Abbigail Azirou

 Buster Keaton generally avoided using title cards in his films, yet when he did, alliteration was popularised in the era of silent comedy, this is why Keaton utilises sibilance with "such a sweet sound but such a sour echo" as well as antithesis. In this film Keaton uses his small stature to provide commentary that him and his wife are both equal in the relationship, which is unfortunately quite an uncommon and progressive concept in the 1920's. In the opening sequence, Keaton relies on a prop to deliver a joke which satirises the tradition of throwing shoes before the newly weds. Of course, there is a chase scene which is very typical considering the era of silent comedy.  The narrative is relatively simple and definitely linear- Keaton and his new wife are gifted a portable flat pack house in which they must build themselves, yet Hank, "The fellow she turned down" sabotages the construction (which ultimately results in the house referring to Cubism in the hou

 Due to sound not being used in cinema until almost 1930, filmmakers had to improvise- and with that came genre conventions. In silent comedy, they used their body language to deliver visual jokes rather than facial expressions and dialogue for obvious reasons; those being sound was not invented as well as close-ups being quite difficult to do at the time. Because of this, many key figures adapted a characterising prop to distinguish them- such as Charlie Chaplin's hat and moustache or Buster Keaton's dead pan face. This is also why slapstick comedy became popularised within silent comedy, as well as stemming from Vaudeville (in addition to the use of animals as props and an array of stunts and chases). This greatly appealed to the mainstream working class audience since Vaudeville was seen as the working class version of theatre. Because of these conventions, the use of mise-en-scene became essential to the narratives, which tended to be quite basic and linear.  Many silent co

The shot-reverse-shot which has the fawn in the frame of the shot, yet not in the reverse shot in Captain Vidal's p.o.v can be used to argue the underworld is in fact in Ofelia's mind (although Some may argue due to him being under the influence this can't be used as evidence to support this argument- it is left very ambiguous and open by Del Toro for interpretation for the audience to decide). The cinematography of the final scene blends both the warm toned lighting of the underworld with the golden hues of the real world. It is evident as Ofelia runs towards the icy toned portal as a roaring fire burns behind here. She is literally and metaphorically running away from the mortal world. The dietetic noise of Mercedes' lullaby which plays in the opening scene aids the cyclical nature of the film. The man speaking through voiceover beckons Ofelia, his daughter, to the underworld. A golden hue fills the screen and a blur is used to transition. The shot is finally both war

The pale man scene is an iconic scene for the horror genre. The scene is full of symbolism, art references, beautiful use of cinematography, traditional use of the horror genre conventions such as sound, and finally it represents the key theme: Disobedience.  Ultimately this is the most ambiguous scene in terms of meaning. The audience questions who the pale man is, who he represents and whether or not he belongs to the underworld or is part of something else. From the very beginning of the scene, when Ofelia remains in the cool-toned real world, the rules are made explicitly clear: "Don't eat or drink anything during your stay". As soon as Ofelia's chalk door opens, the sinister orchestra music plays as the camera zooms out through a long corridor, adhering to the genre conventions of horror. The shot is symmetrical and utilises the rule of thirds. Although we are in the underworld and there lighting is warm-toned, it's still not inviting or cosy. The first signi

The opening scene of Pans Labyrinth proves the cyclical structure related to City of God whilst tying both  the realistic random violent and facist reality of post civil war Spain in 1944 with the underworld where rules and consequences make sense.  From the beginning, pans Labyrinth immediately begs the questions within the audience- is the underworld real? personally, I don't think so. I think it can easily be argued both ways, but through film form we it's evident to me which world we are really living in.  The scene opens with Mercedes Melody which we also hear in the closing scene. the contextual subtitles establishing not only the harsh reality our protagonist lives in, but the one she desperately want's to escape from. Then, a close up which gradually opens into an extreme close-up into Ofelia's eye follows to convey, perhaps to the people who believe that the underworld is a coping mechanism for Ofelia, that we are in fact in her head.   The cinematography is ex

  The end scene is crucial for exploring and presenting the ideological themes of the film such as escapism ,urban life and the changing nature of it's crime.  Towards the end of the film, Rocket begins to see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of his escape. Through use of mise-en-scene we are put in a professional office environment which reveals major hope for our antagonist as we haven't seen outside the city before,  however the cool toned lighting which looms over the present day is still prevalent. Finally, in relation to Rocket's escape, he gets another camera from a photographer he looks up to. This can be seen as symbolic for his journey, however Rocket is not the one character upgrading his weapon- Both gangs buy guns from the police yet Lil Ze doesn't pay for them. And thus the "beginning of the end" scene commences and the City Of God is transformed into a war zone.  In the closing scene, we are brought back to the opening scene which enforce