El labrintio del fauno, translated means Pan’s Labyrinth, written and directed by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, plays with elements of dark fantasy. This post will analyse certain aspects (lighting, sound, camera shots etc.) and how 

The opening scene to this part of the Pan’s Labyrinth starts with a close up of an egg timer. This reveals that she is under pressure to search for the key before it runs out, which builds tension within the scene, the pleonastic sound of the sand grains falling into the timer also enhances this as it shows how important every second is. The airy-windy sound also reveals her isolation as the corridors are empty and long. As the character turns around to see how long she has on the timer, there is a sense of worry in her face and also we hear her breathing heavy – which reveals to us that this could be a scene where things go wrong. As the shot of the location widens. We see long airy corridors that show the isolation.

There is a close up shot of the mural that shows the Pale man and him killing young children gives the audience the background information of what the character is. The character represents misery and this mural also creates suspense and horror in this scene. The mural also alludes Ofelia’s trouble that she will face very soon. This shot is a part of Ofelia’s task. She is forbidden to eat the food, but due to her severe environment, she eventually eats a grape. In this shot, the director shows the desire of Ofelia and how harsh she has been living. Also by placing the food in front of the Pale Man, the director implies that the Pale Man only consumes little children and not normal food, which also leads to another implication. Ofelia is in danger. The close up shot of children’s shoes supports also shows the cruelty and misery of the Pale Man. This shows how much children he has eaten and show how frighten Ofelia is as well. This is one of the most suspenseful shots in this scene. The audience can see Ofelia’s instability as she is struggling to draw her escape back to reality and in the background the Pale Man is trailing after her. He is very close to her and due to her consecutive mistakes, Ofelia is very close to being captured. Standing up on the chair also shows the emotion of Ofelia. She is petrified and so is the audience.

The sound of Pan’s Labyrinth is full of digetic and non-digetic. At the start of the scene, there is a lack of non-digetic noise excluding a slight wind noise, which allows each digetic sound to have attention. A close up of the egg timer suggests that Ofelia is under pressure to find the key and it is shown as the tension builds up, the pleonastic sound of the sand grains enhances the importance of each second. Then non-digetic sound is placed from the crying of babies as the pale man’s painting are shown, helping to create the eery disposition. As Ofelia plucks the grapes and consumes it, classical music starts playing to showcase the rise of action in the pale man and the scene. There are several digetic noises, from background noise like the crackling of the fire to Ofelia’s hyperventilating that emphasises her trepidation. Almost all of the digetic noises are over dramatised. The pale man creates two distinct digetic sounds: the cracking of his bones as he awakens and his ominous howls and screams he creates as he chases Ofelia with his hand extended. All of the sounds in this scene contribute to one main mood, a sense of horror and anticipation as to what will happen next. Each sound is the next step in the scene and a clue for the viewer to guess what will happen next.

The use of lighting shows the contrast between the reality world and the fantasy world of Ofelia. As she escapes in the midst of the Spanish Civil War and her evil stepfather, Capitan Vidal, she enters her fantasy but little does she know, her fantasy is as dark and frightening as her reality. The room she starts in is very dark with almost no light. Once she enters the lair of the Pale Man, the lighting is relatively lighter than before connoting that her reality is miserable and gloomy and she wants to escape it. On the contrary, her fantasy isn’t as pleasant as she thinks it would be. The scene uses low key lighting with dark blacks and red colours connoting a sense of danger when Ofelia is exploring the unknown. The lights act as a guide and at the end, it leads her to the infamous Pale Man and his long table of food. She is terrified of him but her desire to eat the food overcomes the horrification. These are all shown as the lighting is focusing on the coal point.As the character escapes to safety, the lighting changes from reds and blacks that represents danger to greys and blacks that show isolation. This scene shows stereotypical features of a horror film as there is a girl left, as she has survived the dangers which is commonly seen in other movies such as ‘Alien.’ Overall, the lighting is very dark, which emphasises the darkness of the atmosphere.

An aspect of this scene that has made it iconic are the costumes and props used. The outfit that Ofelia wore in this scene shows the time period of the film. The colour has compellingly shown her dream and hope to escape the reality. On the other hand, the Pale Man has reddish colours against his skin, thus showing a juxtaposition between him and Ofelia’s outfit as he represents evil and danger. Props that were used in the scene were the keys and small doors. The keyhole give a fantasy-like surrounding. The colours and patterns used are very antique hence giving the audience a sense that this is a myth-like/fantasy atmosphere.