Mise-en-scene: Pan's Labyrinth and City of God

As an auteur, Del Toro has a reputation for a detailed and idiosyncratic approach to mise-en-scene. Most of his production designs (of settings, props, characters) originate from sketch work that he produces meticulously in notebooks. He is consequently a director who prefers the physicality of animatronics and model work to CGI.

Setting - settings in the fantasy world and the real world are contrasted in terms of the use of colour, the types of shots used and the architecture. The magical Kingdom - a place of joty and sanctuary, is brightly lit, resplendont in gold - clearly a fantasy world of happiness etc. The mill is dark, lowkey lighting hinting at the violence there - it is presented almost like a prison, dimly lit with fires burning casting a meancing, hellish glow around it's master Vidal. The labyrinth is an otherwordly place, earthy and overgrown, ancient and potentially sinister. The woods are frequently brightly lit (unless it is raining) suggesting freedom, safety and snactuary

Make-up - the make-up in Pan's Labyrinth, a film firmly rooted in the fantasy genre, is a crucial element of mise-en-scene, used to create realistic, otherworldly and chilling fantasy creatures (such as the Fawn, the Pale Man and the Toad). Arguably the most memorable sequence in the film features the Pale Man who, woken by Ofelia's transgression as she eats the plump grapes from his table, chases her from his lair. The use of make-up and CGI achieves a truly terrifying creation - the pale man sees through eyes in his hands (which he raises to his face)  - eats fairies!

Makeup - designed to make the creatures (a) seeem like they might have sprung from the imagination of a child - childlike simplicity (b) threating and beautiful at the same time

Props - there are frequent close ups on props to imply their narrative significance to the audience but also to hint at character traits. A good example of this can be found near the beginning of the film when the audience are introduced to Captain Vidal as he impatiently waits for his bride (Ofelia's mother) and Ofelia to arrive. The first shot of Captain Vidal is preceded by an extreme close up of his watch. His obsession with detail and correct behaviour (the party are late) and his need for precision (as well as his narcisitic vanity) are mirrored in this watch. We find out that it was his father's, a famous general, and that the glass was shattered as he went into battle and died. The watch is, then, a symbol of Vidal's macho need to ape his father's bravery as a means of proving himself (and bettering his father) and also evidince of his own fastidiousness (he is critical, demanding, hard to please and excessively particualr about detail - character traits that are important later in the narritve when he spots things such as...that lead him to uncover the treachery of...finding the vial of medicine leads him to realise that people within the camp have been helping the rebels etc etc). This attention to detail invloves more than just repeairng watches (something which we witness him doing later in the film) - it has a darker connotation in the torture scenes where he clearly delights in the sickening tools of the torturers trade such as skewers and pliers (which are props that are also shown in close up.

Most of the props linked to Vidal are symbols of his brutality - tools, razor, guns etc

Props linked to Ofelia - books, imagination/escape/inquisitiveness ets

Keys - different forms used differently by Vidal (to lock, to control etc) and by Ofelia (the stone at the beginning, the chalk, the actual keys - to escape, unlock another world to allow her to remove herself from the brutal reality of Spain and her life etc

the antibiotics - close ups and discussion - signifying to the audience their narrative importance - he finds one at the campfire - raises suspiscions, sees similar one in Drs box when he tends to the stuterer etc leads to Drs death...

The drugs for Ofeilias mum - close up lots of dialogue - used later to drug Vidal and help Ofelia escape with her brother

the food in the Pale Man sequence - red, danger, opulent temptation

Costume - Ofelia green - at one with nature, distances her from the brutal regime - green innocence?
Her dress = conformity - she refuses to conform and ruins it - a slight on her mother and particularly Vidal

Soldiers - cold grey of fascist uniforms, neat ordered, emotionless - no room for sentiment

Ofelia's costume in the magic kingdom - regal, huge contrast to her peasant clothes...