How far do fantasy films follow the narrative conventions of fairy tales?

Films
1. Pan's Labyrinth (Director: Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
This fantasy film has a narrative that deals with the main character Ofelia escaping into a fantasy world in an attempt to block out the harsh realities of her life during the Spanish Civil War. As she encounters mythical creatures, fairies and monsters it therefore makes an ideal choice as my focus film. It's themes of escapism and innocence are common throughout the genre and I will use the film to compare and contrast with my two other choices.

2. Alice in Wonderland (Director: Tim Burton, 2010)
This is also a fantasy film which shows the main character 'Alice' returning to Wonderland. Wonderland is also a fantasy world with strange characters like talking animals and extreme versions of human characters. Alice was escaping her family. This supports my focus film because they both have similar characters on similar journeys. They are both looking for something better. It also shows escapism which allows comparison to my other film choices.

3. La Belle et la Bête (Director: Jean Cocteau, 1946)
This is also a fantasy film which fits with my theme. It's the first adaption of Beauty and Beast but is different to more recent adaptations. Belle leaves her poor family to live in the beasts castle as a trade. She doesn't want to leave. She develops a relationship with the beast showing a theme of 'how real beauty exists below the surface'. In all three films the main characters demonstrate strength of character which helps to compare and contrast my choices. They also aren't saved by princes which is how fairy tales traditionally end.

4. Guillermo del Toro Interview about Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/05/features.review1 
This article is useful because it talks about how Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fairy tale


 that distils his distinctive mix of fact and fantasy, poetry and politics, pain and pleasure I was also trying to uncover a common thread between the "real world" and the "imaginary world" through one of the seminal concerns of fairy tales: choice. It's something that has intrigued me since Cronos, through Hellboy and now to Pan's Labyrinth: the way your choices define you

5. Tim Burton Interview about The Corpse Bride (2005)
http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s1500904.htm
This article is useful because it talks about how
I think all good fantasy, you try to have some reality in it. Any fable or fairy tale has some sort of reality in it. That's why I think I love the form of fantasy or fairy tale, is that you're able to kind of put things in there and let people sort of, discover their own emotion, discover their own sort of feelings about things. Or make their own lessons from it.

6. Guillermo Del Toro Interview about Pan's Labyrinth 
http://movies.about.com/od/panslabyrinth/a/pansgt122206.htm
This article is useful because it talks about how del Toro likes fairy tales that are made to instill hope and magic in children and how he thinks there needs to be darkness in them   .
There are fairy tales that are created to instill hope and magic in children. I like those. I like the anarchic ones. I like the crazy ones. And, I think that all of them have a huge quotient of darkness because the one thing that alchemy understands, and fairy tale lore understands, is that you need the vile matter for magic to flourish. You need lead to turn it into gold. You need the two things for the process. So when people sanitize fairy tales and homogenize them, they become completely uninteresting for me.”

7. Guillermo Del Toro Interview (Winter 2014)
http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1401-Winter-2014/DGA-Interview-Del-Toro.aspx
This article is useful because it talks about how Pan's Labyrinth, despite having all the elements of a classic fairy tale, actually deconstructs the fairy tale 
Pan's Labyrinth brought together del Toro’s affection for strange creatures and dark themes into a masterful whole. On the surface, Pan’s Labyrinth has all the trappings of a classic fairy tale, but in a way, it deconstructs the fairy tale.

8. Tim Burton Interview about Alice in Wonderland (2010)
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/mar/06/tim-burton-alice-wonderland-guardian
This article discusses the fact that the film is more of a Disney film rather than a Burton film. It's got a simple internal story, like many recent Disney films, about somebody finding their own strength whereas Burton's usual style is much darker in tone. This adds an interesting point as Burton has had to adapt his style to conform to more conventional forms of narrative. I will use quotes from this article to make an argument around how fairy tales must contain typical narrative conventions, it is therefore a very useful item.

9. Tim Burton Interview
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/articles/misc5.html


I love it. Lookit, all monster movies are basically one story. It's Beauty and the Beast. Monster movies are my form of myth, of fairy tale. The purpose of folk tales for me is a kind of extreme, symbolic version of life, of what you're going through.
What's the purpose and the function of fairy tales? I think it does have to do with whatever that young impulse is - Who are we? How are we created? What else is out there? What happens when you die? All that stuff is unknown. Life is unknown. Everything is under the umbrella of life and death and the unknown, and a mixture of good and bad, and funny and sad, and everything at once. It's weirdly complicated. And I find that fairy tales acknowledge that. They acknowledge the absurdity, they acknowledge the reality; but in a way that is beyond real. Therefore, I find that more real.
Because a fairy tale is a romantic version of certain things. Taking something real and heightening it.

10. La Belle et la Bête Review by Roger Ebert (1999)
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-beauty-and-the-beast-1946
deals, as all fairy tales do, with what we truly dread and desire. the story takes the form of the familiar fable, its surface seems to be masking deeper and more disturbing currents


11. Press Book for the U.S. Premiere of La Belle et la Bête by Jean Cocteau (1940s)
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/250-once-upon-a-time-french-poet-explains-his-filming-of-fairy-tale


12. Fantasy Cinema: Impossible Worlds on Screen by David Butler


13. Fantasy Film: A Critical Introduction by James Walters


14. Burton on Burton, Revised Edition by Tim Burton

Rejected items

British Film - ABOUT TIME (2013)

• Budget: $12 million
• Box Office: $58,252,588
• Stars: Rachel McAdams who is a Canadian actress, well known for her roles in The Notebook and Mean Girls; Domhnall Gleeson, who is less well know, but played Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, and had roles in Dredd and Anna Karenina; Bill Nighy who was made well known worldwide for his role in Love Actually. He was also in Pirates of the Caribbean, and Shaun of the Dead. Having famous stars in the film can make it a success as people are more likely to see it if they like and know the actors.  
• Director: Richard Curtis, who has directed many popular rom-coms such as Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, which did well in America. 
• Genre: Romantic comedy, which is a popular genre as people know what to expect as it has been done lots of times before and is rarely very different. They all usually have a happy ending, which mainstream audiences like to see.
• Production Company: Working Title, which produces lots of big British fims such as Les Miserables and Four Weddings and a Funeral. It is aslo produced by Relativity Media, which is an American company.
• Certificate: 12A
• Marketing: There were only a couple of posters for the film, both of which showed the two main characters (McAdams and Gleeson) close together and laughing, which shows the audience that it is a romantic comedy.
• Release Date: 4th September 2013 (UK) and November 1st (US). 

Reflective Analysis

We had to create a Horror film so we chose to set our sequence in a secluded forest setting  because it adds a feeling of isolation which is a typical convention of the horror genre. The main character was a teenage girl because it portrays the victim as vulnerable and naive. She is walking home and finds a body on her route, which eventually leads to her implied demise.

The first shot was a long shot of a long dark tunnel,the tunnel had flickering lights which created suspense because flickering lights usually portray danger in horror films and also creates an eery atmosphere.

The character then turns down a path through the trees and is surrounded by trees on one side and a spiky fence on the other side. This makes it seem like she is trapped as she heads towards the victim as it suggests that she has no choice but to follow this path, so that her fait is already sealed. We chose this location because the trees gave the sense that there could be something more dangerous hiding within them, which we chose to utilise later on in he clip.

We used sound to try and create a certain atmospheres which were conventions of the horror genre. For example at the end of the clip we used a sudden high pitch noise to add to the shock of the character. This is commonly used in horror films as it is unexpected and can scare the audience.

We tried to use low key lighting, as that creates tension and incites fear in the audience in horror films, as the dark often suggests there're unknown things hiding within it. However, we faced difficulties when trying to do this, as we filmed during day time. Because of this we had to edit the clips so they appeared darker afterwards.

How does the use of cinematography and mise-en-scène create a feeling of tension in the Council of Elrond scene in Lord of the Rings?

The scene I have chosen is from the fantasy film Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson, where Elrond calls a council of representatives from the various species of Middle Earth to decide upon the fate of the Ring. It includes many conventions from the genre, such as the medieval clothing to give an ancient, wise and somewhat heroic feeling, as people associate this kind of clothing with brave knights and kings. Another convention used is the gathering of creatures such as elves, dwarves and men, which is used to present the utopian society that Rivendell is, a place where all the species can interact freely.

Near the beginning of the scene there is a long shot from in front of the council, and behind Elrond who is addressing them. The council’s seating is arranged in a circle. This part of the mise-en-scène suggests to me a sense of equality, because it reminds me of the Round Table from Arthurian legend, which gave each man around it equal standing with the rest as no one had a better or more important seat than anyone else, not even the king.  This implies that the group is currently meeting as equals. However, many things about the shot suggest to me that that is not the case. Firstly, is Boromir’s performance. The shot is framed so that he is seated almost central in the shot, and he is sitting in a relaxed manner, almost as if he is bored. He is not focused on Elrond, and seems to not care what is happening.  This increases tension as I can tell that he isn’t happy with the proceedings, which implies to me that he is going to try and intervene with how Elrond is running things, and therefore intervene with the balance of power. 

Secondly, the mise-en-scène also includes two statues on the left hand side, which are tuned and facing away from the council. They are noticeably aged, which suggests wisdom and knowledge, like a lot of the scenery also does to fit in with the eternal and wise atmosphere the elves present. Worn and old scenery is a convention of the fantasy genre as it gives the old and other worldly feeling by showing that it has been there for many years, yet is still as powerful as ever, such as with Hogwarts from Harry Potter, which contrasts the real world which Harry and the audience are used to in order to create a feeling of wonder and the idea of a long and vibrant history, therefore suggesting to the audience that there is much to discover there. The statues looking away from Elrond’s seat struck me as strange, because I would have thought the statues looking at the council, to show guidance and pride in one’s surroundings, and give power to the council by showing that these huge creations are focused on them. I felt this increased the tension as it seemed to me as if the statues were avoiding looking, as their heads are twisted away at a seemingly uncomfortable angle just to avoid looking at the council. The statues also are holding what looks to be cymbals in front of their bodies. I noticed that if they were to look straight forwards, towards the council, these cymbals would block their view of not only Elrond, but of the plinth where the Ring will sit. This made the scene tenser by increasing the mystery of the ring by suggesting to me that the ring presents dangers that even the old wisdom that is built into the very walls of Rivendell would not dare to look straight at it.

As Boromir stands to make his point, the camera tracks him by moving around the outside of the circle of chairs as he turns to address to court. This shows the audience that Boromir is the focus of this part of the scene, establishing how important he is to the film as he can command the attention of some of the most important beings in Middle Earth, as well as the attention of the camera, going so far as to seem as though the camera has no choice but to follow him. This creates tension as he is disrupting the aforementioned balance and equality, by somewhat forcing his views and power upon them. This is also conveyed by the low angle from which Boromir is seen, implying how powerful he is and suggesting to me that he is more important than the rest of the characters in this scene. Low angle shots are quite often used to capture villainous characters by making the audience feel as if the character is above them, representing the power they hold, but presenting it in a threatening way because it seemingly puts the character in control as they dominate the shot. This reminded me of The Avengers, in the scene where Loki makes the civilians kneel before him. He is shot from a similar angle as he walks through the crowd of kneeling people. It immediately shows a power hierarchy between the characters in the scene, as does how Boromir is seen above the seated council.
As Boromir turns, we see that the backs of the chairs are large crosses. This is part of the mise-en-scène and it suggested to me that Boromir is trying to play God by taking control of the Ring as he suggests.
The scene then cuts to a close up of Boromir’s face, still from a low angle, as he talks further about his plans to wield the ring. The angle makes it seem as though the audience is one of the seated council members listening to Boromir speak. There is then a cut to a close up shot of Aragorn, who disagrees with Boromir’s idea. This is an eye level shot, which helps the audience relate to Aragorn, seeing him as a more peaceful and fair member of the group than Boromir because he is at the same level as they are. There is then another cut to an over the shoulder shot of Boromir as he turns to face Aragorn. As the camera is showing over Aragorn’s shoulder, it suggests to me that the camera is trying to tell us that Aragorn is in the right, and that we, the audience, should be on his side. This increases tension because it shows that the council is already beginning to turn on one another and pick sides, which can only lead to a larger conflict in the near future.

Impatient, Gimli hits the Ring with his axe, intending to destroy it. A mid-shot sees him swing the axe, and then it quickly cuts to an extreme close up of the still intact ring. Suddenly, instead of the Ring we see a very short shot of the Eye of Sauron, which is gone in less than a second, and the Ring can be seen once more. The scene then cuts to Frodo, and then cuts to Frodo again, ever so slightly closer in order to give a sense of confusion, and allow the audience to relate to the panic that Frodo must be feeling. It shows that he is visibly pained. It is suggested that he is the only one affected by the Ring as the next shot is a long shot of Gimli falling to the ground with everyone paying attention to him. This kind of sudden, unexpected and short shots and short jump cuts are a convention of the horror genre as they are intended to shock and scare the audience, whilst short, very small jump cuts give a feeling of a disjointed reality. This is effective at building tension as it raises questions about the Ring and Frodo’s relationship to it, as well as giving the audience a similar sense of danger to that which would be present in a certain parts of horror films.

At the end of the scene, the tension between the characters comes to a head, and they all stand and argue with one another. The editing repeatedly cuts to close up shots of the main characters as they speak, and reaction shots of the less involved main characters, such as Aragorn. This scene is similar to the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, where close ups of the characters build tension during conflict scenes as they show how chaotic the argument is getting by cutting from juror to juror, whilst other jurors look on, as if watching the scene unfold to judge how tense the situation is, much like how Aragorn does. For example, after Juror 2 asks if anyone wants a cough drop and the previous argument starts back up again, there are lots of close ups of Juror 3, showing him in a threatening and antagonistic light because he is acting quite aggressively by yelling and arguing. Since it is close up when he is arguing, it feels like he is arguing with you. When he’s not arguing, he can be seen standing by the window turned away from the group, the camera viewing him from a low angle. He is similar to Boromir in this way, as he attracts the focus of the camera, yet still seems like an outsider by separating himself from the group, not only by his placement but by his opposing views, such as how Boromir wants to harness the Ring's power unlike the rest of the council. Juror 8, the protagonist, is still sitting, much like Aragorn, and when he is not speaking is only seen beside Juror 2, watching carefully. This increases tension as it shows a growing split between the jurors, and a growing split between the council, which made me nervous as I felt it could only get worse.

Word Count: 1,632

The Shining - 'Come Play With Us' Scene Analysis

The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The ‘Come Play With Us’ scene starts with the camera tracking Danny as he rides his tricycle through the hotel corridors. As he reaches the first corner, there is a non-diegetic high pitch sound, which gets higher the closer he gets. Sudden high pitch noises are a common convention in horror films as they build fear, such as in the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho. This made the scene very tense, as I was expecting there to be something around the first corner. However, the camera lingers on the shot of the corridor for a few seconds after Danny disappears, which felt to me as if it was trying to suggest that the camera didn’t want to follow Danny, because he was heading towards something dangerous. This increased the tension, as I wanted to protect Danny from whatever it was he was about to face, because watching him on his tricycle made him look so small and innocent.
The scene then cuts to Danny in a different corridor. The camera continues to track him from behind, and as he turns the corner, the camera turns with him and we see the two girls at the end of the corridor. This shocks the viewer, as they know that the only people in the hotel are Jack, Wendy and Danny, so for these two girls to be here, something is probably very wrong. The scene then cuts to a close up of Danny’s face. He appears shocked, so we know that the he didn’t expect the girls to be there either. 

When it cuts back to a long shot of the corridor, the camera is now closer to Danny and the girls. This happens almost every time the scene cuts in between Danny’s reaction and the girls. This creates fear with the audience, as it as if they are subconsciously obeying the girls’ request of ‘come play with us’. The closer we get to them, the more it feels as though we can’t prevent doing as they say. Their voices are in unison and are slightly echoed. This is common in lots of horror movies, as it creates an unnatural effect that unnerves the audience. This, as well as how the shots of them saying ‘Forever… and ever… and ever’ are cuts between shots of them lying covered in blood on the ground, suggests that the intend to kill Danny, or at least intend for him to die so that he can join them. As we move closer to the girls, it seems less and less likely that Danny will be able to resist them. This scared me as I felt protective of Danny, as there was no one else there, and if I was moving towards the girls without realising, then how would he, a small, naïve child, be able to stop himself from doing the same? 

The girls wear matching blue, frilly dress and are very pale, with neat hair. They reminded me of porcelain dolls, which are known for being creepy due to their distorted realism - they look realistic, but something you can’t quite put your finger on is wrong. To me, this seemed to be a reflection of a lot of things in the film, such as the hotel itself and the Torrance family; they all seem normal, but something is very wrong underneath it all.
We are then shown a shot of the girls covered in blood. The scene then cuts back to a close up of Danny’s shocked expression. I noticed that Danny is wearing red and blue, which I realised was the same colour scheme as the girls when they’ve been killed. The majority of what Danny is wearing is red, with only a little bit of his blue jumper showing. It is mostly covered by his red jacket. This suggested to me that Danny was going to face a similar fate to the girls, since they were all young and seemingly innocent, and alone in a house as their fathers went insane. At the back of the shot, there is a cross in the window, where the two most visible parts of the window frame can be seen intersecting behind the curtain. Crosses appear throughout The Shining, but are usually inverted. This is a common convention in horror movies, as it suggests, especially when the cross is inverted, the presence of evil, and that there is a very satanic feeling. This is what crosses have suggested to me throughout the rest of the film, however here, whilst it could also suggest that something evil was influencing Grady when he killed his children, I also think it shows how the girls are victims, and that they should be prayed for, as the layout of the shot reminds me of the layout of a church. For example, a large cross at the front and centre, and a room that widens towards the back. 

Then, there is a close up of Danny covering his eyes with his hands, which emphasises how young he is by suggesting the childlike idea of ‘if I can’t see it, it can’t see me’. He then spreads his fingers, and slowly peaks through them, building tension as we want to know if the girls are still there. In lots of horror movies, the threat typically moves when the victim isn’t looking. As the girls have been stationary this entire time, I expected them to be closer to Danny because the music was getting louder like it had as he turned the corner to see them. Instead, the girls are gone, which made me incredibly relieved as they made me really uncomfortable. This is due to their unnatural presence, such as how they look and speak.

The editing in this scene is significant, because the shot length gets shorter as the scene goes on. It starts with a shot of the corridor, which is very slow and lasts almost fifteen seconds, and by the end of the girls saying ‘forever… and ever… and ever’ the shots of them covered in blood last a maximum of three seconds. I think this reflects how panicked Danny is getting, because at the beginning he is very calm, happily riding around the hotel, and then he is very suddenly confronted with two strange girls he has only seen before in visions, who he knows were killed. The shortness of time also increases suspense for the audience, as it is similar to the other visions Danny has had, and creates both anticipation and fear as the film progresses, and also curiosity to figure out the mystery behind both Danny and the hotel.

Film Clip Analysis - The Untouchables

The Untouchables

This scene from The Untouchables uses lots of point of view shots to show the scene through the main character's perspective. For example, the camera repeatedly cuts to a long shot of the clock to show that Ness is waiting for something to happen. The main theme throughout the scene is time, shown by the constant emphasis of the clock. This makes the scene feel very tense, as you can tell that Ness is waiting for something, but you don't know what. Given by how anxious he looks, it can be assumed what he is waiting for is not good, which made me curious as to what could be about to happen.

At the start of the scene, the camera tilts down, tracking Stone as he walks down the stairs. Both he and Ness are dressed as different types of detectives from the time and Ness's blue coat, and Stone's brown jacket stand out from the rest of the shot which is grey. This makes you focus on the two of them, and shows that they are important characters in the scene, as well as the ‘good guys’. Also, the camera angle is low, which gives us the impression that they have more power than the others, that are soon to come into the scene.

Early in the scene, the shots are in a repeated order of Ness, woman and child, Ness, clock. This point of view editing, so it shows Ness's reaction and then what he is seeing. He appears very nervous, which makes me know that he is anxious about time, and about the women being there. This repeats, with the shot length getting shorter, to create a sense of urgency for the audience as this builds tension. The frequent shots of Ness's face give the audience a sense of how to feel, such as how he looks slightly panicked when he looks at the clock after seeing the woman. 

In this scene, the baby in the pram seems to have some significance, as there are lots of shots focusing on it’s face. Also, whenever the baby is stationary it cries, but when it’s moving it is happy, even if it’s being shot at. This suggests that he is oblivious to the chaos around him. Also, when he’s not moving there is the sound of a  music box. This, coupled with the high angle shots, presents a feeling of innocence which contrast the violent nature of the scene.

This scene is based on a scene from the 1925 silent film Battleship Potempkin, where the baby falls down the Odessa Steps in the middle of a massacre. Both scenes contain high angle shots of the baby in the carriage, and cut to someone looking horrified that the baby is rolling down the stairs. The high angle shots in both films show how helpless the baby is, and both show the stairs, which gives the viewers a feeling of helplessness. Also, it made me feel kind of guilty, because it is like you are watching the baby fall, but aren't doing anything to stop it.

Conventions of the Fantasy Genre

• Defies physical limitations
• Unbelievable situations
• Utopian society
• Protagonist goes on a journey/quest 
• Bright, colourful, fantastical scenery