Final Extended Blog Post

          The main character, Ofelia, is introduced to us in Pan's Labyrinth in a very gruesome way. She is lying on the ground with blood dripping from her fingers, face, and nose. As the camera zooms onto her face, the line "A long time ago..." is presented to us. This is an iconic way to start out a fairy tale.

          The next time we see Ofelia she is in a car with her mother and the context of their relationship is more closely examined. It is clear how close the two of them are and that the mother is pregnant and very ill. The mother's illness progressively worsens until she dies giving birth. At the time of the mother's death, a classic fairy tale theme is displayed. The theme being a young girl who is struggling with the death of a parent that is close to her with a step-parent who does not align with her values and beliefs and who is seen as evil.
          In comparison, the main character in Cinderella is also a young girl who's mother just died. The main character's father is still alive but marries a lady who is seen as the iconic "evil step-mother". The father is more occupied with keeping up the step-mother's demands than sticking up for Cinderella. In both of these films, the main character is faced with learning to cope without the presence of someone who was very close to them, their mothers.

          In both of these films, the main character has the opportunity to change their lives by completing various tasks. In Pan's Labyrinth, Ofelia can be freed of her harsh reality by completing three tasks to become Princess Moanna of the Underworld. Cinderella is faced with the opportunity to leave her evil stepsisters and stepmothers and engage in going about getting picked as the Prince's bride. Both of these girls are in search of escaping from their current lives to be placed into a happier state of living. 

          Ofelia is told of these tasks by the faun and must complete the near-impossible tasks before the full moon. The first task is retrieving a golden key from a toad's stomach. The second is entering the Pale Man's lair to open of of three boxes to retrieve a dagger. The third is to bring her baby brother to the entrance of the labyrinth. 

          Close up shots are founded often among both films to get a true sense of what the characters are feeling. Since the emotions are ran high throughout both films, it is important for the director to get that across to his audience by use of camera techniques. 

          In Cinderella's case, her stepmother assigned her twice to the task of picking up the lentils she previously threw into the fireplace ashes within two hours. If she completes the tasks she is able to attend the festival with her stepmother and stepsisters. There are three step sisters in this version of Cinderella, equating with the number three theme that is present in Pan's Labyrinth.

        It is quite fascinating how modern directors still find it important to revamp and retell fairytales from a very long time ago. They are able to be their own type of creative by adding personal stories and characters to a plot that originated in the 19th century. Pan's Labyrinth and Cinderella as directed by the Grimm brothers have various similarities of mythical elements and frameworks. 

Pan's Labyrinth versus Grimm's Cinderella

I am going to compare Pan's Labyrinth to the Grimm brother's version of Cinderella. There are various similarities between these two films and the dark nature of the both of them is very intriguing to me. Cinderella was directed by two German brothers that were alive and creating fairy tales in the 19th century. They often choose to incorporate more intense images and use of film techniques while portraying their fairy tales that are often more gothic and dense in comparison to the fairly tales we commonly see on the big screen in today's world. 

Final: Narrative and Myth Relationship

Pan's Labyrinth is a film that incorporates the myth of fairy tales to tell a story of a young girl in a very dark manner. Ofelia, the main character, believes in magic and thus a fairy world. The film takes place in Spain, five years after the Spanish Civil War, and the pregnant mother of the main character is slowly dying. The father of Ofelia is a horrible person himself. Ofelia is faced with the intertwining of the real world with a mythical world centered on an overgrown abandoned labyrinth. Many elements of fairy tales are found in this film including the completion of tasks with the help of a guide, which in this case would be the faun. Since this is a darker film itself, I have chosen to compare this fairy tale with Grimm's "Cinderella".

Music

This clip of The Hunger Games has various examples of the profound use of music in this film. The music is wonderfully dramatic and adds to the intense vibe of the movie. The use of music is so important for films to ensure they make you feel the way the director envisioned. Music soundtracks have often become some of my favorite albums I listen too! I love music!

Water: Cultural/Spiritual Perspective

Throughout the film of Water, many different spiritual influences were found. The first being the spiritual importance of the physical object of water that was obtained from the Ganga river. This river is considered the most sacred river in the Hindu religion. There was a point in the film where one of the widowed ladies stated that she would "pull her tongue out and throw it in the river", this was very symbolic of the cleansing importance that the river holds. I took this phrase as meaning that they would put her tongue in the river in order to cleanse her of her sins and regain the "good" in her. The next example was when "Auntie" was dying and it was imperative to get "Holy Water" from the river to ensure she would go to the proper place after dying. The next spiritual influence that is found in the film is the reenactment of the story of Krishna and Radna which encompasses the plot of the movie. This love story was considered an entirely spiritual connection that occurred in the past of the Hindu culture. The main characters in the film depicted these two important spiritual figures.

Special Effect

For the special effects portion of this blog, I selected to focus on the movie The Titanic. This movie won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1997. There were several times in the movie where special effects were used. Computers were used to create:

• the digital passengers seen on the ship's deck
• the ship's launch
• the engine room
• the camera fly-bys of the ship
• the transition shot of Jack and Kate at the front of the ship when Kate was learning "how to fly"
• Kate Winslet's iris that was digitally inserted and morphed into Gloria Stuart's eye (when she was the old lady retelling the story) 

Special effects make the impossible possible for films and I find them very interesting, especially in a movie where it is meant to reenact an actual event in history like the sinking of the Titanic. 

Tsotsi: Sound & Music

In the South African culture, depicted throughout the film Tsotsi, music is of great importance. Music is a main focus of this film and is incorporated throughout it. In the beginning, the music sets the tone of the film and the importance of the music is depicted in the actions of the men, women, and children. There is also an interesting concept to the music in the film that speaks to the divide of the country. The initial music used had fast beats and proved that there was a divide between the impoverished areas of South Africa next to the areas that were of more wealth. During emotionally intense times of the film, there was music being played that was soft and easier to listen too. The music was very pleasing to me while I was watching the film.