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How is gender represented in Pan’s Labyrinth?

  • Gold colour palette for fantasy/Ofelia
  • Shadowy blue for Faun/labyrinth

During the King toad scene, the camera wipes between Ofelia’s and Captain Vidal’s story, creating binary opposition between the two.

One form of opposition is how Vidal is in the wide-open woods, whereas Ofelia is in the cramped dark space. She is represented with a high angle shot showing her confidence has grown.

Ofelia is represented in this Alice in Wonderland dress which she then abandons before going into the tree. This shows how she challenges the typical female stereotype, as she gets dirty.  Vidal is in this neat, sharp suit upon a horse keeping it clean, showing he is in control over everyone, however, it also shows his cowardness almost. The smaller space that Ofelia is in shows how her world is a lot smaller, her fantasy world is one of her own, whereas Vidal is in a much bigger more open space

City of God first response

I’d give this film an 8.5/10

Despite the disturbing nature of this film, I loved how eye opening it was to how a lot of other people have to live. The cinematography too was outstanding with unique handheld shots that whip the camera around to help create this sense of chaos.

My memorable scene is when Benny was murdered. The editing coincided with the rave lights, creating the sense of a lower frame rate and the shot cutting from one place to another rapidly, emphasising an unsettled feeling, preparing the tone for Benny’s death.

My iconic shot is when Lil’Dice is revealed to be going on a murder spree, with a horrific smile and laugh on his face during the montage of murders. This helps cement the type of person Lil’Ze is, and why he is so feared throughout the movie because of his twisted mindset. This twisted mindset also runs through the movie and helps audience understand the type of world these people live in.

NEA Plan

  1. I will be using elements of a narrator combined with a non-linear narrative. I find this as a good way to explore a characters emotions and story from different points in their life. This can also leave a plot twist to be added at the end which adds context to all other scenes creating a whole new mood which I find very interesting.
  2. I will be taking inspiration from La Jatee, with elements of Pasternak. The parts I like about La Jatee is the enigmas created from the beginning, and only being solved by the end, while the character takes a journey through time exploring his life. The parts I will be taking from Pasternak is the exploration and evolution of this brand new secretive character, and the dramatic shift in tone at the end.

SCRIPT:

Pan’s labyrinth First Response

I would give the film an 8/10

A memorable scene for me is when we first see Vidal torture a man for suspicion that he is a member of the opposing side. We see him stone faced as he bludgeons his nose again and again while the father of the victim watches. This is when we see how heartless and evil this man is. The editing is a shot reverse shot between the victim and Vidal, and this emphasises how unfazed Vidal is by his own brutal actions. The sound also helps as all we here is the disturbing impact sound between the bottle and nose through out.

The iconic image that I have chosen is is the introduction of the pale man creature. This creature is undoubtable the most terrifying thing in the whole movie, and sets the tone for what this movie represents, a horrific journey.

Realist vs Expressive

Realism – Where there is an unaltered truth being portrayed, that can be seen in real life. Examples include:

  • This is England – When Combo and his gang first appear, everyone is terrified, and the camera is put amongst the others at eye level, making us feel like we’re really there.
  • Moonlight – Where Chiron at the start of the film is being chased by boys who are bullying him, it doesn’t use any abstract shots, but lets us see his unaltered fear.
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Expressionism – Where abstract and surreal shots are used to highlight certain ideas or themes. Examples include:

  • Trainspotting – when Renton is entering the Mother Superior’s room which is lit with primarily red and then sinks into the floor as he goes deeper into his high.
  • Strike: – When the villains are being linked with their animal counterparts to show their personality, such as this person being linked with an owl as he mimics the blinking.

Eisenstein’s merges the two to great extent during intellectual montages, usually putting a expressionist shot before a realist shot to convey a new meaning.

  • Here the bears are chained up and being used like puppets for amusement (expressionist shot) and this is followed by the workers grouping together to fight the power (realist shot). This creates the new sense that the workers are just like the bears, chained and used with no regard for well being.
  • Here there is is a cow being mindlessly and brutally slaughtered (expressionist shot) and this is followed by a mass pile of civilians, dead, shot down by the army (realist shot). This gives the new sense that for the army to murder these people is just like killing livestock.

Narrative devices – Definitions

Narration: a voice over that doesn’t directly link to what’s happening in the scene, but comes from the perspective of who is telling the story.

Backstory: A scene portraying a story that led up to the main story.

Flashback/Flashforward: Flashback, when a character reminisces on an event in the past. Flashforward, revealing what is to happen that the characters are unaware of.

Linear/non-linear narrative: Linear, following the events of a narrative in a chronological order. Non-linear, telling the events out of order

Ellipsis: Where a portion of the story is taken out to either condense the story, or allow the viewer to fill in the gap.

Framing device: Portrayed at the beginning and end of a film, a separate story that’s able to put the main story in-between, like a narration that starts and ends a story, framing the story.

Cliff-hanger/Closed endings: Cliff-hanger, an open ending that doesn’t tie up all of the questions proposed earlier in the film. Closed endings tie up any loose ends, and doesn’t leave the viewer with wanting to know more.

Macguffin: An idea, person or thing that drives the story, and puts the characters in motion.

Foreshadowing: Where an event yet to come is hinted at by someone or something.

Alignment/POV: The way we are positioned to view a character and feel sympathy towards them

Causality: cause and effect between events, as one point in a film will naturally lead to another, as to not create confusion.

In Media Res: Literally meaning in the middle of things, a film will start in the middle of action with no explanation to hook the audience into the film.

Subplot/Master plot: Subplot, a side story that accompanies the main story, but is not vital to the progression of the film. Master plot is the main story, and contains events that drive the narrative forwards.

Narrative hook: used at the start of a film to hook the viewers attention with something unusual or exciting.

Plot twist: an unexpected occurrence or change in plot that takes the story into a different direction previously expected.