Author: Mr G

Teacher
Posted on in Mise-en-Scene, Textual Analysis

Pan’s Labyrinth – Final Essay

An IB Film textual analysis essay is multilayered (like an onion). Here is a graphic, which tries to explain those layers:

1) The outer layer is the context layer. This film was made as a comment on the Spanish civil war, the people who rose to power (the Fascists) and the resistance of some, to their cruel ideology. Del Toro is also using cultural references to…

  • Other films
  • Works of Art
  • Historical events
  • Myths and legends
  • Fairy Stories

…to add layers of significance to Pan’s Labyrinth.

How are those references evident in the scene and what meaning is attached to those contextual references that deepens our understanding of the film?

2) The middle layer is on the macro features of the film. During the last few weeks we have covered a lot of macro ground: genre, representation & narrative.

3) The inner most layer must have as it’s focus the micro features of the sequence. So far we have only covered mise-en-scene in any detail and in this essay that should be your focus.

You should try and link the micro to context and macro.

For example:

  • How do the characters, setting & iconography fit (or not) into the fantasy fairy tale genre?
  • How is this scene significant in the representation of Ophelia & to what degree does her characters redefine the ideology surrounding fairy-tale princesses?
  • This scene is important in the parallel narrative structure and reflects on Vidal and the conflict (theme) at the heart of the narrative, how?

The Essay & Sequence

‘A textual analysis of The Pale Man Sequence. How does mise-en-scene in Ophelia’s second task create meaning for the audience and reinforce the themes & messages that Guillermo Del Toro is trying to communicate in Pan’s Labyrinth?’

The essay is set and should be submitted through Google Classroom.

This is the sequence that is the focus of your analyse. 

Please use this document to help you make notes on the key elements of mise-en-scene.

Posted on in Contexts

Context & Pan’s Labyrinth

In order to understand and appreciate a film more fully we need to study the context….

OK…so…what is context then?

Historical Contexts

These are the historical events which surround a film’s production. The film itself might also be a response to a specific historical event (as in Pan’s Labyrinth). In that sense there may be two sets of historical contexts.

In this case though we are going to explore the historical context which is the subject matter of the film, The Spanish Civil War and it’s aftermath.

Cultural & Artistic Contexts

These are the cultural references made within the film. No artistic endeavour is made in a bubble. We need to recognise that an artist (film maker) is drawing on his/her cultural experiences and using those to underline certain ideas and themes that they wish to explore.

Article 01
Article 02

Critical Reception – Reviews

We must accept that people will have differing responses to a film. It is always helpful to engage with other responses that might reinforces our own view or give us alternative perspectives:

Review 1
Review 2
Research Task:
  1. Read / study the materials you have been allocated above.
  2. Summarise the content of the material.
    1. Find quotes / information that is useful to helping you understand the film.
    2. Make a reference (use Harvard reference) of your sources.
  3. Contribute to a shared research presentation on the contexts which surround and inform Pan’s Labyrinth.
  4. Embed the slide show into your reflective journal and identify 5 distinct ideas from our context research.
Posted on in Representation

Representation of Ophelia

Most films follow the story of one character, the central protagonist. Typically this central character has to undergo trials and overcome problems as the story progresses. These trails and conflicts change the character and they learn something essential about themselves or a great truth about the world.

Today we are going to look at the character development of Ofelia. You should consider how her journey and development reflects the themes of the film.

To help you consider what those themes might be watch this video essay from Nerdwriter: 

You will be allocated one short scene from the film and you should complete an analysis of how she is represented. Please look specifically at the mise-en-scene and comment on how C.L.A.M.P.S communicates messages and ideas about the character and her representation.

Here is a link to the whole film

Here is a document to help you complete the analysis.

TASK
  1. Complete this document on your scene.
    • Remember to look for the detail in the mise-en-scene and consider how it helps communicate meaning.
  2. How does this example / analysis link to wider issues of genre, narrative or representation?
Timed Essay (30 Minutes)

How does the mise-en-scene communicate messages and ideas about Ophelia in the scene <scene title>. How does this scene contribute to the genre, narrative or representation in the whole film?

  • The paragraph should include specific examples drawn from mise-en-scene (CLAMPS).
    • Costume
    • Lighting & Colour
    • Action
    • Proxemics and Body Language
    • Facial Expression
    • Make up & Hair
    • Props
    • Setting
  • Turned in using Google Classroom.
Assessment:

Textual analysis essays need to show the following:

  1. Ability to describe specific micro examples from the film using terms
  2. Ability to analyse the impact of those elements on the audience
  3. A link to wider significance to the whole film
HELP

Here is an example essay highlighted with T.E.A.S

Highlight the T.E.A.S in your paragraph.

Add a self assessment comment at the end of your essay. What do you need to focus on in the final essay on Pan’s Labyrinth, which will be set at the end of this week?

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Pan’s Labyrinth

Narrative Analysis of Pan’s Labyrinth.
Task:

Create a presentation (on Google slides) which analyses the narrative features in the Pan’s. Please work in pairs and use no more than four slides, one for each section listed below.

1) Structure

The film starts at the end and takes us back to the beginning – why?

Also, think about the film as a narrative of two halves. Consider the structure of the two parts to the film. Where are the parallels and over laps?

2) Characters’ Function

What roles do the characters have in the narrative and is this always clear?

3) Conflicts

Where are the conflicts located in the film? Who is struggling, against whom? What is the outcome of the struggle? How does this lead us towards the themes….

4) Themes

What is the journey of the film and how does the conflict and epiphany reveal the themes?

Reflective Journal

Embed your slideshow into your reflective journal.

Remember to:

  1. Introduce the slideshow, what is it and what does it explore?
  2. Reflect on what you have learnt about narrative in Pan’s Labyrinth and how the narrative helps communicate the messages and ideas (themes) in the film.
Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Part 3) Non Linear Narratives

Non-linear Narratives

Films have a big advantage in how they can tell stories.

  • They are not bound by the rules of normal time!

Editing can reorder screen time, which is different from reel time (the duration of the film), and this reshaping of the narrative can add to the audience’s pleasure of the film. How?

Task 1 – Exploring some Non-Linear Films

Think of a film, which plays tricks with its narrative and or characters. Try to describe what it does with the structure of the story and how that might enhance our pleasure. Some notable examples:

  • Dunkirk
  • Inception
  • Memento
  • Shutter Island
  • The Sixth Sense
  • Pulp Fiction
  • The Last Five Years
Here is a short film, which plays with narrative and uses an interesting narrative structure.

Some Video Essays on Narrative:
1) Controlling Narrative Information

2) A Narrative Analysis of a Cult Film (Memento)

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Part 2) Character Function

Narrative Function

First off, it is important to note that we are not talking about characterisation or representation!

We are talking the role the characters have in the narrative. In other words what is their job in the story? This analysis can give us helpful clues to understand the themes and ideas, especially when we consider the ways in which the characters (ideology) conflict.

Stories typically have most, if not all, of the following characters types:

  1. The protagonist (the hero at the heart of the story)
  2. The antagonist (the villain who opposes and tries to defeat the hero)
  3. The donor (a character who gives the hero advice and sometimes a helpful object)
  4. The dispatcher (a character who sends the hero on the journey)
  5. The helper (the sidekick for the hero who helps the hero through the trials)
  6. The false hero (a traitor, close to the hero who ends up betraying the hero)
  7. The girl (the ‘reward’ for the hero)
Characters’ narrative function in Harry Potter.

Task

Consider these character roles for the stories you studied in the last lesson. Please remember that a character in a story may fulfill more than one role.

Using the film you studies yesterday develop your poster with details of the characters’ and their narrative function.

Extension – Character, Conflict and Themes (Dialects)

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Structure)

Introduction to Narrative (The study of stories)

When we study narrative we are exploring…

  1. The structure/shape of the stories
    1. The big events that push the story forward, causing the characters to act / react.
    2. When and how important story information is revealed.
    3. How the audience is positioned in the story & when we learn important narrative information
  2. The characters & their narrative purpose.
  3. The themes/messages that the director wants to communicate.
    1. The development of the main character(s) & their epiphany
  4. The significance of setting to the story
  5. The role of the narrator in highlighting the themes (if applicable)
The 3 Act Narrative Structure

Here is a cool video about the narrative structure of films which are about the adventures of a heroic figure in a typical Hollywood adventure film.

 

Task 1 – Describe a simple narrative

Use it to think about the basic narrative structure of a film/story you know well, a fairy story like: Cinderella, Snow White, Jack & the Bean Stalk… or if you don’t know those, a Pixar movie like: Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E…

Remember the story mountain? Apply this in reverse to the story that you have chosen and explain the basic structure of that narrative.

Create a timeline of your own with five stages (use screenshots from the film if possible) Identify the five key stages of the narrative:

Act 1

  1. Ordinary World

2. Disruption

Act 2

3. The journey or quest.

4. The final struggle or epiphany

Act 3

5. The restoration or return

Task 2 – The Journey and the Theme

Extension Task

Consider the last two slides in the show above. In your story, who changes, how & why? What do they realise and how does this epiphany reveal the theme of the story?

Add this to your story mountain analysis in stages 4 or 5.

Posted on in Genre

Genre Analysis of Pan’s Labyrinth

The Fantasy Genre

In this lesson we are going to complete a genre analysis of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) del Toro

Sound easy? Well it is! Genre analysis is done in three steps.

1 Define the corpus.

That is, agree on a group of films that you think are ‘pure’ example of the genre.  So in this instance think of three fantasy movies / franchises. So:

  1. Lord of the Rings
  2. Harry Potter
  3. Shrek
2 Decide what features of those films are conventional in terms of their genre.

This means agreeing on a Repertoire of Elements, which are similar across the corpus and indeed necessary for a film to be given a genre label. In this case ‘A Fantasy Film’.

Use this document:

Here is my analysis of the fantasy genre

3 Analyse the text (Pan’s Labyrinth)

Once you’ve agreed on those conventions / rules, you need to consider how far our set text,  Pan’s Labyrinth, is similar and/or different compared to those conventional features.

TASK
  • We will use this group slideshow to analyse the genre and our film.
  • In pairs  you will work on one slide.
    • Find images from one or two of the films, agreed to be pure fantasy films, that illustrate the convention.
    • Find images of how far Pan’s Labyrinth follows those conventional rules.
      • Find images from Pan’s which don’t seem to fit these conventional rules
So, after all that, the question is…

‘How far does Pan’s Labyrinth use, develop and challenge the convention of the fantasy film genre?’

Reflective Journal
  1. Embed the class slide show into a new page called ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
  2. Bullet-point 3-5 conventional features of Pan’s Labyrinth.
  3. Bullet-point 3-5 features of the Pan’s Labyrinth that are different of seem to draw on other genres.
Posted on in Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene

Film is a visual art and a key bit of advice to all screenwriters and directors is…

‘Show, don’t tell!’

MISE-EN-SCENE

Mise-en-scene refers to anything that the director chooses to film and is a key way in which they can ‘show’ the story. Every element of mise-en-scene is carefully selected to communicate meaning, and mise-en-scene work along with other micro elements of film language to communicate an overall idea (representation) which helps tell the story of the film.

Here is a key presentation on Mise-en-Scene:

TASK

Complete a mise-en-scene analysis, using C.L.A.M.P.S on the stills in the slides below.

What representation is Guillermo Del Torro communicating through the selection of mise-en-scene in the Captain’s Feast?

Here is a link to a video of the sequence – there are no subtitles, but this is fine.

Here is a link to the slideshow for you to edit.

Remember…

Show, don’t tell.

…so you are reading the design in the sequence and trying to think about what is being implied or suggested.

Independent Study

Write one paragraph on the mise-en-scene in The Captain’s feast.

Your focus should be on the characters who you have been given or, for one pair, the feast as a whole.

You should write about three specific examples of the mise-en-scene in the scene. These example should be described precisely and in detail.

You should then analyse each example. You are unpicking the ideas communicated about the the characters or feast. As discussed in class there is a clear parallel between this scene and the Pale Man scene, however put that aside for now, focus instead on the representation of the people and the feast.

HELP!

Here are some ideas to get you going. The guests at the feast are snobbish hypocrites, they are arrogant, patronising and snobbish. The exception is Carmen, who is fragile, elegant and cowed. The Captain is a fascist, he is proud of his reputation and dominates the scene. The feast is a scene of indulgence, greed and power.

You should write this essay in Google docs and include images alongside the essay.

Please submit this through Google Classroom. Our class code is: fpqtlxw

Posted on in Representation

Representation & Film

Think: Does film reflect the world we live in or shape the way we view it?
Task:

Consider the ideas and messages communicated by these two versions of the same character. Use this document to analyse one of the two characters.

Character 1
Character 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key questions to ask about film / media representations:

  • Who, or what, is being represented?
  • How are they, or it, being represented?
    • Using what film language?
    • Within which genre?
    • How does the narrative resolve for the character?
  • What ideas, values and opinions seem to be reflected in the representation?

The film + the ideas & messages communicated in it are collectively called ‘representation‘, put more simply:

Representation = an image + an idea.

So, when you’re asked to analyse representation, you are being asked to ‘read’ what films, through the way they show the world, tell you about the values attitudes & beliefs of society we live in. 

Think: ‘Why might the concept of representation in films be problematic?’