The directors of both Pan’s Labyrinth and Wild Tales employ aspects of mise-en-scene to convey meaning throughout their films in order to have a wide range of effects on the audience. Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth focuses on the Spanish Civil War. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government causing Fascist and extreme-right forces to respond with an army mutiny and coup attempt that turned into a civil war. The film is set in 1944 after the fascist victory as the remaining rebels are routed out and killed. In the Pale Man sequence, Ofelia creates a doorway to ..read more

Early cinema throughout the 1910s and 1920s explored the contrasting methods that directors took in order to convey two distinctive filmmaking approaches, one portraying the realist and the other the expressive. Expressionism is most identifiable in movements such as German expressionism and Soviet montage. Germany was at the forefront of expressive filmmaking due to the large infrastructure for film that remained after the war despite the economic problems crippling other sectors. German military supreme command took control and consolidated all major films studies in 1917 under one entity kn ..read more

The directors of both Pan’s Labyrinth and Wild Tales employ aspects of mise-en-scene and cinematography to convey meaning throughout their films and have a wide range of effects on the audience. Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth focuses on the Spanish Civil War. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government causing Fascist and extreme-right forces to respond with an army mutiny and coup attempt that turned into a civil war. The film is set in 1944 after the fascist victory as the remaining rebels are routed out and killed. Ofelia goes out on an adventure, searching ..read more

How far do your chosen films demonstrate the importance of visual and soundtrack cues in influencing spectator response? (50 minutes; 40 marks; 11.6% of qualification) Essay Spectatorship regards the way viewers make sense of the images on screen and the relationship we have with the films we watch. Two models that identify whether a spectator is passive or active are the Hypodermic Syringe Model which depicts the audience as being passive to what is on screen and the Uses and Gratification Model which states that an audience will actively interpret the film in their own way. According to Stua ..read more

How valuable has ideological analysis been in developing your understanding of the themes of your chosen films? (50 minutes; 40 marks; 11.6% of qualification) Essay Ideology is the beliefs of a large proportion of the population which makes up an integral part of the ideological framework of a culture and shapes attitude towards the world that might be different from other societies. There are several categories to these ideologies, one of which is neutral with the emphasis being on entertainment rather than reflecting on right and wrong while implicit ideology will show conflicting values bet ..read more

Key Elements of Film Form Cinematography Song and dance scenes are shot in one take just like the Hollywood musicals of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s allowing for the audience to appreciate the choreography of the dancers – shot on soundstages for extended tracking and crane shots. Panning and tracking shots allow the camera to follow the action which creates the impression that it is one of the dancers which makes it more immersive and emotional for the audience Opening Sequence: Camera starts on open blue sky then travels along congested traffic – the camera glides in front of the singers as th ..read more

Institutional Context Low budget, financed outside of the six major Hollywood studios. Marketed largely through word of mouth, critical acclaim and audiences were generated by festival success and award wins Bob Rosen – Four criteria for an independent film: ‘risk taking in content and style’; ‘personal vision’; backed by ‘non-Hollywood financing’; and ‘the valuation of art over money’. It’s magic realism and the subject of the poor being derived after a disaster would have restricted the appeal to mainstream audiences and so shows risk taking by the filmmaker. The film started as a one ..read more

La La Land is the story of two people living in L.A. dreaming about the future they want. Sebastian, an aspiring jazz club owner and Mia, a striving actor are completely different people and yet come together because of their desire to do what they love. This film has always been one of my favourites and I particularly love the cinematography. Chazelle’s use of colour to depict L.A. brings it to life and places the characters in their surroundings. Personally, Chazelle writes as if drawing attention to the idea of failure before success, romanticising it in a way that allows for an audience ..read more

Beasts of the Southern Wild tells the story of a young girl, ‘Hushpuppy’, who searches for her mother as her father slowly dies in front of her. She must also learn to deal with her world crumbling around her, as the global warming destroys her home. My initial impression of the film was that I liked it. It didn’t particularly blow me away so I was surprised it gained a Best Picture nomination. The film uses a lot of handheld shots which annoyed me at first but as the film progressed I found that it served the narrative better as it was bale to clearly show her chaotic lifestyle which would ..read more

Ideology is the beliefs and values of a large proportion of the population which is an integral part of the ideological framework of our culture and shapes their attitude towards the world which might not be in line with wider values of society. The political mainstream develops a strong ideology for a set of people that becomes natural as they are the most common beliefs in that society. Personal Ideologies – The outcome of an individual’s experiences and influences Cultural Ideologies – Constructed by Institutional sources such as the law, education and media Dominant Ideologies – Accepted ..read more