Right from the start Pan's Labyrinth works to establish a contrast from the real world and the fantasy world, using  mise-en-scene and the atmosphere of the environment to do so. The opening scene displays light colours, creating a warm feel and connoting with ideas of freedom and youth when we see Ofelia. However, this is almost instantly opposed when we meet the general, Vidal. The colours change from warm and vibrant to cold and sinister, lines go from playful and squiggly to straight and sharp, highlighting Vidal's harsh demena and the sobering truth of reality. There are several POV shots in the opening scene that help demonstrate Ofelia's youth, and her wonder with the world. When she looks up to the sky and through the trees there is an almost magical feel, establishing the 'fairy tale' world we will experience throughout the film. This use of Cinematography is then followed by the giant bug that Ofelia sees climbing from an ancient stone carving. This once again connotes ideas of fantasy and adventure, as it flies away, Ofelia looking at it in awe, desperately wanting to know where it came from. Performance is of key importance in this scene as well as it sets up the difference in the ideas of the children compared with the adults. Ofelia's mum mocks her for reading fairy-tale books, saying "You're a bit too old to be filling your head with such nonsense". This sets the pace for the rest of the film as it draws a fine line between the children (Ofelia) and the adults' way of thinking, hinting that Ofelia will be the only one with access to the fairy tale world. The subtitles at the start of the film are edited in a way which demonstrates the importance of them, slowly fading onto the screen and taking a while to leave, setting a scene in the audience's head. The shots are also slow moving, panning over landscapes and caves, really making the audience take in what's in-front of them, once again highlighting themes of fantasy and adventure in the lay-out of the shots. The shots themselves are full of different landscapes, panning from dark abandoned underworlds to bright warm colours,  displaying ruined castles above ground. This immediately represents the contrast between the two worlds, fantasy and reality. Shots with Vidal and Ofelia are often pictured in a way which demonstrates the power Vidal holds over Ofelia, casting Ofelia at a low angle and Vidal at a higher angle to portray this. 

 

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