PAN’S LABYRINTH

Opening Shot (56:30)

Closing Shot (61:01)

Why I chose this scene (extract):

I chose this scene because it portrays a confrontation between Olefia and The Pale Man, which is arguably a scene that made Pan’s labyrinth a success. This is because it portrays the unique creepiness and attractiveness of Pale Man and the design would be extremely interesting to most people, which is the driving force that makes people want to finish watching the film. This scene is filled with the most tension in the whole movie, this is shown when Olefia is running away from the Pale Man, which truly gives us a sense pressure and strain towards Olefia. And the idea of using a hourglass as a representative of what is used to warn Olefia about the time is an object that is used in most olden movies which gives a classic feeling towards its genre.

Cinematography

Various cinematography is used in this extract, this is shown from the zoom out in the opening shot, to show the setting and location of this eerie world in a straightforward way, and raises awareness for audience for upcoming scenes. The shot showing a complete portrait of the dinner table of Pale Man explains to audience of what the creature likes to eat and the quantity that it consumes. Also, the close-up of the creature when it was sticking its eye toward its hand and the moment when it sticks its hand towards its face. This increases the excitement of the audience towards the Pale man, since the close-up clearly shows the extended, creepy hand of the creature, the sound it makes when it sticks the eye to its hand, the shape of its devilish eye and the exclusive nature of putting his hand near the face in order for it to see.

Lighting

Lighting is shown in the opening shot, when Olefia is walking towards the pale Man, 3-4 LED bulbs are used to reflect the setting and Olefia’s entire appearance clearly, and these bulbs are all shown to be reflecting on the floor to display a shaped-like sword, to show a possible foreshadowing of something she’s going to experience in further scenes and this reflection may be used to show the outside location inversely, noting that windows are available to block the outdoor scenery.

Mis-sen-scene

Mis-sen-scene is shown from the outline appearance of Pale Man, which is shown from its pale body, and the reason behind this may be because of its crime of admiring to consume young innocents kid, and his pale body may act as punishment to his crime, to warn him what consuming people will affect his life in the future, possibly becoming too pale and die, which is similar to how children he consumed easily died and his rapid habit of eating being the primary reason for this. The scene where he consume fairies reflect on cannibalism that is shown in previous inspiring films such as Silence of the Lambs or Red Dragon, how being a cannibal is a bad thing that can leave Pale Man in isolation and sadness, similar to how most cannibal characters in most movies are.

Special Effects

Special effects used in this scene is realistically notable and effective. This is shown from the frightening scene of how Pale Man consume the fairies, professionally showing their heads getting decapitated and an overloaded amount of blood splitting out of the fairies head. Also, the special effects is beautifully used to portray Pale man’s appearance, which shows careful detail that the filmmakers put in to design this outstanding creature. To conclude, special effects are truly amazing, despite low budget used.

Historical context/ socio-cultural context

Historical context is reflected from various portraits shown in Pale Man’s dinner hall which shows the Pale Man itself sadistically devouring these poor children with endless pleasure. This reflects the similarity when compared to Egyptians or Greeks, and it can be commented that the director used these historical contexts as a reference to designing these strangely beautiful portraits. This could also support the reason why this movie is widely admired people of various ages, since it deals with theme of fantasy for kids, theme of war for adults and reference to historical context for grandparents.

Sound Design Sound design is skillfully used, this is because of the soundtrack added in the

beginning of the shot, which provides audience with a feeling of curiosity and suspiciousness of something that’s showing up, which soundtrack like this can be used (if carefully chosen) to represent foreshadowing in films. The similar soundtrack is used when Olefia confronts the Pale Man, but this time provides audience with a sensation of fear and revulsion, after the extended shot of Pale Man’s complete appearance, which could arguably be commented that it’s impossible for audience to avoid confronting with Pale Man’s horrifying figure. After Olefia ate the grape (despite being warned by fairies) and Pale Man starts to find out what’s happening, a different soundtrack is used to create tension and excitement when Pale Man starts turning around to find the cause of the noise and how Pale Man starts to mindlessly chase Olefia across the corridor, providing audiences with rigidity and makes them feel like supporting her to escape from this evil being after witnessing what happened to those children in portraits, and a peaceful and relieved soundtrack is used to calm audiences down, explaining to them that these events have stopped now. Also, another soundtrack is used when fairies are consumed by Pale Man, this soundtrack is used to intentionally shock audiences of how sadistic the creature are and this provides audience with a short feel of sadness and caring for the eaten faries.

Setting

The setting is clearly located in the fantasy world of Pale Man, but it’s surrounded by realistic theme, which is shown in the opening shot which shows repeated objects that may seem to audience as an edited photo that just seem to multiply. But this provides audience with a sense of confusion, since it makes them feel like being stuck in an endless maze, which can be connected to the movie’s title (Pan’s labyrinth) which consists of the similar meaning to maze (from the word Labyrinth). The setting in the dinner hall, shows careful design and attention, to layout these nourishments in an organized way, sort of like it’s pointing towards the Pale Man, symbolizing that these food will be consumed by Pale Man at any minute. The nourishments shown on the table gives an audience a sense of hunger and starvation, possibly using this movie as an influence for audiences to purchase snacks after watching the film, adding profit to the cinema itself.