Genre Research - Thriller: Pan's Labyrinth (Del Toro, 2006)

Given that we have three genres to choose between, and there are three members in our group, logically we decided to focus on one genre each - Timo is to research Horror, I will be researching Thriller and Simon will research Teen Dramas.

For me, Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favourite films, and given it's critical acclaim as a superb thriller, I decided to have a look at the opening sequence from the film. The first clip I found had no sound, however I was still able to note the main conventions explored in the clip. The video above shows the opening 11 minutes of the film, however, for the purpose of researching 'film sequence openings', I have only commented on the opening 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

The scene is set by the use of titles, telling us that the film is set in Spain in 1944, after the end of the Civil War. We are told that there are still armed men fighting the new fascist regime, however military posts have been established to 'exterminate the resistance'.

The panning movement of the camera (no pun intended) brings us to a close-up of a young girl, who's body language and facial expressions connote that she is distraught. After seeing the young girl's facial expressions, the sound mix is changed from a prevalent eerie yet melodic track, to the prioritisation of a voice-over on the narrative; at this point, the camera zooms into the young girl's (Ofelia) eye, and the cut takes us to a mythical setting, with a city within a cave, arrousing connotations of a dreamworld. This setting is further reinforced by the use of blue lighting (moonlight) and the voice-over, which has been mixed to sound unnatural and satanical, denoting that the setting holds secrets that are to be revealed.

Towards the end of the opening, we see Ofelia holding a fairy book, which also holds connotations of a dreamworld and a sense of something unnatural.