Aesthetics Introduction & the use of Aesthetics in Pan's Labyrinth

Aesthetics Introduction & the use of Aesthetics in Pan's Labyrinth

Aesthetics - General Information:
- Key elements of film form (cinematography/editing/mise-en-scene/performance/sound) help to establish a film's aesthetics
- Aesthetics refers to the style, look and mood of a film as styled by the film's key elements. This provokes pleasure as it provides a sensory spectacle.
- To study film aesthetics is to ask questions about all aspects in the film (e.g. lighting, music, camera movement, set design, editing rhythm) that are primarily there to offer texture to the film.

Film aesthetics questions - take note of when analysing a film's aesthetics:
•Analysing aesthetics starter questions:–How are the elements of film form used to create aesthetic effect in this sequence?–Does the beauty of this moment in the film also propel the narrative forward?
–Does the narrative pause to allow the spectator to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the film? –Does the decision to create a strong aesthetic effect suggest something about the film’s key message?
–Is the aesthetic effect in this sequence typical of this filmmaker?
–How is the pace of the film being managed?
–How is the look of the film being created?
–How is sound design contributing to effect and audience response?
–How is choreography of actors within space being exploited?
–How is set design contributing to the film at any given moment?

            

Aesthetics in Pan's Labyrinth:

- Number of important key uses of elements of film form in the Pale Man that provides a range of meanings & responses
- Mise-en-scene: saturated in red -> connotes blood and violence (which mimics the setting as being of violence/death) which links to the political context of the period (even in fantasy world, Ofelia unable to escape violence of Civil War/Fascism)
- Shoes in corner connote the Holocaust & extermination camps - refers to political context of period (end of WW2 & liberation of extermination camps by the Allies - war consumes innocent lives)
- Holes in Pale Man's hands where he places his eyes has religious connotations - references to stigmata and Jesus's crucifixion -> links to Del Toro's strict religious upbringing and Catholicism is a recurring theme in his work.

Aesthetics inspiration in Pan's Labyrinth:
One of Del Toro's key visual inspirations for PL: artist Francisco Goya (1800's)

Goya Painting's

Specifically 3 periods of Goya:
1) Fantasy & Invention (occurring in Goya's mental breakdown)

• Dark combinations of fantasy & nightmare
• imaginary of loneliness, fear and social alienation

2) Black Paintings (covering Goya's descent into madness)

• Focuses on imagery of witchcraft & nightmares: includes Saturn Devouring his Son which closely resembles Pale Man devouring the fairies

3) The Disasters of War

• Shows the Battlefield Horror of the Peninsula War (France v. Spain) & images of death/destruction

- Another inspiration for Del Toro for PL (in particular the Pale Man) was a statue of St. Lucy, who is depicted in statues/paintings with her eyes on a platter and blood pouring from her sockets.
- This aesthetic decision (design of Pale Man) can be linked to religious contexts that relate to the film, such as Del Toro's religious upbringing & his negative views on religious institutions.

 St Lucy Statue

Aesthetics: Pale Man & Vidal comparison

- Similarities in mise-en-scene between banquet table & Pale Man's lair suggests a link between the Pale Man & Vidal
- Both sit at the head of the table and are 'monsters' feeding off the lives of innocents
- The Pale Man devours children (Del Toro states it represents 'institutional evil feeding off the helpless (i.e. fascism)) whereas Vidal/Fascists devour innocent lives through their oppressive values
- Further reference to religious context/Del Toro's religious upbringing is connotations of banquet tables & the last supper. This can be taken further as Ofelia eats the food despite a warning can be seen as a reference to Adam/Eve & the forbidden apple.


Del Toro on Aesthetics:
- 'What I didn't want to do is show fantasy = good, reality = bad;
I wanted to juxtapose violence in both worlds, in both contexts. So the fantasy has a lot of violence as well'
- ^ This is evident through the mise-en-scene & aesthetics of the Pale Man scene.