El Laberinto del Fauno

I was quite lost on monday afternoon, searching for my film for the latest Art of Film Journal requirement. My first idea had been to see Raiders of the Lost Ark, however, I remembered Mr. Klob mentioning in class the most important requirement for our two outside of class Film reviews, 1 has to be before 1960 or a foreign film. Thank goodness I remembered that, my first film had been Star Wars Episode V, and I was on track to have to re-do the whole assignment over MEA. However, searching through my tv’s on demand system, I noticed a film that was causing quite a stir in our class. Pan’s Labyrinth (Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro), was the film that I chose to satisfy the “foreign film” requirement for our outside of class film review journal.

Taken from the commentary track from Doug Jones from the website, http://www.panslabyrith.com/gallery.html , he speaks about the character of The Faun and how he was created, not using CGI or other computer animation programs and sequences, however with on the set construction and production.

“The clay sculpture, becomes a negative impression, then upon placing becomes a positive impression glued to me. This kind of work took days, meticulous artistry and absolute precise measure was needed to create this kind of a character.”

This shows us how hard it was being able to create such a realistic impression of The Faun that could be used in the movie. This add’s to every scene he is in, creating these film sets, such as his Labyrinth and Ofeilia’s room, to just be encompassed and focused on him and his character. Doug Jones also played the role of the Pale Man that chased Ofeilia down the long corridor under her room. She had taken from his feast of food that was never supposed to be touched, awakening the beast from his slumber. Jones makes several comments on the construction of the Pale Man as well, tying it into the creation of the set as well, showing us how real these sets are, creating the most lifelike image possible.

“This design was done with silicone pieces, different then latex foam rubber, making it have more lifelike movement…The process took over 5 hours to apply for filming, with all of the special pieces in order on me.”

This shows the commitment of the actors as well to creating such a realistic fantasy for us to see.

Doug Jones has mentioned the art and design crew of DDT worked long and arduous hours creating the characters that we see. They cumulatively worked on the creation of many of the key settings that we see in the film. These settings include inside the labyrinth, the pale man’s location, the ending scene of Ofeilia’s mother and father on their thrones, and many more. The “about the filming” section of the website includes a detailed description of how the filming process went down, shedding some light onto their decision of settings and locations.

“Hic collaboration with his longtime director of photography Guillermo Navarro and production designer Eugenio Caballero moved swiftly. Recalls del Toro, ‘We were popping out set designs in one or two days. It was very intricate work: puppetry, traditional prosthetics, CGI, etc., but executed in a context that was totally unexpected.”

Guillermo then goes onto describe the music score from the film and how it was crafted to fit the characters and scenes as well.

“…and entrusted the sound design to Martin Hernandez, who has worked on all of Inarritu’s films as well as City of God. The score and sound design combined to creat an atmosphere del Toro describes as ‘very expressive, very grand, fairy-tale like in some aspects.’ Hernandez and his team prepared thousands of sound tracks for environments and creatures, producing an overall very emotional score…. ‘We tailored the score on the basis of ‘themes’ for each character and its environment, thus giving each situation its own sound and personality.”

I think Pan’s Labyrinth or El Laberinto del Fauno was a phenomenal movie through its addictive storytelling and luscious environments; it’s easy to see how Ofeilia can get lost in her fantasy world inside Pan’s Labyrinth.

My First Western

As the title so rightfully calls it, our classes viewing of My Darling Clementine was the very first film that I have watched that has been labeled solely under the "Western" genre. I have come to have many expectations for a Western, after seeing so many cliché's of them for so long in modern day film's. I must admit, I dont think I can invision anyone besides Henry Fonda playing Wyatt Earp anymore. He did such a terrific job of completing every thought and idea I had about a main character and hero in a western, I had nothing left to call him out on.

The only part about the movie that I seemed to be irritated over was how Wyatt seemed to forget about his brothers death right up until the very last couple scenes involving the chase of the Clantons back to their home and then the gunfight down at the OK Coral.

I originally had doubts about the film when we first started watching. Played in black and white, with the old My Darling Clementine song streaming through the speakers, I was sure that it would be boring and a waste of time. However, the cast of My Darling Clementine sure proved me wrong. Although there were slow parts, the action was quite consistent throughout the film. I greatly enjoyed watching this film and afterwards I now feel like Ive been missing out for so long on such a great genre.

Citezen Kane's Mis-en-scene

Citezen Kane had many revolutionaryu characteristics to the way it was filmed. These different traits have thus been formed amongst movies and are used widespread in all major releases. The most apparent, and in my opinion best utilized, technique is Orson Welles use of Mis-en-scene. His use of low-key lighting helped establish when Kane was in charge, dominating over his communicators when he was bright and they were lower, and how he was despairing in the beginning at his death. I think this really helped improve how we viewed Kane and helped bring this important aspects to movies of the future.

Star Wars Epsiode V – The Empire Strikes Back

One of my all time favorite movies, this 1980 science fiction thriller released by Lucas Arts changed the way that movies have been made ever since. The Empire Strikes Back (Directed by Irvin Kershner) is the second installment of the “then” 3 part series entitled Star Wars including “A New Hope”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi”. I fell in love with Star Wars and the whole plot and background along with it when I first watched these movies back in elementary and middle school for the first time. Since then I’ve even been so keen as to follow the release of the updated versions, The Phantom Menace, The Attack of the Clones, and The Revenge of the Sith. The movie start’s with the young and talented Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), hero of the first film, trudging through the Arctic Tundra on his animal when all of a sudden he Is blindsided by another creature. Back at the allied command center, many people begin to worry over Luke, especially Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Han eventually goes out and rescues him, bringing him back to the Ally base in the morning. This particular opening featured many different key literary and dramatic aspects that stuck to the film as it progressed, eventually enunciating and emphasizing them more and more as the plot continued to unfold. From there the Empire attacks the Ally base on the planet Hoth, so Luke and his squad are forced into a defense position against the AT Walkers. Upon their return to the base, the ally’s realize they have to leave before the Empire destroys the planet. Luke, remembering what Obi Wan had told him, took a fighter jet and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) to the Dagobah system to begin his Jedi training with the Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz). On the Millennium Falcon, Princess Leia is accompanied by Han Solo, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). After a long and arduous escape from the Empire, cunningly using their own garbage as a means of cloaking, the Millenium Falcon and its passengers head towards Cloud City in hopes of finding Han Solo’s friend Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), so they may have a safe port to dock from. However Lando has fallen corrupt as well and after landing, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids are taken into custody by Darth Vader (David Prowse) and the Empire. Here comes the most exciting and climactic moments of the film, however they are also best kept a secret. What I will include is that Luke, upon completion of his training from the Dagobah system and Master Yoda, ventures with R2-D2 to meet with Vader and rescue his friends. Luke and Vader’s “Face Off” is by far my favorite part of the film to watch, over and over even, due to the intense action as well as the masterful portrayal from both actors. Mark Hamill “really is” Luke Skywalker in every clip, and when he learns the news of his family from Darth Vader, he could not have done a better job of portraying how you might feel. Arguably the most convincing part of the whole series, let alone Episode V of Star Wars is the setting’s associated. Actually being on the Planet Hoth is one thing, but by filming in the snowy mountains and actual frozen tundra, it really makes the scenes feel real. The visual and special effects that go along with the settings, to enhance on screen essentials, are amazing. Such ridiculous feats include space travel through the Millennium Falcon and the Imperial Star Destroyer, flying on ground in a speeder or walker, Jedi lightsaber battles, Lukes training, Cloud City’s awesome visual effects, and all the different creatures throughout the movie made to look as if from another planet. The Cinematography wasn’t anything that necessarily “stood out” to me, however, I will say that during certain key moments, such as Han’s last words to Leia or Luke and Vader’s final meeting, the use of close-ups mixed with movements and angles, creates a truly profound shot that really makes you a part of the movie. In the end, I came to like this movie even more so than I did before upon analyzing it and studying all the different aspects that cumulated into making such masterpiece that, all though was created in 1980, is still just as good 30 years later.

-Towey