. The food also becomes one of the main focus points of the film as the Republicans blow up the stores where they are kept, exposing how the Nationalists are blinded by greed and power so they are unable to spot Republican sympathisers in their ranks.

10. How is poverty an important theme in the film? Poverty was caused by the great depression towards the end of the 1920’s and through the 1930’s causing the civil war to begin in 1936. This saw a shift from a leftist dictatorship to a fascist dictatorship which the majority of labourers despised. The film shows the differences in standards of living for the Republicans and Nationalists as Captain Vidal is safe in the mill with large resources of food,medicine and tobacco whilst the Republicans are forced to hide in the mountains and get medicine from a doctor who steals from the fascists.

11. How is time an important theme in the film? Time is a recurring motif throughout the film. The captain has a pocket watch that he continually attempts to repair, foreshadowing his death at the end of the film as he is running out of time and he can’t change or fix what his fate will be. Time is also important to Ofelia as she has to complete 3 tasks before the end of the full moon.

12. How is disobedience an important theme in the film? Ofelia is very disobedient, especially when concerning her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, who shows no affection towards her and is only concerned with the welfare of her mother but it soon becomes clear that the reason for this is because he wants a strong son and doesn’t care about the consequences of what might happen to Ofelia’s mother. It’s because of her disobedience that she discovers the labyrinth and is lead on 3 tasks in order to restore her place as the princess. She goes against her mothers wish to take care of the dress she made for her and later on leaves with Mercedes to find her republican brother before being stopped by her stepfather. This leads to her stealing her stepfather’s child and upon seeking out the Faun, she goes against his order to hand over the child, resulting in the Faun telling her that she can never become a princess again and being shot by Captain Vidal, leading to her death.

13. How and in what ways does Pan’s Labyrinth draw on fairy tale and fantasy tropes and archetypes? One of the main themes in the film is the fantasy world with the idea that a young girl will believe what others deem to be the impossible as she enjoys reading fairy tale books and doesn’t fully understand the impact that the Spanish Civil War will have on her life. Other films that draw on the same fantasy ideas include ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’. The influence from Alice in Wonderland is the use of imagery such as the dress, the large feasts, the continual reference to clocks and the time and the hole. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ both have the leading female protagonist wearing red shoes. In ‘Oz’, the shoes are able to take Dorothy home and the red shoes that Ofelia wears at the end of the film after she dies symbolises how she is home and draws on the idea of fate. Other archetypes include the mandrake root also seen in ‘Harry Potter’ and the fairies which are present in Disney films such as Tinkerbell in ‘Peter Pan’. All these films have elements of fantasy in them and they all involve a child being taken away from somewhere where they feel like an outcast and taking them to a fantasy world where they feel like they really belong.

14. How is fascism portrayed in the film? The negative depiction of Franco’s fascist forces is clearly intended to be extended to the imaginative poverty of fascism in general — in contrast to the more benign and sensitive (although hardly democratic) fairy kingdom. A more realist political representation is that of the guerrillas who are presented as resourceful and determined and egalitarian. Mercedes’ love of children (Ofelia and her baby brother) suggests a tenderness and a celebration of all things childish — indeed, unlike Ofelia’s weak and dismissive mother, Mercedes gives advice on the handling of fauns.

The Fascists are depicted as being tyrannical and oppressive whilst the Republicans are presented as being caring and loyal. The Nationalists are most prominently highlighted in taking part in violent actions and engulfing themselves with large amounts of food and other luxuries that many starving people are without. They are shown to torture, kill and show a lack of care towards women. The Republicans on the other hand don’t engage in torture and are trying to survive whilst still fighting for what they believe to be right. We mainly see their perspective from Mercedes who takes care of Ofelia, attempting to get her out of danger like a mother but Vidal puts her in direct danger. Also, when the Republicans attack and breach the mill, the first thing they are shown doing is searching for Ofelia showing the amount of care they have, becoming even more apparent later on when Mercedes weeps over the dead body Ofelia.

15. How does Guillermo del Toro employ uterine imagery in the film? Uterine imagery is something that relates to the uterus. It can be first seen in the film when Ofelia’s baby brother can be seen inside her mothers womb. It’s also present through the representation of the uterus in the dead tree where deep inside there is a huge toad that dies after being poisoned, leaving behind a huge heart with a key. This idea represents Carmen and how she is in agony because of her unborn child who is killing her and when she gives birth, she dies, leaving behind her child who becomes an important part of Ofelia’s task to unlock the gateway to becoming a princess with a blood sacrifice. This is an extension of Ofelia trying to help her mother and her viewing her baby brother as a sickness and the toad exploding is her own attempt to birth the boy to end her mums pain

16. How are maternal instincts presented in the film? Maternal instincts are mainly shown through the characters Mercedes and Ofelia which is ironic because Carmen is the only mother in the film. Mercedes takes care of Ofelia when her mother is ill with Ofelia’s unborn brother. She actively attempts to get her out of trouble when she ruins her dress and tries to leave with her after her mother dies and she is in danger. When Mercedes leaves, Ofelia takes over as having the maternal instincts as she attempts to escape with her little brother to take him to safety and when the Faun asks for his blood, she rejects the opportunity to become a princess and makes her brother the priority, dieing because of this. Ofelia is also given a mandrake root which has to be nurtured and cared for to end her mums sickness and shows her beginning to care for her brother as she cant’t see him behind the pain he is causing her mother and so begins to see him something other than pain by looking after him and using the milk and her own blood for passion.

17. What is the significance of faces and shaving in the film? Faces are an important part of identity which is clearly an important part of Captain Vidal’s status as he continually shaves his face to show he takes pride in his appearance and cares about other people’s perception of him. A major turning point in the film then is when he gets his mouth cut which he attempts to hide from the view of those around him more out of embarrassment than in pain. Not only would it be humiliating for him to be wounded but even more so to be wounded by a Republican woman as he would view himself as a proud and honourable fighter and this would taint the outlook that other people have on him. Also, in an interview, Director Guillermo del Toro spoke about giving the captain his facial injury to show the audience that the captain is a monster now both mentally and physically. Injuries to the face is a common theme that appears in del Toro films such as in ‘The Devils Backbone’ for the ghost Santi who is shown to have cracked his head with blood constantly spilling out.

18. What is the significance of flowers in the film? They are significant as they represent the idea of rebirth for Ofelia at the end of the film as when she dies, flowers are used to show that she still live on despite living in a fantasy world. They also represent life and how eventually that life must die as nothing lasts forever seen through the character Ofelia.

19. How does Guillermo del Toro operate a ‘one for them, one for me’ filmmaking policy? He operates a ‘one for them, one for me’ policy by directing a film thay will bring money in for the production company resulting in him being able to make a film that he wants to after the commercial success of the bigger Hollywood blockbuster. One example of this was ‘Pacific Rim’ (2013) and ‘Shape of Water’ (2018). He did ‘Pacific Rim’ for the studios and ‘Shape of Water’ for himself.

20. How far is Pan’s Labyrinth representative of Guillermo del Toro’s oeuvre? Del Toro as an effective and idiosyncratic fantasy/horror auteur is evidenced in his earlier films such as Cronos (1993), The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Crimson Peak (2015) as well as in his much more mainstream Hollywood work such as Hellboy (2004) and Pacific Rim (2013).

Del Toro’s films typically deal with the supernatural. In Del Toro’s worlds, rather than the moststers and supernatural elements of the film being the threat, he shows that the only real monsters are human. In ‘The Devil”s Backbone’ the dead ghost boy is supposed to be the supernatural and threatening but in fact del Toro shows that the real enemy is Jacinto rather than the ghost. Similarly in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’, one interpretation of the film is that Ofelia actually died and there was no fantasy world, instead she dreamt it to come to terms with the pain she feels in real life such as losing her dad her and having him replaced with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal.

21. How did the critical reception of The Devil’s Backbone influence the production of Pan’s Labyrinth? In an interview with the guardian he said “We got rave reviews, lots of applause, people telling me “great movie!” Then landed in Los Angeles and then September 11 happened. That was when I realised that anything, and whatever I had to say about brutality and innocence had just changed. It changed so much over the course of the year that I had to make a movie that structurally echoed Devil’s Backbone, and that you could watch back to back. Devil’s Backbone is the boy’s movie. It’s the brother movie. But Pan’s Labyrinth is the sister movie, the female energy to that other one. I wanted to make it because fascism is definitely a male concern and a boy’s game, so I wanted to oppose that with an 11-year-old girl’s universe.”

22. Was the film financially successful? Released in the UK by Optimum. Premiered at Cannes in May 2006 to great acclaim. Co–produced by a number of Spanish, Mexican and American production companies the $19 million budget is reflected in the complex production design, period dressing and relatively large cast. The eventual worldwide box office of $83.3 million was seen as a triumph making profit of over 441.5%.

It became the highest grossing Spanish-language picture ever released and moved successfully into the top 10 list, expanding to more than 1,100 screens. It’s so successful because it brings in Spanish speaking audiences whilst still appealing to non-Spanish speaking countries and showing that high end motion pictures can be made on far smaller budgets.

23. Why is the year of release of The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth significant? ‘Devil’s Backbone’ was released in 2003 whilst ‘Pan’s Labyrinth was released in 2006, spread 3 years apart much like how the Spanish Cuvil War lasted for almost 3 years from 1936-39.

24. Why no CGI? The key technology used in this film is the animatronics and green screen work as discussed above and its effective creation of a magical-realist production design.

Costume design is so important for film and especially for these type of fantasy films in order to make the creatures appear even more realistic including their movements such as with the Faun otherwise the audience will be taken out of the story and lose interest.

25. Why did GdT write the DVD subtitles himself? Del Toro wrote the subtitles for Pan’s Labyrinth himself after becoming disillusioned with the translation of The Devil’s Backbone — a film also with the Spanish Civil War as its backdrop and the informal prequel to Pan’s Labyrinth.

Del Toro no longer trusts translators after the work on The devils backbone and said in an interview that they were for the “thinking impaired” and “incredibly bad”. He also did this so “it doesn’t feel like your watching a subtitled film”.

20th Nov 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

Pans Labyrinth (del Toro, 2006)

In Spain 1944, the young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie yet captivating fantasy world, finding a collection of magical creatures that set her numerous tasks to complete in order to save her mother and become the young princess she is destined to be.

The film is the second part of an incomplete trilogy and combines themes of loss, tragedy and joy.

Del Toro has described how the tree, Ofelia’s gateway to the fantasy world, is shaped to match not just the fawn’s curled horns, but also female fallopian tubes..!

One of my favourite aspects of this film is it’s aesthetic looks and representation. The beginning of the film shows a luscious and warm forest but is paralleled later on in the film with a dark and mirky atmosphere as the effects of the war closes in on them. The vibrant colours perfectly reflect the current state of the story or the chosen character creating a much wider and deeper meaning behind the emotions and feelings at that point in time, creating effects of tension and despair. The representation is so subtle and yet so brilliant in this movie, for example the slow decay of the tree and the toad that lives inside that dies, leaving only it’s beating heart, representing Ofelia’s mother and the baby which eventually kills her.

Doug Jones in El laberinto del fauno (2006)

Production design is possibly one of the best of all time due to the creative and realistic characters that bring the story to life and allow the audience to be forced into it, feeling every emotion and sharing the pain of every hardship.

12th Nov 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

The Devil’s Backbone (del Toro, 2001)

El espinazo del diablo (2001) — **Casares:** What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.

After Carlos – a 12 year old boy is left at an orphanage when his father died in the Spanish civil war, he discovers that the orphanage is haunted and must uncover the secrets that lie beneath.

The film manages to simultaneously be both haunting and tragic at the same time and combines many individual stories of guilt, war and death. Despite fitting the horror category (a genre which i have typically shyed away from), it transcends a far deeper meaning than merely being a scary story and shows the value of teamwork and companionship in a deeply troubled time.

Fernando Tielve in El espinazo del diablo (2001)

One of the main things that I loved about the film was the ending. It leaves the audience questioning what they just saw, attempting to figure out what was real and what wasn’t. Something that I perhaps would improve is the presence and meaning of the bomb. Whilst I recognise that the bomb held some significance in the timeline of the story, I think that it could have had a better place in the film.

Eduardo Noriega in El espinazo del diablo (2001)

13th Oct 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

City of God: Key Elements of Film Form

Editing in City of God

The film starts with brief shots of a knife being sharpened, which then fades to black and then reappears. This use of a transition suggests there has been a change in time meaning these snapshots show that the knife is sharpening across the course of the meal and not just in the duration the audience views it on screen. its also an effective use of the kuleshov effect, where something that is clearly a threatening and violent object, is made to appear as merely a toll for chopping vegetables because of the transitions between music and food, shown only briefly which adds to the chaos.

One of the main focuses in the opening scene is the chicken and its used as a device to draw the audience into the story, portrayed by shots that cut to and from the animal. Another use of the kuleshov effect is when the chicken looks as though it is directly reacting to the other dead chickens, showing emotion as one shot shows a chicken being cut and the following focuses on the chicken and how it appears to react. Match on action is used frequently in this scene, such as the shots showing various actions which are jumbled up to show a disorientating atmosphere and later on when a police car nearly runs over the chicken.

Focusing the attention on Lil’ Ze, shot pace is shorter, longer and far less frequent when the camera shows Lil’ Ze, but shorter when on background characters. This choice was made consciously as it shows his character in far greater detail. Some examples of this include when he pushes over a man and looks down at him, doing a glance shot that shows his point of view and then shows several shots of him laughing in order to show that he is doing so maniacally because these shots draw out the time he is present on screen. Furthermore, slow motion is used primarily on Lil’ Ze when he confronts Rocket, emphasising the effect that it has on Rocket and implies the relationship between them.

Before this however, we are first introduced to Rocket when the film cuts from the frantic chase to he and a friend are talking to show a brief moment of calm whilst the audience are fully aware of the chase that is still happening, a technique known as parallel editing. Moving back to the confrontation, the camera focuses on Rocket and the frame rates slow down to show his reaction and the effect that it has on him.

Finally, a cross fade shows the transition of time whilst establishing a link between the time periods, ending the scene and demonstrating to the audience what is going to happen without giving too much information away, leaving them intrigued and wanting more.

Mise-en-scène

An aspect that is vital for a successful film, Mise-en-scène creates the overall appearance of a movie and if done correctly, will draw an audience in to the settings that characters have been placed.

The scene starts with the opening titles which have been coloured in blue, contrasting with the dull setting of the rest of the film, followed by short, rapid shots of a knife sharpening that’s followed by snapshots of a happy and lively atmosphere which is unfamiliar to a Western audience and heavily contrasts the tone of the film. The situation starts off as being quite comic but soon changes to concrete buildings with broken items lying around and dirty clothing suggesting a poverty stricken area that is very chaotic.

There are a large number of indicators present that show the city is uncared for and in chaos such as: the scrap metal that’s left in the streets next to electricity cables that have been unearthed and left dangling, windows with bars on them due to fear and high amount of violence and sign for City of God being partially destroyed which seems to be a metaphor for the destruction that the gang warfare has caused.

After the transition, the colour palette changes and is a lot brighter, distinguishing the change in time periods and the clothing changes also as the children in the 1960’s wear shorts but later on they are wearing jeans, showing the movement from the innocence of childhood and the harsh reality of adulthood. An important thing to note during the transition is that the setting changes from police vs gang to team vs team in a game of football with kids, reflecting how corruption runs deep through the city of Rio Di Janeiro.

Sound

Sound plays a key role in this scene, with much of the characters’ emotions being reflected through the sound that has been chosen.

To begin with there is a lack of sound as the titles appear to create anticipation, followed by quiet wind that slowly builds up to create tension. Digetic music is used to show a happy atmosphere despite the death of the chickens and can be heard during the opening shots but later on when Rocket is talking, it’s contrasted by calmness, showing the violence in the city being crossed with innocence. This mix of sounds heavily implies that the the city is chaotic and overcrowded. The majority of the chase can be seen through the perspective of the chicken which is shown by excentuated noises that would normally be quiter than they actually are. Also, the chicken appears to cluck in time with the music, giving a sense of focus to all the chaos and a loud beating of drums and music adds to the tension.

During Rockets confrontation with Lil’ Ze, a loud pulsing noise is present almost like a heartbeat to show his fear when faced with both the gang and the police. Finally, the scene transition from modern day to the 1960’s is portrayed by a loud ticking noise that gets increasingly louder until it stops when the full transition has taken place almost like a clock.

Cinematography

‘City of God’ was filmed on 16mm film which produces a grainy texture because it’s cheaper than other alternatives and more portable with twice as many sequences. Also, the opening sequence was filmed on a long focal length in order to make the viewer feel oppressed becuase of the lack of background that’s visible and was filmed through a series of close- up and extreme close- up shots rather than an establishing shot so the audience feel disorientated.

The majority of shots used are low angle shots to make everything seem clostraphobic with harsh direct light illuminating everything to make the setting appear unfriendly. There is commonly a lot of disoreintating handheld shots during the chicken chase which adds to the chaos but is then replaced by steadicam tracking shots with wider shots as the chicken escapes which gives the viewer a better understanding of the setting. Lil’ Ze is the only person we actually see with a close- up in the gang and at a low angle to show his dominance.

Focusing on the confrontation between the gang and the police where Rocket is placed at the centre of the action, when the police initially arrive a shallow depth of field isnt used as it’s important to see what happening in the background but when the camera dollys close to Rocket, our attention is focused on him as it moves from a wide shot to a close- up whilst introducing a shallow depth of field and making effective use of a ‘Whip arc shot’ which focuses the attention on the the character in the frame. When he is first introduced, the shots are steady to distinguish between the calm setting of him talking and the chaotic action of the chicken chase. The symmetrically framed shots further focus the audiences attention on the characters who are in the centre frame.

Finally, after the transition In time periods, the colour grading is far warmer and the camera is higher up with more use of wide shots which show the sky something which reflects how the city us consumed by violence and chaos.

Performance

In regards to performance, the scene opens with a lot of cooking and dancing which shows the characters happiness but later on, everyone has guns, specifically the children which highlights how the city is out of control. Also, all the children swear which clearly shows that there are no good role models to follow which has corrupted them.

Focusing on Lil’ Ze, he orders the kids around with a devious smile and maniacal laughter showing he enjoys his power and when he pushes a man to the ground, it shows his rapid turn to violence and how he isnt to be messed around with, striking fear into others. He tells Rocket to get the chicken and Rocket dies exactly as be is told which further showing the power that he holds and tells people not to leave when the police arrive demonstrating his control.

Turning the attention to Rocket, he walks alongside his friend close together, representing his they have a strong friendship but there is a lack of subtitles at selective moments which has been deliberately done in order to secluded the viewer from the conversation they are having. The film is often interjected by narration from Rocket who seems to have a tone of resignation that there has always been crime. When these two characters confront each other, Rockets facial expression shows how threatened he feels by Lil’ Ze which contrasts the gangs expression as they are happy and having a good time.

7th Oct 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

City of God: Contexts of Film

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Here we have numerous questions thats purpose is to assist the viewer in their understanding of the film. In this case, the questions are about ‘City of God’ (Mereilles, 2002) and are based on the four different areas of context: Social, Political, Cultural, and Institutional.

One example of such a question includes ‘What is the City of God’? The answer to which would be a West Zone neighbourhood Rio de Janeiro.

6th Oct 20198th Jan 2020 aaronbrucesfilmstudiesblog Component 2a: Global Film

In Praise Of ‘City Of God’

“The sun is for everyone, the beach is for those who deserve it.” – Rocket

In Rio De Janeiro during the 1970’s, two young men go on very different paths. Rocket, a budding photographer and Li’ l Ze, a drug dealer who uses Rocket to increase his fame as a violent turf war engulfs the neighbourhood against his rival ‘Knockout Ned’.

It earned the nomination for four Oscars, including the category for ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Editing’. ‘City Of God’ (Meirelles, 2002) is based of a true story where violence and corruption roams freely about the streets.

The film follows a very unique style of narrative structure that is quite uncommon. Typically, some films will either follow a structure where the story is shown in chronological order or will divert back to before the opening scene of the film in order to show the audience how and why something happened. However, ‘City Of God’ completely ignores all narrative stereotypes which helps to make it incredibly engaging.

Instead, it presents a character or group of characters and their individual story one at a time. What makes this work is the fact that all stories are connected to the other stories so the audience is able to see different situations from different perspectives, and view them occuring at different times and in different ways. The first scene of the film shows Li l’ Ze and a group of young street criminals chasing a chicken, passing under a police car and stopping in front of Rocket, this is the first time these characters are introduced to us. In actuality, this scene is shown to us at the beginning but narratively it takes place at the end of the film, where we begin to understand what is happening as there have been seperate stories highlighting key aspects of the lives of people such as Rocket, Li l’ Ze, and ‘Knockout Ned’. This now means that the audience knows that all there lives are connected in some way and the police car is there for a purpose, something that we wouldn’t have understood as smoothly if we hadn’t been able to see events occur relative to the time of the character who’s story the audience are viewing.

Fernando Meirelles

In an interview, Meirelles states how, “In City of God, I shot the first part only with wide-angle, short focal length lenses: 40mm, 32mm. You see these little rows of houses and a lot of skyline, always the skyline, because the people who moved there thought they had order and a horizon in their lives. As the story goes on, I begin to use longer focal length lenses and, little by little, to stop explaining the space”. “Eventually we are using really long lenses and never show the skyline or the perspectives. All the streets have something blocking the end.You never see the way out. It’s as if they were trapped.” He wants to make the viewer feel oppressed too just as the characters who live their feel and the people they are based on. Meirelles is a Brazilian director who has worked on films such as ‘The Constant Gardener’ and ‘City of Men’.

Rocket is caught between a gang and the police, shown in this full shot

One of my favourite shots in the film would have to be one of the very first shots we actually see. The camera focuses on Rocket as he approaches the chicken facing towards the gang, as the police arrive to confront them, the camera pans around following his eye movement as he looks back at the approaching convoy of police and then repeats this camera movement to show him looking back at the gang, presenting the location of the confrontation in a 360° pan from left to right. Meirelles uses a full shot to begin with that shows the character what the characters actions are, then he zooms the focus onto a medium close- up shot in order to show build up climax when its revealed to the audience that there is about to be a shootout and Rocket is stuck between both of them. The reason for this chosen technique i would ascribe to the fact that the director wants to allow the audience to gain a full of view of the setting in which an important scene is about to take place, also giving a sense of tension and unease because of these sharp camera movements and how everything appears to be closing around the characters that can be seen, shown by the use of the sharp transition from a full shot to a medium close- up shot and then transitioning back once again.