The Castle from The Labryinth
1. Introduction
Fantasy is a genre that incorporates fantastic themes. These themes usually involve magic, supernatural events, mythical creatures and other wordly settings. Fantasies also have elements such as coming of age, magic, myth, the extraordinary and Escapism. The genre is less than two centuries old. When the genre was introduced it wasn't very popular but things changed in the 1980's when film-making techniques advanced. Because of technology the genre is now very well known and successful. Although fantasy films have its own distinct genre, the films can blend into other genres like horror, action, romance and science fiction. Examples of these sub-genres include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as well as the Labyrinth which both have action and science fiction phenomena. Another example is Thor: the dark world, which combines science fiction and romance. Themes, elements and sub-genres work together to enhance the drama, action and mood in fantasy films.
2. Fantasy Conventions:
a) Hero:
Most fantasies are centered around the protagonist, who turns out to be the hero of the film. The character is able to do more than ordinary behaviour. They may have powers physically, morally or both. Usually at the beginning the protagonist does not know what they are capable of, they then find it difficult to adapt to there role as the hero but they gradually grow into it. Some fantasies leading focus is only on the main characters development, which adds another element to the genre 'Coming of Age.'
Fantasy films that involve a hero include Harry Potter from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Aslan from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Harry Potter is made the unlikely hero, as he grew up abused, unloved, and unwanted this lowered his self-esteem, he didn't feel capable of doing anything because nobody believed in him. However this changed when he meet the groundskeeper of Hogwarts Hagrid. Hagrid believed in Harry, which lead Harry to discover his talents as a wizard. Harry becomes a hero as he goes on to defeat the most evil wizard of all Voldemort, to take back the Philosopher's Stone. Harry saved the stone, saving many from danger, making him a hero for the first time. Harry becomes even more of a hero as each Harry Potter film progresses. Aslan from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is the great lion who rules Narnia. One of the four orphans in Narnia, Edmund, gets in trouble with the evil White Witch. Edmund was told to stay out of trouble but he didn't listen risking his and his brother and sisters lives. Instead of punishing Edmund, by letting the White Witch kill him Aslan sacrifises himself for Edmund's place. Aslans courage, and kindness makes him a hero.
Heroicness adds power and defence to the Fantasy genre. Power and defence only features in films that contain action, making heroicness different to other film genres. For example Heroicness wouldn't be used in rom-coms, because heroicness doesn't match into the plot that often features in this genre. Romances are light hearted and humorous, the plot is centered around obstacles that the main characters have to conquer to find there way to true love. Movies that belong to the Rom-com genre include, 'How to loose a guy in 10 days,' The wedding singer' and Pretty and Pink. These films don't have a character of distinguished courage, or a character that undergoes brave deeds. Therefore there is no Heroicness in the genre.
If the convention, Heroicness was missing from fantasy films the genre would be a lot different. Many fantasy films are centered around the protagonist's growth as they develop into a hero. So without a hero in the film, the film wouldn't have a plot line, and without a plot line there would be no story to tell.
Bibliography:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_tropes_and_conventions
http://www.shmoop.com/lion-witch-wardrobe/aslan.html
http://skymovies.sky.com/top-100-box-office-rom-coms
b) Magic
In Fantasy films magic is often hidden in fantasy worlds, or fantasy lands that can connect to part of reality. The person who uses magic is often a magician, sorcerer, warlock, mage, wizard or another kind of creature. Magic is a significant convention in fantasy it is usually used by the most common character. Magic can enhance the power of a character, or an element such as a magic sword or ring. Fantasies often include a self-fulling prophecy. Magic is used in this plot line to increase the audiences attention and interest in towards the film.
Fantasy films that involve magic include, The Lord of the Rings and Frozen. In Lord of the Rings, magical powers are used. Boromir and Faramir have "true dreams" about the One Ring and the Half ring. Glorfindel believes that the nature of the Witch-Kings fate, and the Maia Melian and her descendant Elrond have the power of "gift of foresight." This power allows them to predict and see what is to come. In Frozen two sisters Princess Anna and Elsa live in the Nordic magical kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa has special frozen powers, but she cant control them, so by accident she trapped the town of Arendelle in an eternal winter. Both films are made up of magical powers, which surround the plot of the films.
Magic adds excitement, and reinforces the idea of the genre, fantasy as being 'make believe'. The convention of magic is different from other films, as only fantasy films can contain magic because of its supernatural events. The interesting thing about fantasies which is different from other genres, is that there are different types. Some films of the fantasy genre are directed for older viewers, because of the violence to do with magic. These films include The Hobbit, 500: Rise of an Empire, Thor, and Lord of the Rings. Other films of the genre are aimed towards younger audiences because of the low and harmless magic like Frozen, Alice in Wonderland, and Oz: The great and powerful. The different age catagories in fantasies enable all audiences to watch and enjoy fantasy films.
If the convention of magic wasn't included in fantasy films I dont think that the genre would be a lot different. There are many fantasy films which don't possess magic. Such as Monsters Inc, About Time, and Ted. Both Monsters Inc and Ted consist of non-exsistent characters, and About Time consists of supernatural events. Even without magic these elements are still enough to classify the films as fantasies.
Bibliography
http://-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_tropes_and_conventions
http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/wanted-original-fantasy-films.php
http://www.imdb.com/genre/fantasy
c) Medievalism
Many creatures featured in Fantasy films are created from ideas from the folklore of Europe and the romances of medieval Europe. Some of these mythical creatures include Dragons and unicorns, Griffins and Giants. Intelligent mythical creatures are created from ideas from medieval or pre-Christian history. Ideas from these sources are also used to pursue character traits to complete them. Settings are a very significant part of the genre fantasy. Medievalism is used to create an exotic effect on the settings, to link to the genres idea of 'other worldly.'
The idea of Medievalism is used in the films 'The Labyrinth' and 'The Black Death'. Both stories are set in worlds of medievalism, to connect with the films plot line. Throughout The Labyrinth, the maze is fenced with brick walls, which makes the Labyrinth look old and historical, linking to the time of medievalism. Also The Labyrinths maze is centered around a castle. The castle looks medieval as the roofs have sharp points. The castle looks similar to Bran Castle in Romania. The film 'The Black Death' also uses the idea of medievalism both in settings and costume. Many scenes are set in old run down villages, and torched chapels, which were common in ancient times because of the lack of resources they had. Also the characters costumes are made up of heavy armory for the men and long pleated dresses for the women. The style of costume as well as settings in The Labyrinth and The Black Death are created from the ancient medieval times, to make the films look extraordinary.
The medievalism style of setting makes the fantasy genre different to other genres as not many other film genres would be able to make the medieval style tie in with there plot lines. This is because the medieval style is too exotic, because of this the style is perfect for fantasy films. It is important to have exotic lands featured in the fantasies to enable the audience to drift into the new and unique world, which the story is set in.
If the convention of medievalism was missing from the fantasy films i dont think the genre would be much different. This is because there are various fantasy films which don't consist of medievalism, settings or costume. You can have a fantasy film without the medieval style so long as supernatural events or characters are involved.
Bibliography:
http://www.totalfilm.com/features/16-epic-medieval-movies
http://-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_tropes_and_conventions
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone