Editing in Pan's Labyrinth

Editing in Pan's Labyrinth

1. Creative use of editing

   • shot reverse shot when Ofelia comes face to face with the toad to show how close they are to each other so it builds tension and the audience doesn't know what will happen and as the over the shoulder shot slowly pans across creating a tense environment
   • In the pale man scene there are fades used to to show a sense of depth in the corridor to show the audience how scary the pale man is creating tension

2. Conveying messages and values

   • It shows the difference between the real world fascism and the fantasy world
   • Conveys fascism in a negative way and encourages a child's imagination as it is better than the real world

3. Principal elements

   • shot duration has an effect for example there are quite long shots throughout the film but when there is action filled scenes the shots are very short and time moves very quickly building tension for the audience
   • Continuity editing - maintains narrative and reality for example in the pale man scene the shots cut to different angles creating the impression that the audience are actually there watching it happen
   • crossfade - for example when Ofelia lays with her mother then a cross fade effect occurs to transition to Captain Vidal which helps juxtapose with the colours showing the good and the bad

4. Indication of an auteur approach and film asthetics

   • The editing in the film give sit a sense of motion which is important as it interweaves the civil war in spain and the make belive world of the protagonist. Also, the movie is two stories in one and so the transitions are very important.