Once Upon A Time Gothic Elements

The award winning ABC Series, “Once Upon a Time”, unites distantly related fairy tale characters such as Elsa, Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, and Ariel in a fictional, present day town in Maine named Storybrooke to forge new relationships and experiences. Although “Once Upon a Time” is a modern television show, it contains many Gothic elements. These elements include gloomy settings, an interest in the past, and an interest in original sin and the supernatural.
The settings of “Once Upon a Time” are gloomy in nature. To create the dark mood, the graphic designer used gloomy colors and death. For example, after Emma’s arrival in Storybrooke, the apples on Regina’s apple tree begin to spoil, and whenever a curse is enacted, dark green or purple storm clouds occult the sky blocking out the sun. The character’s appearances also help to set the dismal mood. When a person turns toward their dark passions, their appearances and even their voices change. This is especially evident in the characters, Rumpelstiltskin and Emma Swan. When Rumpelstiltskin turns evil, his skin appears rough and scaly, and it changes to a tarnished brass color. He begins to wear a rust colored vest with a popped collar on top of a leather jacket, and his voice changes to a creepy, higher pitched voice. Emma starts wearing a black leather trench coat and dark red
For example in the episode, Nimue, the show flashes back 2000 years to explain that Merlin got his magic and immortality by drinking from the Holy Grail. The main characters also travel back in time to faraway places. For example in the current season, the main characters travel to Camelot to free Merlin in order to release the evil from Emma Swan, Snow White’s daughter. The past plays an important role in the plot of “Once Upon a