Pale Man Scene

Cinematography is used effectively in the Pale man scene, incorporating an interesting colour scheme to help emphasise the fantasy elements of the pale man's lair. The colour is a warm yellow, a stark contrast to the cold blue reality of the outside world, emphasising that Ofelia is now in the fantasy world. A wide shot at the start illustrates the vastness of the hall she is in, the size possibly telling us how daunting the adventure she is about to embark on is going to be. 

The Mise-en-scene of the sequence is a strange one, as the table full of mouth-watering food and the  magical church-like room with seemingly mystic pictures contrast greatly to the saggy, pale, warped 'man' sitting near the fireplace. As the scene continues the pictures on the ceiling come closer and the reality of what they actually are come as a shock to the audience. Vivid imagery unfolds with the pictures, graphic paintings of the Pale-man stabbing and eating children. This idea of children being captured by this monster is further reinforced when we see piles of children's shoes in the corner of the room, possibly linking in with 'Nazi' themes as children in concentration camps shoes' were often taken off them before the gas chamber. This also relates to Captain Vidal and the Fascism in the real world,  drawing a resemblance between the Pale Man and the Captain, making the audience wonder whether they're actually that different.

 Iconography is also used in the use of the Pale Man's eyes. He uses the eyes to see what he wants to see, with no interpretation of anything else. The same could be said about Vidal and his fascist ruling, for example when he kills a dad and his son because he believed them to have broken into the camp, without questioning the real truth. It could be said that Del Toro is attempting to use the Pale man to illustrate what is happening in the real world, the fascists only believing what they want to with a strict dictatorship over everyone around them, apart from the resistance. In this instance Ofelia may be representing the resistance of the real world, disobeying the Pale man by stealing the dagger and eating the fruit, and almost paying for this with her life. In reality this is also the case, the resistance disobeying the facist's ruling, alot of them also paying for this with their lives. 

Continuous cuts are used in the sequence to build tension with the audience, representing the abuse he has handed out to the children over the years. 

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