Category Three: Mis-en-scene/Composition

The pink panther himself is an allusion to the diamond, pink in colour and has an unusual flaw that looks like a leaping panther. This allusion makes the opening much more interesting to watch because it wouldn't be funny and mysterious watching an inspector search for a jewel.
The personification of the jewel as a panther creates a more entertaining and amusing atmosphere, which captivates the viewer ensuring that they want to watch the rest of the film.

Some of the props have a meaning behind them, such as the magnifying glass and torch which both appear at least twice. The torch is a symbol of searching for something that is hiding, in the shadows or somewhere dark and secluded. The magnifying glass is a symbol that you are seeking for something that is small and in an unknown location. It may be under a floorboard or hiding behind the mirror, the magnifying glass shows that what is being searched for is small.

The use of the smoke machine, used by the pink panther shows that he is covering his tracks from Inspector Clouseau. This is shown by the way that the panther looks cautiously behind him as he walks acros the screen with the fog machine in tow. And then the inspector comes through the fog as just a silhouette at first, with a torch searching for the jewel (image above). Fog often symbolises obscuring what people see, so the use of the machine symbolises just that, the panther is obscuring what the inspector sees, he shows him what he wants to see, that he has nearly caught the jewel.

The use of the long sheet of music that Inspector Clouseau gets all tangled up in is a symbol that the inspector is trapped and muddled when it can to the jewel. He isn't sure which way to go, where it will be or who will be guarding it if at all. He is just getting more and more trapped as he goes his own way searching for the jewel. The jewel is very valuble, priceless even and if he continues to get trapped and tangled then he will never get free and find the precious jewel.



And finally the poster is a symbol of the end of the search as it floats away in the breeze, that Inspector Clouseau never finds the jewel and just gives up in the end. The poster shows that not only is the pink panther missing but Inspector Clouseau is also when he "falls" into the poster, he is missing because he is continually avoiding assassins and being caught although it is unintentionally.

These allusions and symbols prepare and set the viewer up for the ideas used during this film. The magnifying glass shows or hints to the viewer that one of the main ideas is searching for something. This is shown by the way the inspector peers into the glass closely showing what he is looking for is small.