Film Studies A Level

To include: Social, cultural, political contexts (either current or historical) • social factors surrounding a film's production such as debates about ethnicity or gender • cultural factors surrounding a film's production such as a significant film or artistic movement • political factors surrounding a film's production such as the imposition of restrictions on freedom of expression or a major movement for political change. My answer: The film demonstrates the director's negative views towards fascism throughout. The evil and depraved character of Vidal, who is the embodiment of the fascist regime, is a hugely dislikeable character which influences the audience to dislike his actions and fascism. Vidal is portrayed as evil in the Rabbit  Hunters scene when he murders the innocent. This evokes the audience's negativity and hatred towards fascism. The actions that Francisco Franco made when leading the country, are clearly depicted...

The Frog could represent the fascist movement: feeding off the weakness (small bugs) - as Vidal metaphorically feeds off of the weaker people in society. The toad that is destroying the tree is representative of how the fascist regime sucked life out of Spain

WHY A FILM IS MADE A memorable historical event An inspiring person A successful book that more money can be made from To raise a political point To raise awareness in a creative way For profit -Films are depictions of people, places and events to reflect the values and culture of the society that produces them.  -All the circumstances that a film was produced in and that shape its reception are a film's context -If the context of pans labyrinth's context referred to the time in which it was set, then Vidal would be the hero and Mercedes would be the villain- because the fascists were succeeding and had more supporters. TYPES OF CONTEXT -Social: a look at the relevant society's dominant attitudes and beliefs -Cultural: 2 types                     type 1: general- what fashions (clothes) were significant                      type 2: specific- studio style or a...

My strengths lie in having knowledge of key vocabulary of what the micro elements are. I consider myself fairly perceptive of identifying the director's objectives. I have made progress. My weaknesses lie in producing a more developed analysis and going into more depth when applying editing vocabulary to my answers. I need to be more concise, and check through my answers, making sure I haven't repeated anything. Move on once my point has been clearly made. I need to talk about  more aspects of the micro elements e.g.; when I refer to Mise en Scene, I should refer to props, costumes, and performance (where appropriate) in addition to colour. I'm mixing up micro elements when I need to be identifying them separately and accurately.  I need to learn how to talk about performance MY IDENTIFICATION IDENTIFICATION NEEDS TO TRANSITION TO ACCURATE LABELLING I will improve by always referring to the blue/green booklet to check if there is anymore depth or so...

The aesthetics of a film refers to how the style, look and mood of a film are created by the micro elements, they provoke pleasure through providing a sensory spectacle. To study a film's aesthetics, one must question how the set design, lighting and camera movement offer texture to a film. eg:  -Does the beauty of this moment propel the narrative forward? -Does the narrative pause to allow the spectator to appreciate the aesthetic qualities?  -How is the look of the film being created? • Consider the following in your analysis: – How is the mise - en -scene of the ‘real’ world and the ‘fantasy’ world different? – What is the dominant colour on the banquet table and what does this suggest? – How does the fireplace behind the Pale Man affect his appearance? Does it have any religious connotations? – What political context could the images on the wall of the Pale man murdering children be referring to and how do they generate meaning? – What is the significan...

The Hunters Scene- Expression of the director's attitude toward religion Cinematography: Lighting- Low key throughout, with vidal in even more shadow than the farmers to subtly portray his character as more villainous. S ets negative atmosphere, and reveals the director's negative attitude towards the shootings that take place in the scene and the characters performing them. It implies the director has a negative attitude towards fascism. Mise en scene: Performance: The captain has a bold stance and a stern facial expression (stiff mouth and intense stare) to portray him as unlikeable and evil. The director's negative portrayal of the fascist leader reveals his disproving attitude towards the movement. Sound: Starts with Non diegetic sound creating an unnerving atmosphere  Suddenly violin strings play when Vidal starts hitting the man with a bottle, creating tension, portraying fascists as frightening preditors Additionally, gunfire reverb is used as a transit...

How are the key elements of film used to construct representations in this scene AND how do they contribute to help construct the films messages regarding representations of gender ? 20marks Knowledge and understanding of key elements - 7/10 Application to analysis - 7/10 Introduction In Pan's Labyrinth, gender is represented in a very distinct way for both male and female characters which are representative of not only the context but also the directors attitudes towards the setting. The wider representations of gender in the film, that are exposed through  the micro elements that are used,  will be discussed. The micro elements I will cover are sound, editing, mise en scene and cinematography.   Genders are represented to be unequal by non diegetic sound of a faintly playing chromatic violin scale in the scene where the Captain ties up Mercedes. The subtle change of notes in the scale builds uneasiness and unevenness in the audience's minds, which co...