February 25th Assessment

The way Guillermo Del Toro's expressed his vision of Pan's Labyrinth showed the director's ability to demonstrate an extensive and diverse range of aesthetic qualities.

The commencement of the film plays a monumental part in the structure of Pan's Labyrinth's narrative. The film opens with an elevating dolly shot, which is framed to show only Ofelia's face as she rests on her on a dirty floor. As the scene acts as the birth of the film, this shot introduces the idea of the story as the camera's elevation represents a rise from the underworld, which acts as the alternate reality in which Ofelia goes through. Moreover, the fact that this shot shows the spectator a dying Ofelia can be interpreted as the rise of the girl rather than her fall: soon in the film, a narrator reveals that Ofelia's true origin is as princess of the underworld, and thus this shot may act as a metaphorical burial (which naturally will be done in the overworked/real world if Ofelia is from the underworld). The described theme of death binds closely together with the plots structure - as Del Toro declares Ofelia death in the begging, he instantly initiates a variety of enigma codes, leaving the spectator questioning things like the chronological order of the story and the reasons for the protagonists death. Furthermore, Del Toro's way of establishing evil in the film is very simple to understand and obviously portrayed. Following the introduction, Del Toro shows a number of mystical and old buildings, before graphically matching building said buildings with ones in a different environment. This editing technique would go by unnoticed as it transports the spectator from the ghostly underworld to the Spanish countryside. This change familiarises the audience with the story's alter-setting, the overworked, and also starts the director's portray of the protagonist as sooner than later a convoy of black cars emerge, as they stand out from the countryside natural look. The introduction of these mechanical beast's can show the message of human destruction Del Toro attempted to allocate to the protagonist force.

Another similarly powerful scene in Pan's Labyrinth is the Pale Man scene, where Del Toro's intentions were to commit the spectator to a state of dramatic tension. The scene was shot on Ofelia's literal borrowed time, which is represented by the sand clock she has bee given prior. The use of such dramatic device causes a spectator to experience dramatic tension, as the sand clock runs without Ofelia being in control. To enhance the tension, Ofelia's adrenaline producing performance can be said to have 

It acts as a trial - the point in the film where Ofelia faces her greatest trauma. 

Comments

  1. JCoSS Media DeptMarch 5, 2019 at 12:17 AM

    Paragraph 1:
    "As the scene acts as the birth of the film..." - this paragraph is rather overwritten in places. This sentence is an example. Try not to confuse the sense of what what you wish to express with the language you use to express it.
    "This editing technique would go by unnoticed..." - does it go by unnoticed? Seems an odd turn of phrase, because you have clearly noticed it.
    "these mechanical beast's" - cars?

    Pale Man paragraph needs finishing - don't just leave it mid-sentence.

    Overall, the ideas in your writing are fine, but the expression is a little muddled. Aim for simplicity of expression; elevate it through close attention to micro features. I'd like to see more of a link to context as well. From reading this, I have no real idea when the film is set, and what points del Toro is trying to convey.

    11/20

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