Location 1# – Harve des pas beach (dusk) Opening scene before montage + Maybe additional footage for montages (1)

Location #2 – Maija’s dad’s house (birds eye of Sienna) into animation (1)

Location #3 – Studio (interrogation room) talking to camera (act1) + reading letter (act3) (1)

Location #4 – The Byre – sound montage + ‘it was time for a change’ + Maddie entering/exiting in act 3, cycles off (1)

Location #5 – Virgin Mary statue outside highlands (1)

Location #6 – Playground (Fort regent) – Maddie arriving + flashback of bff’s on swings, interaction with God + running away (1-sunset 2-daytime)

Location #7 – Parade playground (just for roundabout) (1)

Location #8 – St Mary country Lane, NIGHT cycling WITH SIRENS – cut to DAY cycling (2)

Location #9 – St Peter’s Valley (Grave scene 1 (day)) delivering letter + Grave (at night) final shot. (2)

Equipment needed	Time of day	Location	Scene#
Tripod	Dusk	Harve des Pas	1
Tripod	Day	Maija’s dad’s house	2
Tripod, projector, mic	N/A	Studio	5
Tripod, gimble, BIKE, mic	Day	The Byre	6+10
Tripod, gimble	Day	Highlands road	7
Tripod, lighting equip. gimble, mic	Sunset	Playground (Fort Regent)	8+9
Gimble	Sunset	Playground (parade)	9
Tripod, BIKE, torch, sirens?	Night	St Mary country lane	12
Tripod, BIKE	Day	St Mary country lane	11
Tripod, BIKE	Day	St. Peter’s Valley (field)	11
Tripod,	Night	St. Peter’s Valley (field)	13
		ANIMATION	3
		MONTAGE	4

Scene	date of filming	Props/costume
1	Friday 13th July (evening)
2	Friday 13th July (day)	Background of animation crayon drawing/ crayons
5	Wednesday 17th July	Projector + diff costume (future)
6	Sunday 14th July	Polaroid of bffs, oodie?
7	Wednesday 17th July	Headphones
8	summer	Annie’s costume – robe?
9	summer
10	Sunday 14th July	Bike + backpack?
11	Sunday 14th July	Grave – red envelope, framed picture of bffs, flowers?
12	Sunday 14th July	(Bike + backpack?) torch, sirens?
13	Sunday 14th July	Grave – cracked framed picture of bffs, decayed flowers?

Blocking –  the movement and positioning of actors – working out the details of an actor’s movements in relation to the camera. 

Staging – the placement and movement of objects in the frame, as well as the camera in relation to your performance blocking.

‘A film is intensified by its aesthetic.’ Discuss this statement in relation to a key sequence from each of the films you have studied. [40] 

Both Del Toro and Meirelles utilize aesthetics in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and City of God (2002) in a way that works to tell each respective story visually, through the meticulously thought-out use of camera angles, lighting, colour grading, and set design. What both directors manage to achieve in their usage of these elements lies within their ability to engage a spectator, and ‘intensify’ the film’s mood, storyline or theme. Without thinking of a film’s aesthetic, and how to successfully visualize it, the film is at risk of failing, or even worse, having no ulterior motive, and therefore becomes a pointless, seen-before film.  

Guillermo del Toro is an expert at creating films that are reflective of his auteur trademarks, that being the theme of magic-realism, and dark subject matters. One might argue that due to his professional use of aesthetics in all his films, and how they manage to intensify and drive the story, his films are therefore vastly recognizable to a spectator as having been directed by Del Toro himself.  

Similarly, Fernando Meirelles immerses the spectator in his film City of God (2002) through the use of aesthetics. Not only does this contribute to the verisimilitude of the film, but it also positions the spectator ‘within’ the action of the film, encouraging them to align more specifically with the protagonist of the story, and, as a result, unquestionably intensifying the mood and impact of the film as a whole. 

One scene that comes to mind when considering the impact of aesthetics used by Del Toro in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), is that of the pale man scene. Taking place in the middle of the film, del toro specifically utilizes colour grading to elicit particular emotions and tones in this scene. Cleverly, the tempting table of food is warmly lit, therefore providing a sense of invitation and desire, aligning with what Ophelia must’ve felt looking at it, as we are. The orange-y red colour grading is conative of happiness and joy, del toro does this to illustrate the deceiving nature of the magic-fantasy world that Ophelia finds herself in. And how, pointed out by the twist in the film’s falling action, appearance isn’t always reflective of something’s reality; a warmly lit, joyous banquet of food is, in fact, a trap. Without the use of colour grading in this scene, the table of food wouldn’t appear as enticing as it did, therefore eliminating any sense of verisimilitude within Ophelia’s mistake of eating some of it, even when warned not to. Instead, the spectator relates to Ophelia’s uncontrollable desire to indulge because they themselves are tempted with the spectacular appearance of the food and would perhaps do the same if in Ophelia’s circumstances. Additionally, the colour grading of this scene defines it as a signpost in the movie, whereas the film takes on a blue-ish, black-ish appearance most of the time, this scene contrasts that and therefore stands out in the eyes of a spectator as being one of the most dangerous situations Ophelia finds herself in in her fantasy world, and maybe hinting towards worse things to come. 

Similarly, Meirelles utilizes aesthetics to intensify the impact of City of God (2002), specifically through the use of visual motifs, throughout the film but most noticeably in the scene of Bennie’s murder. Meirelles uses the recurring symbol of a camera to help drive the plot in a way that is visually engaging and interesting to a spectator. The camera serves many purposes in telling the story of City of God, one being to tell the truth surrounding the violence and injustice of the area of Brazil, and another being living proof of a life not led by violence, but passion to do the right thing. The film also experiments with visual style, sometimes in the shape of using still photography to signpost an event or character, this, connecting with Rocket’s story ark of finding his passion outside of violence with photography, manages to tie many separate stories together and intensifying the impact of the film. In the moments before Bennie’s death, Rocket is gifted a camera from Bennie before he plans to leave the slums of Brazil, because of this, and altercation occurs between Bennie and Lil ‘Ze that gives the opportunity of a discrete gun shot that manages to kill Bennie, all because of a camera. What Meirelles manages to convey through his use a visual motif’s is the concept of cause and effect, how in a world run by violence and competition within the drug scene, even the littlest altercation can have a cumulative effect and lead to a devastating outcome, therefore intensifying how the message behind the movie, being anti-violence, is implicated, and ensuring that this message resonates to a wider audience and is less-likely to be forgotten, or looked-over. 

Although both films manage to use aesthetics to their advantage in driving the plot of a film and encouraging an ulterior message hidden behind the elements of what make up a ‘good movie’, I believe that Del Toro uses aesthetics and tonal elements, such as pathos, in Pan’s Labyrinth in a way that is incomparable to many, or any, film I’ve analyses before. How Meirelles uses aesthetics is extremely effective in interesting and immersing a spectator in the world and environment of Brazil, although Del Toro manages to not only communicate different emotions within the movie, but also using the visual ‘look’ of the film to define itself, deservingly, into the theme of magic-realism, and therefore inserting itself on the highly admirable discovery of Del Toro and his auteur-worthy films. 

Locations used:

Act 1

actors needed:

Sophie Leslie, Theodora Valkerou

Scene 1: Gorey village houses, brick wall. – or St. Peters ruin

Montage 1 – Various locations around Jersey, maybe St Peters valley or sand dunes.

Overhead shot of little girl sat at desk – Maija’s house

End of Animation – playground

Montage carries on – Interrogation room – (studio)

Day 1 – My room ,

Act 2

Character needed:

Sophie, Theodora, Sophie’s mum,

either Maija or Skyla as ‘walker’

Walking up Hautlieu hill, in front of Highlands – statue of Virgin Mary.

Play Ground – either parade park, or Fort regent park ‘boqeejuep’

Act 3

Characters needed:

Sophie, ‘police’ men.

Outside My house, dolly shot

Country lane (on the way to school, or cow sign if easier) SUNNY

Grave – on P walk – near field on bench

Country Lane NIGHT

Interrogation room – studio

Country Lane NIGHT

Grave – on P walk – near field on bench

The end

Sound

City of God utilises sound in this scene, as his prayers are used as narration as he joins the church and abandons his gang lifestyle. This contrast with his sinful lifestyle, and shows his sudden salvation to God and a lifestyle of faith grants him the luck of not being shot by the police, thus extenuating the tragic and dangerous reality of living a life crime.

Mise-en-Scene

Fernando Meirelles crafts this scene with the use of mise-en-scene, it aids the storytelling whilst communicating time passing. The different elements that make up the room tells the spectator a lot of information about the owner of the drug empire at that time, such as their success rate and cumulative decline in safety and credibility.

Cinematography

The use of cinematography, specifically lighting in this scene communicates an array of ideas to the spectator. The first being, a connection to a main motif present in the film; photography. The use of strobe lighting gives the sense of the whole scene being captured in snapshots of a camera, similar to the one Rocket is gifted, from Benny, and then stolen, from lil’ Ze. Not only does this further a significant motif of taking pictures, this also amplifies the suspense in this scene for the spectator, the lighting matches the tone of the scene, and builds tension when things go south.

Editing

The cyclical structure of City of God’s narrative is a clear example of where editing is used to create meaning in the film. The movie begins in what is called ‘en media-ris’, where the scene starts in the middle of a key event. The film then picks up this narrative strand in the falling action of the film, it provides context within the scene, and shows how this scene is in a way one of the most important; it is where the day the war between both business comes to a violent end. Rocket is significantly places between both sides; one being the lifestyle of a criminal and drug dealer, and the other the police, representing a life of morality and ethics, this could be argued to be the motive or ‘message’ of City of God; the culture of gangs and violence being something that is a last resort for poverty or even something that is brought on by the idea of ‘masculinity’ and proving yourself.

1. 10/10
2. Most memorable scene:

The use of split screen in this scene made it the most memorable scene in City of God for me, as it brought together the calm and calculated nature of carrot alongside the violence and shock factor he brought to the screen.

3. Iconic shot

this shot sums up the film for me as it depicts how Rocket is caught in the middle of the war and violence, both physically and allegorically, Rocket is forced into the violence of the slums just by living there.