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.

Transition

This is an example of a Wipe Transition. The movie Star Wars is very known for this type of transition. Wipes are dynamic and are used to push one frame off of the screen with another frame.

The Whale Rider: Historical Framework

To focus on New Zealand, we watched a film called The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimarea. This was a very interesting movie that showed a lot of historical and cultural aspects. The main character, Pai, was a little girl who lost her twin brother at birth. It was always the dream of her grandfather to have a grandson that would take over their tribe. When he did not get his grandson he was horribly disappointed and his feelings showed through on his interactions with Pai. The culture of the tribe was something that was so important to the grandfather in order to keep the history alive in their culture. Pai went against the norms and acted more masculine than most other girls her age. She did all of these things in order to gain respect from her grandfather and not let her tribe down. This movie did a great job of showing the tight bond of the tribe that the characters were a part of as well as all of the traditions and customs that were present that were passed down from generation to generation.

Camera Movement

This is an Aerial shot. This is an interesting shot because it is taken from above to show the location that the movie is taking place in. It shows a lot of detail of the scenery and location of the movie. This is a particular example that I like from the beginning of "The Sound of Music" to show where the entire movie will take place.

A Question Regarding The Road Home...

What was the purpose/symbolism of the director going against the norm and putting the flashbacks in color and the present moment in black and white?

The Road Home: Symbolism

My favorite symbol that was used throughout the film was the red scarf as well as the color red in general. Di wore the red scarf during the movie starting with the first time she saw the teacher. To me, the red scarf did not only symbolize "love" and "warmth" and "comfort" associated with the color red and the object being a scarf but it also symbolized the connection between Di and the teacher. I feel like the scarf acted as a way for the teacher to pick out Di from the crowd. The color in general was depicted throughout the movie whenever their was a feeling of love in the film.

The 400 Blows

One thing that I picked up on during the viewing of The 400 Blows was a visual style that encompassed stillness versus movement. I thought it was interesting that the camera would remain still while the main characters were in trouble or being entrapped. Specific examples of this was when Antoine was in jail, in the police car, and getting scolded by his mother and his teacher. The camera was in motion whenever I thought there was a sense of independence for the main characters. When the boys were causing ruckus in their homes, or roaming around the city by their lonesome the camera was always in motion. There were various other symbols that took place throughout the film but this was one that I did not feel we covered during class so I wanted to share it!

Close-Up Camera Angle

I have chosen a close-up camera angle from The Hunger Games. I appreciate this camera angle because it shows the expression and fear on Katniss's face very well. There is so much information given to us with expressions shown on close-up views of characters in movies. You can sense the intimidation just by looking at this picture!

Introduction!

My name is Marlee Gustafson and I am a Nursing student at Alverno College. I am currently in a World Film Class and so that is what this blog is all about!