BSA 106 (Screen Arts) Semester 2 Week 12 : Guillermo Del Toro Presentation
For my artist study for this semester I chose Guillermo Del Toro. My Presentation will cover five main categories:
- Body of Work: I will be looking at Del Toro's entire catalogue, breaking down patterns and how his work has evolved over time.
- Influences: I will be looking at what influenced him as a filmmaker and how these influences have bled into his own work.
- Philosophy/Motivation: I will dive into Del Toro's beliefs and how he approaches the film-making process.
- Elements/Conventions: I will observe what common elements re-appear throughout Guillermo's filmography.
BODY OF WORK
Like most filmmakers Del Toro has developed his approach over the years and the type of movies he's produced have consequently somewhat changed. I have broken down his filmography into different periods of his career:
- His first three films, which all share the trait of being low-budget horror flicks.
- His next two films, which sees his foray into higher budget, Hollywood blockbuster fare. Here he worked within pre-established properties, the two movies were 2002's Blade II (a sequel to the successful comic book adaptation about a vampire slayer) and 2004's Hellboy (an adaptation of the cult graphic novel series).
- His next film really changed the way people saw him and the way he approached film-making from that point forward. The film was 2006's Pan's Labyrinth, in which Del Toro displayed his expertise at practical effects and creature design.
- For his next two films he returned to blockbusters, but this time adding a lot more of his own original style. The first being 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Circle (A sequel to Hellboy, in which the world is expanded and the fantasy style of Pan's Labyrinth, both visually and narratively, is emulated), the second was 2013's Pacific Rim, a completely original property from the mind of Del Toro with a large enough budget to pull a wide audience.
- Recently Del Toro has returned to his greatest successes in the past, his new films serve as spiritual sequels to some of his past work. 2015's Crimson Peak saw him return to the period based horror that he explored in his earliest work, specifically Cronos and The Devil's Backbone. His latest film, this year's The Shape of Water Del Toro emulates what he did with his greatest accomplishment - Pan's Labyrinth. Once again we have a period based film centered on a young woman and a fantastical creature which acts as a dark fairy tale.
- Body of Work: I will be looking at Del Toro's entire catalogue, breaking down patterns and how his work has evolved over time.
- Influences: I will be looking at what influenced him as a filmmaker and how these influences have bled into his own work.
- Philosophy/Motivation: I will dive into Del Toro's beliefs and how he approaches the film-making process.
- Elements/Conventions: I will observe what common elements re-appear throughout Guillermo's filmography.
BODY OF WORK
Like most filmmakers Del Toro has developed his approach over the years and the type of movies he's produced have consequently somewhat changed. I have broken down his filmography into different periods of his career:
- His first three films, which all share the trait of being low-budget horror flicks.
- His next two films, which sees his foray into higher budget, Hollywood blockbuster fare. Here he worked within pre-established properties, the two movies were 2002's Blade II (a sequel to the successful comic book adaptation about a vampire slayer) and 2004's Hellboy (an adaptation of the cult graphic novel series).
- His next film really changed the way people saw him and the way he approached film-making from that point forward. The film was 2006's Pan's Labyrinth, in which Del Toro displayed his expertise at practical effects and creature design.
- For his next two films he returned to blockbusters, but this time adding a lot more of his own original style. The first being 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Circle (A sequel to Hellboy, in which the world is expanded and the fantasy style of Pan's Labyrinth, both visually and narratively, is emulated), the second was 2013's Pacific Rim, a completely original property from the mind of Del Toro with a large enough budget to pull a wide audience.
- Recently Del Toro has returned to his greatest successes in the past, his new films serve as spiritual sequels to some of his past work. 2015's Crimson Peak saw him return to the period based horror that he explored in his earliest work, specifically Cronos and The Devil's Backbone. His latest film, this year's The Shape of Water Del Toro emulates what he did with his greatest accomplishment - Pan's Labyrinth. Once again we have a period based film centered on a young woman and a fantastical creature which acts as a dark fairy tale.
Del Toro mentions old horror movies, like the Hammer movies and Creature from the Black Lagoon as influences on him as a young child. We can see this in his work, with his generally preferred subject matter being skewed towards Gothic monsters, and more specific influences like the fascination with underwater fish people seen in the Hellboy movies and this year's The Shape of Water. Of the Creature from the Black Lagoon Guillermo says "When I was a kid, the one that blew my mind was Creature from the Black Lagoon. That moment when he's swimming under Julie Adams and I just thought this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and the creature is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen...". It's no coincidence that his latest film focuses on a relationship between a girl and a fish person or that he has such a hard on for creature design and makeup.
We can see even the visual style of the old Hammer films being recreated in 2015's Crimson Peak.
Del Toro puts particular importance in the visual elements of a film: "To me, visual is narrative," he says. "Film is analyzed incorrectly most of the time, as content and style—but those are not separate entities. Colors, light, design, texture...all of those are narrative elements."
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
The Shape of Water (2017)
"They [horror movies] were mostly period when I was growing up"
Del Toro says what he liked about the old universal horror movies from when he was growing up is that they represented a different world, something very present in his own work in the genre. The shift in period is something that adds to changing the world represented. With this consideration it is strange that Del Toro likes to weave real events into his period films with the addition of a war backdrop, something that is not present in the work of his artist models:
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is set during World War II in 1944
The Shape of Water (2017) is set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962
The Devil's Backbone (2001) is set in Spain, 1939, during the final year of the Spanish Civil War.
We can see even the visual style of the old Hammer films being recreated in 2015's Crimson Peak.
PHILOSOPHY/MOTIVATION
He puts great emphasis on the look of a character, saying: "When a character shows up—the way he’s standing, the way he’s dressed—that’s the first line he speaks to an audience, visually," the director said. "Film has many languages, and wardrobe is one of them. We present ourselves in different ways. There is a huge component of film analysis that should be about the composition."
He subscribes to the philosophy that "every frame's a painting": "[Film is] like a Gauguin painting," del Toro continued. "You have to analyze the brush strokes, the vigor of the color palette—not just the fact that it depicts women laying around on the floor with fruit. It’s vibrant and powerful, with confident, thick brush strokes….We don’t look at film that way, but we fucking should."
Del Toro likes to alternate between large projects and small. "I try to go from one to the other, to apply myself fully, both emotionally and spiritually, to whatever project I‘ve chosen to do," he said.
"Hold on to your idiosyncrasies! Each cultural flavor is important in the world."
Del Toro recalls a conversation he had with fellow Mexican auteur, Alfonso Cuarón. After del Toro had just directed Blade II; Cuarón was set to direct the third Harry Potter. Their discussion revolved around the struggle to maintain a sense of their own artistry while directing films in a franchise. Del Toro’s solution? “Be promiscuous with your material! You kiss it, you hug it, you roll around in bed with it. There’s gonna be hair samples, you’re gonna leave some DNA in there if you make a movie wholeheartedly. Don’t be distant! Get down and dirty.”
Del Toro says "To me the monsters were always beauty, not scary". A big trademark of Del Toro's films is the focus on creature design, monsters, make-up and practical effects.
PICTURE OF MONSTERS FROM DEL TORO'S FILMS
Like a lot of directors the choice of crew and cast is something that is similar between Del Toro's different films. Some of his favourite collaborators are:
- Doug Jones
- Ron Perlman
- Guillermo Navarro
Guillermo Del Toro's 11 Rules for Becoming a Visionary Filmmaker / NO FILM SCHOOL
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