Pans Labyrinth directed by Guillmero Del Toro is presented in a way that creates meaning through audio and visual elements. This essay will examine these techniques within the film's opening sequence which introduces the protagonist, motifs, themes, and overall aesthetic of the film, as well as discuss the sequence in the overall context of the film. This sequence incorporates elements such as music, non-digetic and digetic sounds, framing/angle techniques and movement, color, lighting and editing to establish a wide range of interpretations. Throughout Pan's Labyrinth there are several conflicting factors, all introduced in the first three minutes. The sequence first defines the type of story that Pan's Labyrinth is, a children's book and a kind of sinister fairy tale. Then the following elements are juxtaposed, adulthood and childhood, cruel reality and imagination, and a kind of heaven is contrasted with a kind of hell, these elements are all integrated into the images of the picture book. This essay will analyze the opening sequence of Pan's Labyrinth in depth, using cinematic techniques as evidence. The opening sequence of the film Pan's Labyrinth resembles the opening of a book, especially a children's story. The first thing the audience sees are the opening credits. The text is white on a black background, the simplistic style resembles text on the pages of a book, except the colors are reversed. The opening sequence uses continuity editing and the scene unfolds step by step. This editing style combined with the subtle dissolve between each shot reflects the turning of the pages of a book. The camera then steps out of the darkness to reveal the hand of the protagonist, Ophelia. His hand is shown in the center of the paper. Parts of the screen are somewhat obscured by shadows. The lower is uninviting and cold as are the colors, dark and gloomy while the opposite is inviting and there is a sense of warmth and prosperity in the golden light and the hellish and evil aspect takes up much more space in this world than in the celestial one. The opening sequence of Pan's Labyrinth promotes a variety of interpretations in a short period of time. Del Toro combines many cinematic techniques to tell a story both visually and narratively. This sequence highlights the type of story that Pan's Labyrinth is, as well as introducing both the reality and fantasy of the film, thus contrasting the world of a child and that of an adult and juxtaposing a sort of heaven and hell. Del Toro created a world where the harsh qualities of reality are reinforced in fantasy and the only escape is death.