Pans Labrynth

How are women represented in a negative way?

Pans Labyrinth was set in the civil war in 1944; this may be why the women’s roll is seen in a very negative light. The women are shown to be week and powerless at the very beginning of the film, in my opinion this plays on the date the film is set because women had less rights back then and men overpowered women by far.

At the very beginning of the film we hear a little girl heavily breathing this represents a bad image for women instantly it shows them as scared and maybe weak, not only is it a girl heavily breathing but it sounds like a child, this shows that not only women were treated with no respect children were too and it shows that women were brought up to be incompetent and powerless. The scene were Ofelia meets the Captain is a good example, Ofelia innocently holds out her hand with a scared face and instead of being gentle towards her he is harsh and says that she has the wrong hand, this is not a nice introduction to their relationship and the fact she is below looking scared and he is above looking over her shows his power and strength. The fact that she had to shake his hand as an introduction and she is a young child doesn’t really show a relationship this shows he doesn’t really care about her feeling comfortable with him instead he lets her become scared of him. This could represent why she is there, it represents she’s there for a reason, because he wants something not because he wants to protect them and start a family.

In a part of the film, roughly at the beginning the Captain and the Doctor have a conversation, the doctor says that the pregnant woman shouldn’t have travelled she should have stayed were she was because she is too ill and the Captain reply’s that ‘a son should be born were his father is’, the fact that he doesn’t talk or show any signs of caring about the woman’s well-being he just cares that the baby be with him shows woman in a bad light, it shows that he doesn’t care about the women he just cares about the boy being born. Another scene were the Captain talks only about his son is when Ofelia hears him say to the Doctor ‘if you have to choose, choose the baby’ this shows he would rather the baby be born then the woman be healthy and well again. This shows the Captain sees the woman as an object that is used to give birth to the son so the son can be brought up to take after the Captains roll and so the Captains name will live on after his death. The fact the women dies for a boy shows men taking over women and women being pushed behind the men.

In my opinion the woman are pursued in a really bad light all because of the men and the Captain really over powering them but I don’t think the women really help for example when Ofelia’s Mother find the thing under the bed which is helping her even though Ofelia tries to tell her different she still throws it into the fire and this probably shows women are under the influence of the men and they do as the men want because they have been brought up with it all their life I think this because the pregnant women does exactly what the Captains says even though he treats her in a bad way and doesn’t respect her. 

Quantum of solace, half term homework.

Quantum of solace

In the opening sequence of quantum of solace the first thing I heard and noticed was the incredibly eerie music, in my opinion in the whole opening sequence the music is what brings it all together and gives it the intense feel the sequence owns.

The very first thing we see is quick clips of the camera running over the water, in my opinion this is used to show the new bond film has arrived at this place and it zooms in on the destination were quantum of solace is filmed.

We see a number of flashes of the car and the car wheels this raises suspition as to who is in the car and it brings to our attention that the person in the car could own a huge importance in the film.

The number of flashing scenes include a flash of some bullets, this to me resembles danger and it can easily show what could occur in the upcoming events. We then see a flash of the car wheel; this resembles the speed and also maybe a race. The final quick flash we see is of Bonds eye, the flash of Bonds eye reveals to us two things, one being the man in the car was actually Bond and two it shows concentration, the concentration could represent that something is going to happen, something very important.

We hear the sound of the car make a sudden entrance, this shows the audience the speed and it gets the audience’s attention on Bond. When we hear all of the gun shots they are incredibly loud and emphasized this would draw in the audience.

We see a number of quick flashes with the mad gun fighting; we see a flash of a man shooting his gun then it instantly goes on to a car window smashing, they use these quick flashing images in my opinion so the audience can keep up with what is happening and to also increase the intensity.

The sound is also emphasized on the guns shots bouncing off the car, this can represents Bonds protection and his advantage in this gun fight, it also could hint that Bond will come out of this gun fight a survivor.

The music casually comes in again, the music includes trumpets and this really increases the tension and brings in the audience.

Another sound which is emphasized is the horn before a car crashes and the sound included as well as the car crashing can create a shocking feeling for the audience which is another thing which could draw the audience in.

As time goes on in the sequence the music gradually builds more and more and this is by adding more instruments. This leaves the audience wide eyed and intrigued as to what’s happening in the scene, the music is built up purposely to create a very intense feeling from the audience.

Over the noise of everything going on we hear the police man talking, it is made louder so the audience can hear him, this may be because what he has to say holds an importance. When the subtitles are up translating what the police man is saying not much is going on in the background, this came to my attention and it made me realise that maybe this has been done on purpose so that when the audience is busy reading the subtitles no one misses anything really important in the background.

We have a quick close up of Bonds face, we see that on his face we see no expressions, and he is not panicked or even in a struggle this could show that he is very used to this kind of thing.

We very easily hear the car wheels and the engine, it sounds very smooth and this could be that he’s not in a hurry and it could also back up my previous point of him being relaxed and used to what’s going on.

We then see a two person shot of two men in the back of the car facing the camera through the back window, we see one of the men take a shot going towards the camera, this draws the audience in and it can also makes them feel involved as if they are getting shot at.  

A wide shot is used in this sequence as the cars are driving wildly along and by using this shot it makes it clear to the audience that the number of cars are gradually decreasing. As the sequence goes on the volume of the music increases and tightens the atmosphere even more especially at this part of the sequence.

We then see a really quick shot of a dumper truck coming towards Bond and the other fighting cars. This lets us understand a bit more on what is about to happen and the mayhem which is about to be caused and that is the final car falling off the cliff, there is a long shot when the car falls off the cliff and also a bird’s eye view, this is to give the audience a couple of clear views of what has happened to the car.

As soon as the car falls off the cliff the music dramatically dies down and the music is not as intense, this could be used to represent Bonds safety being restored.

We can easily hear the sound of Bonds car engine over the sound of the music, this could show peace especially as the car is moving swiftly and the engine is going softly.

 Text then pops up onto the screen which says “Sienna Italy” this is to inform us where Bond is, the text appears to me as very classy in italics, the typography could project on the place where Bond is and maybe Bonds personality considering he is in “sienna Italy”.

The classic bond music comes on as he drives down a secret alley way, this informs us and lets us know that we are actually watching the Bond movie as this music is repeatedly played in every Bond film.

The music goes off and all goes silent as Bond steps out of the car and walks to the back of his car to soon reveal that there is in fact a man in the trunk of his car. The music goes off so we can focus on Bond, his actions and his speech. The only thing he says is “it’s time to get out” which is short and simple, by keeping it short and simple leaves it nice and interesting and leaves us wanting to know more just as it goes into the classic bond title sequence. The way he says “it’s time to get out” is very relaxed which also resembles him being used to this and he acts like it is nothing new to him.