Broghan Isabelle Lawrie

Magic realism is a genre of literature, film and art in which magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that accesses a deeper understanding of reality. It is a Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantasy or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction. Magic realism combines transcendent beauty and harsh reality as a means to critique socio-political issues and highlight cultural differences in many postcolonial countries around the world. Many would say that Pan's Labyrinth isn't a fairy-tale film and instead fits into the genre of magic realism. As the fantasy world and the harsh reality of fascist Spain intertwine. For instance, the main character Ofelia is the only one who has access to the fantasy world and del Toro uses Ofelia's adventures and perspectives to make comments on and to criticise fascist Spain - however the themes themselves are universal. Fairy tale is a genre directed m...

Diagetic  - in the diegesis (i.e. in the text) Non-diegetic - cut of the text; superimposed on it. Crescendo- build up of tension and anticipation. Diminuendo- lowering the tension. Sforzando- sudden sharp sound. Major key- happy Minor key- sad/scary Atonal- typically sci-fi/horror Contrapontal- goes against the mood of the scene, to indicate to the audience that something is wrong. The Godfather  In this scene, we see a meeting take place between Michael and Sollozzo, after exchanging words Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom in which he retrieves a revolver that was hidden behind the toilet. The diagetic sound of the El-Train above the restaurant is used to build up tension before Michael shoots Sollozzo.                                                                        ...

Shot of Vidal with the fire burning behind him, the flames look like wings as if he is a demon and it's representing hell, this shows his evil nature. Breaks the fairy tale conventions of having an evil step-father opposed to an evil step-mother. Vidal looks at his pocket watch which represents the psychological pressure of his father. We see Ofelia clutching her brother who is wrapped in a white blanket which highlights his innocence. There is a bright flash from an explosion and the amber light connects Ofelia and her brother to the fantasy world. Ofelia begins running with the baby and Vidal chases after her. Mercedes is searching for Ofelia, she enters the room first and is leading the men which shows her importance. The colour palette is warmer which symbolises the mixture of the fantasy and real world. We see the chalk on the wall which again mixes the fantasy with reality. Ofelia runs through the labyrinth and the magi...

Analyzing the Pale Man scene of Pan's Labyrinth.  Typical fairy-tale conventions of other worlds, Ofelia needs to complete 3 tasks and is about to be given her next challenge, we see throughout the film that a sequence of 3 is often used.  The mise-en-scene denotes her looking through the book to see her next task. The room is dark with a cold blue wash as there is no natural light. We see a long shot of Ofelia reading, this highlights her escapism.  She looks in the book and we see what she needs to do. The shape of the pale man is similar to the womb - a symbol we see throughout the film - it implies that something will be born from this challenge.  Close-up shot of hand touching the chalk - the chalk has been edited to make it come to life.  Long shot of Ofelia looking through the tunnel, shows how small she is compared to what she is about to step into. Loud sound of the door suggests the huge gravity of the situatio...

Analyzing the opening sequence of Pan's Labyrinth. The beginning of the film is a black screen with a series of text cards displaying  the historical background and providing the audience with some context of the Spanish Civil War. Eventually,  there is a fade up from black and we can hear the heavy breathing of Ofelia, Mercedes softly humming the lullaby and the wind whistling - this all sets up the tone of the scene. The opening shot is shown when the camera pans from right to left following the drops of blood that are floating back to Ofelia's hand. We see a close up of Ofelia laying on the ground with blood coming from her nose however the blood is moving in reverse which hints that this is the ending and we're now going to be taken back to the start of the story and see how she ended up like this. The blue filter that we see in this shot represents sadness and despair. This opening shot suggests that the film isn't going to follow standard fairy-tale...