Men – Men in Pan’s Labyrinth are represented as the more powerful and authoritative figures, though it’s shown in different levels as the Captain, who obviously has the most power being the leader, he is more emotionless and has a more cold persona, compared to the Doctor, who has a warm and caring persona, and he is seen as one of the hero’s in the film, helping the mother and getting involved in helping look after the opposition.

Women – Women in Pan’s Labyrinth are seen as inferior to the men. They appear to have less power, such as Ofelia, being forced to live with the father of her mother’s unborn baby, Mercedes who the Captain uses to do his household jobs, and Ofelia’s mother, who is weak because of the pregnancy so is unable to do anything to help her and Ofelia escape. Ofelia and Mercedes both break the rules so end up holding more power than the males because of their role in their society. Like Ofelia is the princess of the fantasy world, and Mercedes holds lots of power for the opposition as she is on both sides so knows more information that can be used to help them.

narrative & genre

The genre I have chosen for my NEA film project is a mix of horror and drama. I have chosen this genre because it creates effect to my final film and opens up the variations of ideas I can use in my film.

I will be using a non-linear narrative in my film by using flashbacks to illustrate change in time and dramatize the scene. For this I was influenced by the flashbacks featured in La Jette.

short film influences

In terms of inspiration for the narrative of my film, I have been inspired by ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ and the plot twist featured in the film. Also as mentioned, I was inspired by La Jatte and the flashbacks featured in that.

In terms of cinematic influences, I was influenced by cinematography of the shot captured as the broom goes to look for the bride and he exists the kitchen door, with the camera being placed on the door itself, it creates a more personal shot as it incorporates point of view, adding a sense of realism. I will be using this technique in my film, when my character goes to open the washing machine door and the camera is placed on the door itself so we see it properly open.

Sound
The sound in Pan’s Labyrinth consists of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound being the fantasy world sound effects, like the Mandrake rout when it was crying, the faun and the labyrinth itself. The non-diegetic sound consists of the Foley sound effects and just typical sound effects used, like the footsteps and the killings that the Captain does, the stitching of the Captains face, the scarping of the knife that Mercedes does to the Captain, etc. I think the scene in the beginning in which Carmen and Ofelia are on the way to the Captain in the car, is a very significant scene, because its all quiet and contrasts to the havoc where the Captain lives. It impacts the spectator because the audience can sense the tension in the car from the calmness, until they get a bad sign from Carmen getting sick from the baby, this foregrounds the bad events that will occur at the Captains place.

Mise-en-scene
Pan’s Labyrinth is filled with many various aspects of mise-en-scene. The costumes are very impactful, for example Ofelia’s dress that her mother made her created a meaningful scene, in which she gets her dress and shoes dirty, making her mother very disappointed. Her clothes are used to showcase Ofelia being an innocent child, interested in fairy-tale stories and fantasy worlds, which makes the audience feel more for her when she is forced to grow out of it because of her new living situation with the Captain. The lighting in the film add onto the effect of the mise-en-scene because the fantasy world, involves lots of colours that have been darkened my mysterious lighting in order to make them appear more ominous and show the difference to the natural world. The set design of the fantasy world also creates effect and impacts the spectator, because it is made much bigger and better and more fake in a way because its all magic. The props also contribute to the film because they show the time in which the film was portrayed. An example of the props impacting the spectator is the grape scene, in which Ofelia eats the grapes in the fantasy world that she is instructed not to eat. The audience feels tension as Ofelia tries to run and escape the mysterious creature with eyes on their hands. The grapes are significant because they suggest that if she changes or takes things from the fantasy world, there will be consequences.

Cinematography
The film uses a lot of handheld camera footage to capture the realism of the natural world in the film, so when it switches to the fantasy world we see a change and more wider shots to showcase the unnatural elements. The film also uses a lot of close ups to show each characters thoughts, emotions and feelings towards what happens in the scenes. The wider shots, often are used in this film to establish the setting and characters in the scene.

Editing
The editing in Pan’s Labyrinth consists of bright and vivid elements featured in the fantasy world, while in the regular world it switches back to dark and gloomy colours. The scenes throughout the film are usually cut quite regularly by switching between the characters when speaking, then showing reactions of the characters too. One particular scene that comes to mind when speaking about the editing is the scene where Ofelia goes into the tree and leaves her dress on the branch, and when she comes out there is nothing on the branch, on purpose to create panic and distress, the editing is the camera panning round the woods as Ofelia is looking round for her dress.

For me I think this was an iconic shot because it shows the fantasy world Ofelia has been in her mind throughout the whole film, and it brings it to life, allowing her to reunite with her mother again, and meet her father.

Score – I would give this film an 9/10 because I thought the plot was really creative and I was very drawn into it a lot of the time, however I do think some of the ending was a bit unexplained (as in what happened to Mercedes and the others) which is why I rated it less than a 10.

Memorable scene

This scene was the most memorable for me because this was the moment Ofelia and us as the audience realised how powerful the magic was and how it affected the mother.

 The film that inspired me on my one-minute film is The Rats/ Las Ratas. What I really liked about The Rats was the narrative and how they constructed the links between the waitress and the customer, whom she’s always wanted to get revenge on for killing her close family member. I think the use of space in this short film was very creative and inspired me to use a wide range of location shots, such as in the film they were switching from the diner to the kitchen quite frequently. I would say what I didn’t like about the film was the abrupt ending as it left us with a lot of unanswered questions, however it is very similar to what I have done in my script as I have left quite a few elements out, such as why Alice seems to dislike Kacy and now has her called ‘Traitor’ on her phone, as well as the abrupt ending I used here too, as I thought it would leave a more open ending, that leads the audience to be able to answer the questions, similar to what ‘The Rats’ had done. Another element that inspired my one-minute short film was the cinematography. I think Las Ratas had excellent costumes, make up and set design, that all connected to the way the shots were taken and the space and location used, creates quite an altogether creative space, to add more plot and narrative to it and so on. In the narrative structure, I took the rat poisoning and the betrayal element of this short film, as I thought it was very well displayed and creates quite a good plot to work with. I also think the lighting of the scenes in Las Ratas was creative, as it kind of linked to the issues faced during the scene and the characters portrayed within them. For example, they used a green tinted kitchen with big bright lighting to create a sort of clinical effect and give the impression that the cook was mentally ill and sick, perhaps sick of her job as displayed in the short film. I also liked how they used composition; the interior design was put together well, as it seems relaxing and aesthetic, turning into a gruesome murder scene at the end.  

*Alice looks at picture frame of her and Kacy and looks hurt*  

*Alice Texts Kacy who is named ‘TRAITOR’ on her phone and says ‘hey wanna come round and we can cook something?’ then looks up and camera focuses on packet labelled rat poison with Alice blurred in the background behind the rat poison* 

*Camera change to Kacy’s home, she gets a message on her phone and looks at it, camera shows the message on her phone* 

*Kacy replies ‘yes I’ll be round in 10’, gets up, puts coat on and leaves the house* 

*Camera shows keys that Kacy grabs zoomed in* 

*Alice watches out her window for Kacy, Kacy approaches Alice’s door and Alice runs and opens door before Kacy even knocks* 

Kacy – *appears shocked door opened so quick* You must be eager to cook.  

Alice – Of course *Alice invites her in, Kacy throws her coat down and throws shoes off* *Alice picks it up as she follows her in, looking annoyed* 

*Alice and Kacy are cooking, while Alice scowls at her* 

Alice – hey can you, uh … *tries to think of an excuse to get Kacy away for a second* Can you check the door, I think I heard someone knocking. 

Kacy – *looks suspicious* yeah sure *leaves kitchen* 

*Alice grabs rat poison and throws it in the mixture on the stove* 

*Kacy opens the door and sees no one, then shrugs and closes door* 

*Alice hears door so quickly puts back poison* 

Kacy – You need your hearing checked. There was no one there. 

Alice – Yeah, was probably next door, my mistake.  

*Later, Alice plates up, she watches carefully to make sure Kacy eats the poisoned food* 

Kacy – *eating it quickly* This is delicious. I’ve really outdone myself. You not eating any? 

Alice – We both made that Kacy, and yeah, I am eating it. *Picks up fork and pretends to start on the pasta* 

*Just when Alice is about to eat the pasta, Kacy’s head drops, the camera is focusing on Kacy’s head dropping and then the camera focuses on Alice smiling in the background* 

Scene ​	Location​	Description​	Date ​	Time to film​	Cast ​	Props​	Equipment​
1​	Kitchen Island ​	Alice texts Kacy to come over​	01.05.2024​	5 min​	Faye Cotillard​	Picture Frame, Phone, Rat poison (fake)​	Steadicam​Tripod​iPhone 11​
2​	Spare Room​	Kacy texts her back​	01.05.2024​	5 min​	Fleur Stoten​	Phone, Coat, keys ​	Steadicam ​Tripod​iPhone 11​
3​	Hallway and Front Porch​	Alice opens door for Kacy​	01.05.2024​	10 min​	Faye Cotillard​Fleur Stoten​	Coat​	Steadicam​Tripod​iPhone 11​
4​	Kitchen stove​	They cook food, Kacy leaves to check door​	01.05.2024​	10 min​	Faye Cotillard​Fleur Stoten​	Cooking ingredients, Rat poison (fake)​	Steadicam​Tripod​iPhone 11​
5​	Front Porch​	Kacy checks outside ​	01.05.2024​	5 min​	Fleur Stoten​	None​	Steadicam​iPhone 11​
6​	Kitchen side​	Kacy comes back ​	01.05.2024​	10 min​	Faye Cotillard​Fleur Stoten​	Rat poison (fake)​	Steadicam​iPhone 11​
7​	Dining Table​	Kacy eats food, then passes out​	01.05.2024​	20 min ​	Faye Cotillard ​Fleur Stoten​	Plates, serving spoon, pasta, fork​	Steadicam ​Tripod​iPhone 11 ​

Joker ~ 33.40 to 36.44 ~ summary of scene: Arthur shoots the guy on the subway stairs then runs away to a nearby public bathroom and he starts dancing, once he gets this confidence, he storms to his apartment building and knocks on the door of his new neighbour and starts kissing her.

Moonlight ~ 1.18.52 to 1.21.30 ~ summary of scene: Black appears at the diner that Kevin works at and waits for him to notice that it’s him. Kevin then realises its Chiron (Black).

Moonlight – Growing up without a responsible guardian in a rough neighbourhood in which you get bullied in, can influence bad behaviours and those bad behaviours reflect on the persons background and their authoritative figures that they followed growing up.

Joker – Members of society who turn into serial killers/psychopaths are typically those who have come from a difficult parental situation and have grown up being looked down upon in society.