Pans Labyrinth characters

Directed and written by Guilermo Del Toro- who says the story was influenced by fairy tales and stories, he was inspired by the Symbolist movement in the 19th century for his original sketches of the mythical characters,taking nature and the human body and combining it.

Carmen ( the mother)

She wants a secure future and cares about her family, and has married someone of authority that could protect her. She seems like she could be forced into the marriage or at least isnt too keen on the Captain. She wants Ofelia to like the Captain to impress him and she just wants a happy family, but she doesnt believe in fairytales and is stubborn about Ofelia reading them- she thinks shes too old for them.

Captain Vidal (husband)

Part of the army and hold the most authority on the mill. Marrying carmen for their son together as she is pregnant withe her baby, although he doesn’t really care forher or ofelia, just his child. He is selfish and cold hearted and doesnt have good intentions.

Ofelia

Lonely and is unhappy about moving in with the Captain- she doesn’t like him and doesnt want him to be part of her family. She is curious and imaginative, and believes in fairtytales despite her mother telling her not to. Being an only child she is probably quite independent which could also link to her curiousity.

Film sequence

Baby driver is directed by Edgar Wright, and is a musical comedy action film. It follows the main character, Baby, who is a getaway driver and he uses music as escape from his childhood trauma, every heist has a different song playing from Baby’s playlist which brings the soundtrack of the film into the spotlight. Being the only consistent member of the gangs in the heists, he is trusted by the man in charge of them all, though breaks that trust when is caught recording parts of their conversation which he innocently uses to make remixes- continuing his passion for music. He meets Deborah and plans to leave with her but one last heist gets him caught up.

This movie is interesting as Edgar wright created the plot around the soundtrack- so many of the scenes had the song chosen first and the action was based around it. In this scene ive chosen this is clear as the words sync with the action- for example the lyrics hidden in parts of the set and the instrumental parts of the song theres a band playing in the back as if they were playing it, despite the music being non diegetic except for Baby who is listening to the song through his headphones. This makes the music a really important part of the scene, and many other scenes in the film are similar and use the songs as the centre piece.

This scene is the opening credits which means we havent properly met the characters although a lot can be told about Baby the main character in this scene even though he hasnt said anything- hes carefree and loves music.

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Q2

What might this film from 1968 be trying to say about the future?

In this clip of Franks death scene, the artificially intelligent computer, Hal, seized control of the shuttle and disconnects Frank from the ship intentionally trying to kill him. Since this film is set in the future at the time, the director is suggesting that technology will have become so advanced that there will be robots and computers that will be able to do things such as killing people through tricking them and he is assuming that they would eventually outsmart their own creators; humans.

In the 1960s, technology was starting to become more available and more commonly used and the director of this film could be implying that technology will take over and will not be in our control if it keeps improving and growing, although could also be showing its potential and how it could be useful if used correctly. The director was looking at how technology could develop in a sinister way- instead of us controlling them, they control us. By using how things are in the 1960s he is projecting how things in this era would be if the technology that was advancing took one path, for example not only the technology is different but things like the way people eat.

The pace of this film is so slow and some critics say its boring- but the director has done this because he is painting a full and detailed picture- showing how deeply he thought about what should go into it and how it should be portrayed, hes bringing to life and interpreting ideas that he had about the future and the way it would evolve- he seems to think that from the way he depicts the computer to have bad intentions that things won’t go well. This film brings together his vision and Arthur. C Clarkes vision of how the future could be if artificial intelligence could be taken to its extreme. He also looks at how space travel could evolve and open up many new versions of the future for earth and humans.

The robot, Hal, changes the way that the humans interact with eachother, suggesting that the director might think that the artificial intelligence could work to turn humans against eachother and change that.

As well as the artificial intelligence and the way Hal is behaving, the astronauts have to deal with the way that the other beings and creatures from other planets have been watching earth, and the director is implying that we would have ways to communicate with them and have such advanced space travel that we would be able to see them.

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ QU1

Explore how two film form elements have been used in this sequence to provoke response and make meaning

The sound in this clip is not only used to make this scene feel more realistic and create the atmosphere of space and how silent it is, but also to bring tension to the surface through the way it builds up the sound of static and Franks breathing and then reduces it to switching between silent and static. These sounds could be seen as opposites, although just are as powerful as the other in this scene as they are the only things that are heard before the dialogue. The use of only diegetic sound in this scene makes it feel realistic -for example the dialogue, the sci-fi sound effects and the static noise in the background are what you would expect of a scene in a space environment therefore stimulating reality for the audience. The moments leading up to when Frank is disconnected from the space shuttle the exaggerated sound of him breathing unsteadily creates a tense mood as the other sounds are muted and the focus is on his breathing before it suddenly goes silent, syncing with the fact he dies at the point that it stops also.

The editing in this scene is using the cross cutting technique, where it cuts from Frank floating in space to the other man and the computer in the shuttle. This creates meaning as it highlights the contrast between the situations of both the astronauts, one is completely out of control of whats happening to him whereas the other inside has more control of his situation and has access to the controls inside the ship. Its also effective as it shows the audience what is happening and gives extra detail, we know from this that Frank cant be saved yet the other man is still about to go and save him.

Spanish civil war

(Getting ready for pack 16/09/19)

18 July 1936- 1 April 1939

The Spanish general, Francisco Franco, successfully took control of Spain. The Spanish government who were in power at the time, worked together with the communist groups, anarchists and socialists to stop Franco, they were called the Republicans. Francos side (the Nationalists) received help/ weapons and troops from Nazi Germany (Hitler) and Italy, whilsts the Republicans got weapons from soviet Russia. Many other countries volunteered to fight against Franco, such as France, the US, the UK, Belgium and Germany- they were known as the International brigades.

The nationalists had an advantage during this war as their military was bigger and had better technology and weapons as they were receiving help from advanced countries, dissimilar to the help the Republicans were getting from Russia since at the time Russia were behind technology wise and were not as advanced as some western countries. This meant that it was inevitable that Franco won the war, it ended on the 1st April 1939 when the Republicans gave up their fight- Franco was ruler of Spain til he died in 1975.

The outcome of the Spanish civil war was that it tested the ability of foreign powers as well as Spain now being an ally of Nazi Germany’s, this would have made them unpopular amongst the rest of Europe as Hitler was in rule, therefore effecting WW2 as Hitler had an extra ally.

Film Forms ISP week 1

Cinematography, Performance, Editing, Mise en scene and Sound.

Cinematography

Cinematography combines the conceptual tools, the techniques, methods and elements to tell the story and give the film a unique look. The conceptual tools of cinematography are ; the frame, light and colour, the lens, movement, texture, establishing. The use of cinematography creates meaning as it takes the screenwriting and captures the story by using all the different elements to make it into something that has an influence on the audience and is unique and interesting to watch.

Camera is an important element of cinematography- where it is chosen to be placed can change how a scene is portrayed and interpreted, for example a high angle shot could make a character seem small and weak whereas a low angle shot would make them appear larger or more powerful and a lot can be learnt about the character through the placement of the camera. Movement of camera is also important, whether the camera is static or moving. Lots of camera movement could be seen in action movies as it adds to the intensity. Another important element would be composition; how the shot is framed and whats in the shot- controls what the audience focuses on and when. For example in the opening scene of ‘Paris, Texas’, the use of a long shot and then mid shot to emphasise how alone the character is and how out of place he is, the use of a wider frame also gives the audience an idea of how far away from civilisation he is. Lighting is another vital component, this can be used to highlight emotion, and the mood of scene. Horrror movies often use lowkey lighting in order to create a moody atmosphere unlike comedies or light-hearted films which would use highkey lighting that doesnt have shadows and high contrast.

Editing

The editing of a film is important as it puts everything together and can ultimately make or break the movie as a good editor should be able to make it flow and keep the audience engaged. There are different types of fades; fade-in which begins in darkness and gradually lightens to full brightness, fade-out is where the image gradually darkens and a cross fade which is the intercutting of shots from two or more scenes and this can create parallels to show change. Dissolving is gradually merging the end of one and the beginning of another shot.

Continuity editing is where the story avoids disruption and maintains a logical relationship between time and space- shows the characters day without breaking from it, it is consistent. However discontinuity editing is not consistent and ignores the rules of continuity (keeping a relationship between time and space) and is usually quite fast paced- this is used to show a lot of information or things happening at different times.

A match cut is a editing technique that shows action starting in one shot and then continues into the next shot where the action will be something similar or the image matches with the last, these edits are normally seamless. For example a violent fight could lead onto someone cutting up meat. This is used to connect things or it allows the audience to make a connection without it fully revealing anything.

Sound

Sound is important in film as it is vital to the characters, scenes and effect on the audience – it gives information that you can’t recieve visually, although it is the combination of visuals and sound that ultimately help eachother. Sound is used to heighten the mood and can change the emotion of the scene, whether that is through dialogue or music, as well as making a film realistic. A diegetic sound is one that is in the film so the characters can hear it- it has its source in the narrative of the world of the film. This could be anything happening in the scene like dialogue or cars passing by. Non diegetic sounds are ones characters cant hear, coming from a source outside the space of the narrative, this would be something like mood music to set the scene or a narrators commentary. The melodrama is the music that is used to encourage emotion and it can increase tension or reflect a characters mood. An asynchronous sound is one that is offscreen, different to a non diegetic sound as the character might still be able to hear it, its just not visual. This is effective in genres like horror as it can create tension as it is leaving the audience guessing, for example if a scream is heard. Synchronnous sounds are the on screen ones, they sync with what you can see. An example of sound being important in movies could be Edgar Wright’s ‘Baby driver’, sound plays a dominant role in this film as the soundtrack was chosen before the acting and screenwriting, so the plot is carried by the music. This is interesting as many of the scenes have songs that match the character and the mood and they are very in sync.

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is the setting of the scene and the design/arrangement of everything in the framing. It refers to the location, props, costume/makeup and lighting and it is visually telling a story, these elements all help to create a sense of place for the audience. The location is in support of the action, so the scenery would have to match with the acting as well as set the mood of the scene, similar to the set design which helps to add context for the audience- this refers to everything thatcan be seen in the frame. Set design builds a world and gives the audience an idea of what the situation is. The costume design is important as it needs to match the character as a lot can be told about a character from what they look like/ what they are wearing, costume designers need to get the clothes and colour palletes correct to suit the character and how they are being portrayed in the scene. Hair and makeup is the same- the actors are transformed into their characters with these techniques. Lighting is part of mise en scene; this clearly conveys the mood and emotions in the scene, and can change how the audience interprets a scene so it is important that the lighting suits the scene/ genre. All the props, camera angles and texture are chosen purposely to integrate the audience into the world of the narrative.

Performance

Performance in film is brought in through the characters who are played by the actors, its an important element of film form as bringing the characters to life and making them believable to the audiences is done through the way the characters act- this could be through voice, expressions and body language. Body language can reveal how a character is feeling, for example someone who is confident will be brisk and erect contrasting with someone who might be biting their nails which would indicate nervousness. This tells you how the character is reacting to a situation or how they feel. The tone of voice or changes in tones of voice can indicate how emotions change, this can be read through the volume as well as the actual dialogue. Proximity between characters (how close they are standing, the distance between them) can suggest the relationships between characters and their situation, and this can change over the film suggesting a change or growth in a relationship.