Pale Man Scene

Analyzing the Pale Man scene of Pan's Labyrinth. 

Typical fairy-tale conventions of other worlds, Ofelia needs to complete 3 tasks and is about to be given her next challenge, we see throughout the film that a sequence of 3 is often used. 

The mise-en-scene denotes her looking through the book to see her next task. The room is dark with a cold blue wash as there is no natural light. We see a long shot of Ofelia reading, this highlights her escapism. 

She looks in the book and we see what she needs to do. The shape of the pale man is similar to the womb - a symbol we see throughout the film - it implies that something will be born from this challenge. 

Close-up shot of hand touching the chalk - the chalk has been edited to make it come to life. 

Long shot of Ofelia looking through the tunnel, shows how small she is compared to what she is about to step into. Loud sound of the door suggests the huge gravity of the situation. Dramatic music with a low crescendo to build tension. The cross-fade gives a surreal dream like quality. The camera pans out the tunnel which shows how far she has to go and the difficulty of the task.  

As Ophelia enters the room we hear an echoey, swishing noise effect and see that it is extremely grand with pillars, archways and a long table with a huge feast spread across it. There is the sound of heavy breathing as the camera pans over the food, it looks delicious, tempting and tantalizing. The feast is like a biblical reference of the last supper. There are further biblical references when Ofelia eats the grape and is then punished for it, this gives us connotations of when Eve ate the apple.
The red fruits and colours seen across the table signify danger.

Ofelia is courageous, she walks straight up to the Pale Man to look at him rather than shy away.

As the story-board images of the Pale Man slaughtering children are displayed, we hear the sound effect of children crying. The story of the Pale Man is another biblical reference, it's similar to the story of King Herod.

Shot of a pile of children's shoes - connotations to the Holocaust and the many people who were killed. We see the fire burning in the background which gives connotations of hell.

We see the three locks which ties into the constant use of the three sequence we see throughout the film e.g. Ofelia's three tasks and the three fairies.  Ofelia is about to complete her task, we can hear her breathing heavily which provides tension and anticipation.

Close up of the key and the lock and then a close up of the hourglass which shows us she is half way through the task.

Over the shoulder shot of Ofelia retrieving the dagger. The silver and the gold shows wealth and power, the dagger looks sacrificial - it is important.

We see a wide long shot which tells us that all Ofelia needs to do is leave and the task will be complete but because she has a rebellious nature, she is the opposite of the fascist regime and is her own person so she doesn't just leave. We hear the sounds of a harp as Ofelia has realized how tantalizing the food is - as if the food is drawing her to it. We see an over the shoulder shot showing the Pale Man in the background as Ofelia eats a grape - shows that even though he has no eyes, he is still present and still watching.

Hear the cracking sounds of bones and nails, the Pale Man starts gasping as if he's been brought to life. It's gruesome and squeamish as he places his eyes in his hands. A typical fairy tale monster.
We empathize with the fairies at this point as they try to get Ofelia's attention. See a two person shot, Pale Man is behind on the left and Ofelia is the foreground on the right, pale man is left because he is evil.

Pale Man kills two of the fairies. Ofelia begins to run and the camera tracks her. Sound effect of breathing/growling as he chases her,  we see a side shot of him reaching out to see her. She tries to reach the door but the hourglass shows she is running out of time, the door closes and the camera pans away from the hourglass.

Constant pulling focus between Ofelia's legs and Pale Man as he gets closer and closer. Keeps the fast pace and has the audience on the edge of their seats as they want her to escape.