Pans Labyrinth Questions
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
With close reference to one scene from "Pan's Labyrinth", explore how cinematography and mise-en-scene create meaning.
Dead line: 14th October
Word Count: 1000
Printed copy and post on blogs
https://youtu.be/HhSjnG5pMOY
"Pan's Labyrinth" is a 2006 dark fantasy drama and is written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro which takes place in Spain 1944, the words Pan's Labyrinth mean the labyrinth of the faun which already created a fantasy themed introduction. Due to the film being written by Guillermo Del Toro, the difference between fact and fantasy is almost more important than the meaning of the film itself, he shows us a world of magic and power but teaches us the reality of the situation will always be the same.
https://youtu.be/HhSjnG5pMOY
Vidal is represented as a vial, cruel and overall evil human being in "Pan's Labyrinth", he even goes as far to torture and kill people for answers to create fear and worry in his audience. The mise-en-scene in the frame opens with Vidal washing his hands of blood, from there the camera slowly pans upright to a close-up of his facial reaction positioned to the right hand side of the screen. His reaction is stone cold showing us that this is just part of his life and he's use to doing this, it also shows the audience how monsterous this man has to be to be so calm when washing his hands of blood. The blood is also the brightest thing on screen highlighting the suffering the world has in the film, it can represent the cruel reality and the end of a living creature. His wedding ring is also shown, showing us even though he's a family man he still lives a life of torture. Guillermo Del Toro also uses pathetic fallacy to effect the mood of the situation to add atmosphere to the story, for example in this shot, he uses diegetic rain to create a dull and dreary set to show us the harsh reality.
In the same shot "the Doctor" is positoned in centre screen, drawing the audiences focus to him as soon as he walks to his loaction on set, to the left of the frame we have a mid-shot of a soldier/ lieutenant holding an umbrella prop, even though the doctor seems to be the main focus in this part of the shot he's positioned lower down than both the other two characters on set, the intention of this is to show the hierarchy of power, representing the doctor as week and having less power than Vidal and Vidal being shown as the leader and powerful.
In the next scene we cut to another mid-shot of the Doctor rummaging through his tool box, the duration of the shot is six seconds and has similarities to the previous scene of Vidal, only this time it created the theme of fixing instead of breaking. It shows the difference between good and evil, and helping vs suffering. The mise-en-scene in the frame shows the doctors medical props and then once again we pan up-right to a reaction shot, only this time the character looks more worried and frantic, showing us not only the difference between the Doctor and Vidal but there moral reaction between the suffering of another.
After this, we are presented with a low angle two people establishing medium long shot, with the focus being on the Doctor, Vidal and the target being the recently tortured stuttering man. We have some backlight to create a gloomy atmosphere and demonstrate the power of the enemy, it also shows the divide between the two fighting sides. The open doors in this scene are also quite peculiar, they're positioned slightly left to the centre of the screen and take up quite a lot of the frame, it does this so we're aware of it, however not taking are focus away from the target character, because it wants us to be aware of the characters and meaning behind it. It represents the doors to freedom and shows us the escape from this harsh world being guarded by the brual Vidal and his army. The whole scene is in complete silence except from the monotony diegetic rain in the background creating atmospheric tension within the scene. The duration of the scene is nine seconds and contains two pans, one slow pan-up showing the Doctor walking towards the stuttering man, and the seconds pan, being a slow and steady pan-down re-positioning us to the original low angle camera placement when the Doctor crouches down, it does this to put us in the position of the doctor, as if it's his perspective, because as of now we are following his story and his aspect of the situation.
In the next shot, we are shown an over the shoulder shot of the Doctor inspecting the tortured mans broken hands, although it may seem he's the focal point of the shot, Guillermo Del Toro intentionally
wants us to be drawn and focus on the blood in the frame, as well as this it's the only primary colour on screen drawing are attention onto it creating a dark atmosphere. During this shot the sound is limited to the tortureded mans dying moans and the non-diegetic sound of his bones crunching as his hand moves, this is to make us feel empathy for the broken man and reminds us of the tragic life these characters live in. The shot only last six seconds before moving onto a low angle two people close-up of the broken hand moving across frame, in the shot we are shown a much clearer version of the dying mans face, his make-up makes him look half dead and beat up to represent him as one of Vidals victims.
In conclution we are continuously shown the difference between good vs evil, and the painful reality of what people such as Vidal can do without feeling sympathy for others.
Word Count: 1000
Printed copy and post on blogs
https://youtu.be/HhSjnG5pMOY
"Pan's Labyrinth" is a 2006 dark fantasy drama and is written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro which takes place in Spain 1944, the words Pan's Labyrinth mean the labyrinth of the faun which already created a fantasy themed introduction. Due to the film being written by Guillermo Del Toro, the difference between fact and fantasy is almost more important than the meaning of the film itself, he shows us a world of magic and power but teaches us the reality of the situation will always be the same.
https://youtu.be/HhSjnG5pMOY Vidal is represented as a vial, cruel and overall evil human being in "Pan's Labyrinth", he even goes as far to torture and kill people for answers to create fear and worry in his audience. The mise-en-scene in the frame opens with Vidal washing his hands of blood, from there the camera slowly pans upright to a close-up of his facial reaction positioned to the right hand side of the screen. His reaction is stone cold showing us that this is just part of his life and he's use to doing this, it also shows the audience how monsterous this man has to be to be so calm when washing his hands of blood. The blood is also the brightest thing on screen highlighting the suffering the world has in the film, it can represent the cruel reality and the end of a living creature. His wedding ring is also shown, showing us even though he's a family man he still lives a life of torture. Guillermo Del Toro also uses pathetic fallacy to effect the mood of the situation to add atmosphere to the story, for example in this shot, he uses diegetic rain to create a dull and dreary set to show us the harsh reality.
In the same shot "the Doctor" is positoned in centre screen, drawing the audiences focus to him as soon as he walks to his loaction on set, to the left of the frame we have a mid-shot of a soldier/ lieutenant holding an umbrella prop, even though the doctor seems to be the main focus in this part of the shot he's positioned lower down than both the other two characters on set, the intention of this is to show the hierarchy of power, representing the doctor as week and having less power than Vidal and Vidal being shown as the leader and powerful.
After this, we are presented with a low angle two people establishing medium long shot, with the focus being on the Doctor, Vidal and the target being the recently tortured stuttering man. We have some backlight to create a gloomy atmosphere and demonstrate the power of the enemy, it also shows the divide between the two fighting sides. The open doors in this scene are also quite peculiar, they're positioned slightly left to the centre of the screen and take up quite a lot of the frame, it does this so we're aware of it, however not taking are focus away from the target character, because it wants us to be aware of the characters and meaning behind it. It represents the doors to freedom and shows us the escape from this harsh world being guarded by the brual Vidal and his army. The whole scene is in complete silence except from the monotony diegetic rain in the background creating atmospheric tension within the scene. The duration of the scene is nine seconds and contains two pans, one slow pan-up showing the Doctor walking towards the stuttering man, and the seconds pan, being a slow and steady pan-down re-positioning us to the original low angle camera placement when the Doctor crouches down, it does this to put us in the position of the doctor, as if it's his perspective, because as of now we are following his story and his aspect of the situation.
In the next shot, we are shown an over the shoulder shot of the Doctor inspecting the tortured mans broken hands, although it may seem he's the focal point of the shot, Guillermo Del Toro intentionally
wants us to be drawn and focus on the blood in the frame, as well as this it's the only primary colour on screen drawing are attention onto it creating a dark atmosphere. During this shot the sound is limited to the tortureded mans dying moans and the non-diegetic sound of his bones crunching as his hand moves, this is to make us feel empathy for the broken man and reminds us of the tragic life these characters live in. The shot only last six seconds before moving onto a low angle two people close-up of the broken hand moving across frame, in the shot we are shown a much clearer version of the dying mans face, his make-up makes him look half dead and beat up to represent him as one of Vidals victims.
In conclution we are continuously shown the difference between good vs evil, and the painful reality of what people such as Vidal can do without feeling sympathy for others.
Comments
Post a Comment