Pan’s Labyrinth: Cinematography

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The sequence that takes place in the underworld is all one shot. The shot tracks the girl in the scene who is the girl in the story being told. The camera crabs right to follow her and has a floaty/ dream-like quality to it, which adds to the idea that this is a fairytale type story. The camera tracks the girl up a set of stairs and the frame becomes engulfed with a bright light. This bright light could represent this girl being blinded and subsequently dying.

There is a close up on the insect that comes out of the statue which then becomes a smooth tracking shot of the insect. A few shots later the insect flies into the frame and then the camera focuses on it. The camera then follows the insect for the rest of the shot, with the camera dollying forward as the convoy starts to move again and then arcing around the tree. This shot puts us in the perspective of the insect which establishes it and suggests to us that the insect is going to come back into play later in the story (which we know turns out to be a fairy).

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

When we are with the Captain and the Doctor in the Captain’s room, the shots create a sense that the Captain is dominant over the Doctor. We get a wide shot of the Captain with a low angle which tilts up to make it so that the Captain appears to be towering over the Doctor when he stands up. A mid shot of the Doctor turns into an over the shoulder shot as the Captain enters the frame which shows us that the Captain is physically looking down on the Doctor, making him look small.

There is a POV shot of the Captain from the perspective of the victim as he is having is face bashed by the Captan. This shot has a low angle to emphasise the Captain’s dominance over him. We then get an over the shoulder shot of the victim so that we are forced to view the brutality of what’s happening from the Captain’s perspective. We then get another POV shot from the victims perspective which adds to the Captain’s dominance again.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

This sequence starts off with a close up of a gramophone, which pans to follow the Captain’s hand movements and tilts up making the Captain seem powerful. The sequence also has slow and smoothly flowing handheld movements in each shot so that when there are cuts a nice flow is maintained. We get close ups of the blade and then him actually shaving so that we are right up against what’s happening and to emphasise that the Captain is confident while using this dangerous object.

The scene cuts to a mid shot of the Captain scrubbing his boot, with the camera zooming in to tighten the frame. We then get a close up of the boot to emphasise its importance to the Captain. This shot also tightens to emphasise just how clean the boot is. This gives us the message that the Captain cares a lot about his appearance, making it seem like the Captain views having a clean and spotless appearance is an important factor in keeping his authority over the people around him.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

At the start of this sequence, the characters are going off on journeys and so the characters alway go from left to right as that shows to us that they are venturing out of their usual location. We get a mid shot that is handheld with floaty movements to make it seem somewhat carefree, much like Ofelia. The lighting is made up from bright natural light as Ofelia is happy going on her journey to her first trial. Once she reaches the tree, the camera has slower movements to focus on the tree. The camera pans around Ofelia to become close to an over the shoulder shot which tilts upwards to a wide shot of Ofelia and the tree.

When Ofelia enters the tree, the shot is very dark from the inside with the only lighting coming from outside. This tells us that the interior of the tree isn’t going to be a very comfortable place for Ofelia to be in. Ofelia is silhouetted in the frame, creating a link between the storybook that she has been reading.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

The Pale Man is usually within the frame of almost every shot, mostly being out of focus except for when Ofelia goes right up to him. This subtly tells the audience that he is going to be involved in the scene later and serves as a reminder that he is always there. Him being out of focus tells us that Ofelia herself is not focus on him as she is more interested in completing her trial, as well as emphasising her temptation to eat the food that’s on the table.

When the Pale Man starts to wake up after Ofelia eats a grape, the camera focuses specifically on whichever part of him is starting to move. At first, this is a close up on his hands they snap awake. Within the same shot, the camera tilts upwards to show his face which only wakes up once it’s within the frame. The Pale Man starts to stumble over to Ofelia, but he is out of focus even as he gets closer and closer. He comes into focus as soon as Ofelia turns around which tells us that Ofelia is now fully aware of the danger that she is now in. This is emphasised by the close up on the Pale Man which acts as a POV shot of him from Ofelia’s perspective.