pans labyrinth and film form- summer work

Pan's labyrinth uses film form to portray messages to the audience in many ways, it also adds effect to the most simplest devices used in film.

In the opening scene of Pan's labyrinth the sound of the breathing is non-diegetic this is done to emphasise the significance of the event which has occured. To add to this the sound then turns to a diegetic sound, this allows tension to build within the audience as it creates a sense of mystery, which is then solved by the sound changing to diegetic.

The cinematography in Pan's labyrinth conveys particular messages about the character and setting. For example, a low-angled shot is used to suggest the character is at rock bottom and to suggest she has little life left to live. Additionally, the camera then tilts and a panning shot is used to go into her eye. The tilt in the shot suggest that something is not unusual and the idea of the camera going into her eye may suggest that she is imagining the events to come. To add to,during the editing the characters  injuries such as a nose bleed rewinds which suggest we are going back in time this is a direct link to the fact that the exact same shot appears when the film ends.

The lighting in these shots tends to be blue, this may indicate that setting of the film is a heartless place. The mise-en-scene in the opening scene links to when the film was set ,the costumes add to this effect and make is seem more life like.

The ending scene is almost the exactly the same as the opening ,although more information in unveiled, e.g the sound of the humming which was non diegetic in the opening was the maid who was sitting with her dead body.

Moreover,  the ending scene places dramatic effect on the blood of our female protagonist as it was significant to the last task. The camera zooms into her hand to allowing the audience to see a close-up which places further emphasis. The mid-shot of the blood dripping into the water symbolises her key to the mythical world.  In addition , a major contrast in the lighting is used as it goes from blue to gold toned lighting, this connotes to wealth and happiness and suggests she's in a better place. However this causes some confusion as the audience is left unsure if the events were real or in her imagination , this is because if she was dead how could she imagine her afterlife.

The editing in the final scene highlights the difference in settings as a quick cut is used. As well as the editing the mise-en- scene adds to the contrast this is because the settings suggest happiness and the costumes suggest wealth and freedom ,this completely opposes the opening scene.