This film starts with one word and one image, or lack of image as the case may be. We hear the word "darkness" and the screen is black, this straight away puts the audience on a level playing field because they are seeing what the character is seeing. We then see a figure above us rising up through the water towards the light, this is riddled with the kind of universally understood symbolism that children's films favour.
 We are treated to an extreme close up of his eyes opening before we zoom outward to see the whole of his face, the audience can tell that this is the narrator telling us his story and at this confusing early stage we want to know more about what is going on. After following his line of sight up to the moon for a long enough time to know that it is key to the plot it switches to an establishing shot. Now the audience can see that we are in a snowy forest by a small lake. The figure is very small in this shot which makes him seem vulnerable, helping the audience to empathise with him something that is carried on in the next high angle shot. Another way the audience is helped to side with this character is through the narration, it gives this sequence a personal feel as well as explaining what is going on.
 The music is subtle in the background and serves the purpose of making the actions seem mystical for the benefit of the children watching whilst not actually distracting from the action, it also highlights the fact it is night. This changes though as the boy discovers he can do magic, it picks up in pace, pitch and volume, there is also an increase in the pace of the shots which picks up the action and mood.
 There is a consistent colour scheme done in a way that can only really be achieved with animated films, it makes the time of year obvious (hence snow) and gives a general christmas feel, something that is required of a seasonal film.