BNW Ch 11 - 13

Pooh Presentation

Blog #5: After the movie

               The scene with the Pale Man was pivotal in the archetypal hero's journey because of three
reasons. The first reason being to show that Ofelia would carve her own path to her goal instead of following
the instructions of the faun verbatim. The second reason being this scene introduces the hero's
weakness/desires. The third reason being to prove that Ofelia wasn't imagining all these fairytale like
characteristics that she was experiencing.

               In the scene of the Pale Man's lair, Ofelia disobey's the faun twice. Instead of choosing the
middle door, Ofelia chose the leftmost door due to a sudden instinct that told her the middle door wasn't
the correct door. The second time Ofelia disobey's the faun is when Ofelia ate two grapes from the
feast laid out in front of Pale Man when the faun explicitly told her not to eat anything from the feast.
This scene would be pivotal due to this reason because it sends the "be yourself" message to the
audience.

               This scene shows the hero's weakness because Ofelia disregards the warnings of the faun
and choose to eat from the feast anyways. The innocence of Ofelia is proven the moment the pale
man begins to move. I say this because it was stated in the movie that the Pale Man only drinks the
blood of the innocent. The hero's submission to the banquet proves one of her weaknesses to be the
deadly sin of gluttony. This relates her to the Pale Man in a sense because the Pale Man's flabby skin
suggests that he was once extremely obese but due to a lack of victims, he has been starved to a
skinny and flabby form.

               This excerpt from the film becomes a precursor to a give-away to one of the biggest questions the
audience have after watching this film. The question being if Ofelia was imagining everything or if all these
events are really happening to her. The magic chalk the the faun gives to Ofelia helps her open a door to the
Pale Man's lair. The chalk later helps Ofelia get from her room to the otherwise locked door of the captain's
room to retrieve her baby brother. If that was her imagination, then the captain wouldn't have chased after
her and mortally wounded Ofelia after taking her brother back into his grasps.

Blog Post #4: Mis-En-Scene Analysis

The setting and props are a bit exaggerated but still effectively realistic if the audience views the clip from an unbiased viewpoint. I feel that the dominant element is the behavior of the figures such as the fairies and especially the Child Eating Pale Man. I say this because the fluent movements of the fairies give them an element of grace and wisdom while the clunky and twisted movements of the Child Eating Pale Man on top of the excellent costume gives him an otherworldly feel. The three main colors in this film are red, orange-yellow, and black. It gives the room a cozy yet daunting feeling. The shapes that make up the room gives me the feeling that the protagonist is in a dungeon somewhere with the Child Eating Pale Man as a guardian of the dungeon. The size between the protagonist, her allied fairies, and the Child Eating Pale Man give the feeling that the protagonist and her allies are powerless against the other-worldly creature. This scene is able to blend the elements really well to give the film a borderline realistic yet impossible feeling through the use of creative music, props, costumes, character behavior and lighting.

1. I feel the setting was done really well to contrast a cozy room with the daunting Child Eating Pale Man sitting at the head of the table guarding the extravagant feast. The props send a really strong message, especially the large piles of shoes which shed light on the number of past victims of the Child Eating Pale Man.
2. The lighting is a bit weird for a scary scene in my opinion because the light reveals nearly every part of the room. Traditional horror films aren't done this way because the darkness offers a shroud of mystery which keeps the audience guessing where and when the scary surprise is going to show up but this film reveals the antagonist and puts him in plain sight of the audience. The author did this really cleverly by showing the audience where and what the threat is but not revealing when it will present itself. The Child Eating Pale Man gives me the vibe of a guardian in a sense. He sits at the head of the table watching the food until the protagonist plucks a grape off the feast and eats it. I believe the feast is a trap for the innocent and immature children who suffers from the deadly sins of gluttony and/or greed. At that moment, the antagonist begins to comes to life and presents itself as the danger that the audience has been waiting for.
3. The costumes were well done in my opinion especially the costume of the Child Eating Pale Man. The protagonist's costume suggests an aura of innocence and a lack of wisdom while the Child Eating Pale Man's flabby skin and uniquely gruesome features show the audience that he used to be gluttonous but due to not having food (victims) in a while, his fat has been lost and what remains is the flabby skin that used to hold all of the fat.
4. The sound in this clip is all diegetic. Every sound from the protagonist opening the locket to the scraping of the Child Eating Pale Man's fingers on the table is extremely realistic.
5. The behavior of the characters, especially the  Child Eating Pale Man is what creates realism for this film. The lack of wisdom and innocence that the protagonist exhibits during this film is often seen in horror films. The protagonist's disregard of the warnings that the wise fairies give causes a chain of unfortunate events to occur is classic. The odd and clunky movements and the visual characteristics of the Child Eating Pale Man suggests to the audience that he has been sitting in that room for an long period of time and that he is other-worldly. The movements of this character is fast enough to make the audience worry about the protagonist but slow enough to give the audience a dim ray of hope that the protagonist will survive.

Blog #2: Design

A color that describes me is blue because I am usually calm and collected. Another color that describes me is yellow because I am a passive and warm person. Another color that describes me is green because I am tranquil.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Blog Post #3

As our knowledge of technology expands, our social media grows along with it. The social media is akin to an all seeing and persuasive entity. No matter where you go, you cannot escape it. The impact of technology and the social media has on our culture is increasing daily. The media is extremely biased and persuasive. It implements an opinion on those that don't have an opinion and those that have a weak opinion. The power of the media has grown so strong that the few that control the media are starting to control the way this nation thinks. As technology expands, our need to think is reduced. Since the media is easily accessible where technology is available,  we cannot escape the media and thus our nation is always exposed to its bias.

Everyone from those that have a mild education to those that have no education are easily persuaded by the opinions of the media. This blog isn't just about bashing the media, there are also pros. The media helps spread news quickly, offers knowledge on select topics to a certain degree, and it allows the everyday people to communicate with politicians and celebrities. An great example of how the media allows us to communicate with people of extraordinary status is around 6 months ago, president Barack Obama posted an AMA (ask me anything) on reddit which allowed people from all over the world to ask him any question they would like to ask. Without the media, we wouldn't have the ability to communicate with the president 1 on 1. There are many pros and cons about our social media and technology but whether if it is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you to decide for yourself.

I believe media lilteracy is how well versed we are with the media. Media literacy is how often we are exposed to the media and how often we become part of it.

I would consider myself media literate because I am online a reading news and using social media such as Facebook and Youtube.

I agree with the forward to Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I say this because technology is slowly becoming our downfall due to its ability to think and act for us. As humans, we are becoming more and more reliant on technology which promotes laziness and create helplessness in the future if we are to lose technology. I see this happening already with math. We have become so reliant on calculators that people cannot do simple addition and subtraction mentally.