Principal photography was wrapped in three months. Shooting in Spain also afforded the crew a 5 ½ day work schedule and a slower working pace, which allowed Navarro the time to set up scenes and shots in a more deliberate fashion. This was a great benefit considering the American grip & electric system they used in Mexico was much different from the system European crews were accustomed to. Since the crew wasn’t set in their habits, Navarro was able to use them any way he saw fit.
It ended up working wonders for the team. He and Navarro had to put together a film crew with mostly strangers and inexperienced workers, and had no idea what to expect. Because Pedro Almodóvar was shooting Volver at the same time, much of del Toro’s Spanish crew was unavailable to work on the shoot. Pan’s Labyrinth was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, its production being 78% Spanish and 22% Mexican. Having worked with del Toro before on the Hellboy films and others, he was a perfect choice to shoot Pan’s Labyrinth. He is known for his use of vivid blues and yellows that dominate his images. Navarro is a Mexican cinematographer whose credits include Desperado, From Dusk til Dawn, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Jackie Brown, Spawn, Stuart Little, Spy Kids, Zathura, Night at the Museum, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, and Pacific Rim.
The director of photography tasked with putting this vision on screen was Guillermo Navarro, who succeeded enough to win the Academy Award for Cinematography for his work. The look, in particular, of the film helped bring to life perhaps the purest version of del Toro’s vision. The 2006 historical fantasy is loaded with the Mexican filmmaker’s pet themes, and includes creatures and designs personally conjured up by del Toro and bearing his signature style. Pan’s Labyrinth is very much a Guillermo del Toro film.