Cinematography, I believe, plays it’s part most heavily during the opening scene. This is mainly due to all the establishing shots and expert camerawork to create an atmosphere and give life to the world and characters. An integral use of cinematography in this opening scene would be the introduction of the colour filters. These colour filters play a key role in the film as they denote for the audience the mood of the scene and whether it is mythical or real. Its the use of these gold and blue filters and colour palates that make a particular shot in this sequence quite as powerful as it is.

The shot I am referring to is the one where the camera pans upwards in an ELS shot between the underworld and human world. It shows definitively for the audience the separation in distance between these worlds but at the same time the harmony between them as they can be connected with one simple upwards panning shot. The blue filter is utilised in the underworld whereas the gold filter is utilised for the human world, implying that at this stage of the film the human world is perhaps less sinister. However we know that this constantly changes throughout the film to suit the mood and the context of the scene.

Additionally, there is a shot that provides some insight as to the nature of the magical happenings in Pans Labyrinth. This shot is the over the shoulder shot from the insect creature that is revealed to be a fairy. The creature is watching what is happening to the humans and observing Ofelia. This is perhaps an indication that the fairy tale events and themes in the film are real and not just a figment of Ofelia’s imagination to distract her from the horrible real life events occurring.