To participate in this week’s Discussion, you will need to watch two films: Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro. 2006) and a film of your choice from the provided list.
Film One:
Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro. 2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth concerns a young girl coming of age during the Spanish Civil War. It is a dark tale centered around war, magic, fantasy, and tragedy. Del Toro and his cinematographer, Guillermo Navarro, use color and lighting to differentiate the real world of war and tragedy from that of the young Ofelia’s trips to the fantasy world. But the cinematography is just one of the reasons the film is a masterpiece. Del Toro’s literal fairy tale looks at the darkness that underlines fairy tales to instruct children about the dangers and horrors of the real world.
Film Two:
Watch one of these Cinematography Award winning films. Discuss and compare it to Pan’s Labyrinth in this week’s discussion post.
1917 (2019)
Birdman (2014)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Carol (2015)
Citizen Kane (1941)
City of God (20202)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Drive (2011)
Far From Heaven (2011)
Gandhi (1982)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Interstellar (2014)
Joker (2019)
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Macbeth (2015)
Mudbound (2017)
Parallel Mothers (2021)
Passing (2021)
Power of the Dog (2021)
Sicario (2015)
Suspiria. (2018)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Touch of Evil (1958)
West Side Story (2021)
Zodiac (2007)
For both Pan’s Labyrinth and the film you selected:
Post a Screen Grab of a Scene that you feel is representative of the film’s look.
Discuss the mise-en-scène of the shot. Answer the following questions:
What is in the frame that conveys information about the film?
Is there camera movement? Does it convey any information?
Are the colors in the scene significant?
