Millie Joshua

The opening scene to this part of the Pan’s Labyrinth starts with a close up of an egg timer. This reveals that she is under pressure to find the key before it runs out, which builds tension within the scene, the pleonastic sound of the sand grains falling into the timer also enhances this as it shows how important every second is. The airy-windy sound also reveals her isolation as the corridors are empty and long. As the character turns around to check how long she has on the timer, we see a sense of worry in her face and also we hear her breathing heavy - which reveals to us that this could be a scene where things go wrong. As the shot of the location widens we see long airy corridors that show the main character, a young girl, to be isolated and at risk as she is on her own which is typically a situation that a young adult would be in, rather than a young girl. This contrasts with her costume as she wears a pastel blue coloured cardigan and dress, which reflects her young age but her independence throughout the clip shows us that she is very mature for her age. This is also shown further into the scene as despite what she is advised to do she rebels against it.

The low key lighting throughout the scene of dark blacks and red colours connotes a sense of danger as she explores the unknown, and the only traces of light are reflections from the ceiling above her - where her safe place is, her bedroom. As she reaches the dining table she is greeted by a table full of bright, vibrant food. The food is presented this way to attract her, as she is not allowed to eat it - which relates to the story of Adam and Eve, as despite being told not to eat the food Adam still ate it. We then see a wide shot of the girl walking whilst looking at the food, obviously with desire to eat it. This successfully makes the audience on edge, as they long for her to not give in to temptations - but obviously there are many hints within this scene that suggest she will. Eventually the character realises that she is not on her own, and sat at the end of the table is a creature ‘The Pale Man.’ We hear a non diegetic strike when she realises that the creature is there, to shock the audience and enhance danger. In the background we now hear faint noises of babies crying, and on the walls we see a shot of a person eating and killing babies. Additionally, we then see a pile of baby shoes. This shows the audience that the mysterious corridors of the location are filled with danger and darkness, which worries the character as her breathing gets heavier.

As the character goes to unlock the lock, we see a zoom in shot of the egg timer as it shows us her time is running out. The non diegetic sound accompanied with this shows us success as she finds the key, but straight after we hear sounds of tension and faster pace music as she gives into temptation and eats the food. As the monster wakes up and looks around for the girl, we see an over the shoulder shot with a shallow focus as she doesn’t realise it is behind her. As the creature puts his arm out to see where she has gone, we hear a loud baby screaming which indicates she is in danger. The doors shut close which creates worry for the audience as the character is at risk and the monster is coming, which is also heightened as she struggles to get her chalk out and a piece of it snaps. The screams and roars put the audience on edge as the monster gets closer and time

Millie Joshua

runs out. As the character finally gets back to her safe place, the lighting changes from reds and blacks that represents danger to greys and blacks that show isolation. This scene shows stereotypical features of a horror film as there is a final girl left, as she has survived the dangers which is commonly seen in other films too such as ‘Alien.’