The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 thriller that also contains aspects of crime and horror. The film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel that holds the same name, featuring canabalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter.
In the film, the main character Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer who is only known as "Buffalo Bill".
Director - Jonathan Demme
Producers - Kenneth Utt
Edward Saxon
Ron Bozman
Screenplay by - Ted Tally
Starring - Jodie Foster
Anthony Hopkins
Scott Glenn
Ted Levine
Music by - Howard Shore
Cinematography - Tak Fujimoto
Edited by - Craig McKay
Distributed by - Orion Pictures
The film opens displaying the company that distributed the film, and then music starts to fill the screen. The music starts off as creepy and high pitched violin sounds as an image of the woods appear to start off the movie. You are able to see the woods, and the serif text 'Woods near Quantico, VA' appears on the bottom right hand side of the screen, telling the audience where the location is, the use of serif font also portrays to the audience as informative.
The music sporadically changes pitch, one second it is very high pitches and it then changes to low pitch straight after, this creates a sense of uncertainty. "A STRONG HEART/DEMME PRODUCTION" comes up at this point to tell the audience what other companies are involved in the making of this movie.
All the titles are in capitals and bold black print. "JODIE FOSTER" is the first name to appear, soon followed by "ANTHONY HOPKINS". Each name is placed in the centre of the screen and takes up the majority of the screen. They do not come on to the screen in any particular way, they just flashed up and flashed back down to reveal the next name, there is no swiping or dissolving of the names. 3 names appear first, and then the title of the movie, which stays on the screen for a longer period of time than any other credits so far, this tells the audience what the title of the movie is.
There is a high angle shot showing the pathway in the woods and you are able to see a character running up the hill. There is heavy mist in the air creating suspense and mystery for the audience. More credits appear soon after, including the names TED LEVINE, ANTHONY HEALD. There is then a pause in the names as you see the main character come to the top of the hill.
There is then a tracking shot from behind Clarice as we follow her running through the woods, we are able to see her movement as if we are a person following closely behind. This helps build character and enables the audience close contact with the main character and an insight into her every day life.
There is then 3 names projected on top of the video footage, BROOKE SMITH, DIANE BAKER, & KASI LEMMONS, the music still continues to play violin music, however it has taken a much more sinister tone as it develops into the sequence. 3 more names appear on screen; CHARLES NAPIER, TRACEY WALTER & ROGER CORMAN. The font of these names are very bold, and are jet black in the middle and have white outlining, this could signify and mimic the character of Hannibal who we are yet to meet, as things may seem okay and safe on the outside (white) however dark, dangerous and mysterious on the inside (black). There is then a frontal mid shot of Clarice, allowing you to see her up close, there is the diegetic sounds of her heavy breathing and her clothing is very utilitarian and boxed standard.
There is a lot of straight cuts throughout the piece allowing us to see Clarice from many different angles, by doing this it creates the illusion that someone is watching her, and solidifies the genre of this film being creepy and dark.
The opening scene holds many enigma codes, these are questions that are being asked whilst watching the film. Questions include why is she in the woods? Why is she running? Is someone after her? These all hold suspense for the audience and lets them try and discover what the film is about. Their questions do become answered eventually as they continue with the film as later on in the sequence you find out she is actually doing extra training for her policing work, showing she is a very hard worker and takes full care in what she does.
There is multiple shots of the characters feet, and you can hear the diegetic sounds of leaves crunching over the non diegetic sounds of the music. 3, more names come up onto the screen, RON VAWTER, DANNY DARST, & FRANKIE FAISON. The music intensifies and we get a close up of Clarices face as she tenses her jaw. More credits appear: PAUL LAZAR, DAN BUTLER, & CHRIS ISAAK.
We then see the character climb up a wall made out of wood and rope, indicating her police training and her extra hard work, the camera moves from shooting the back of her, to being in front of her and watching her climb over the wooden beams at the top, it does not edit at all whilst making this shift. Nor does it edit or straight cut when she continues to run through the forest. We hear another characters voice at this point, and it is the first voice we hear in the sequence. The music becomes quieter as we are introduced to a conversation between the characters.
Sound in this part of the extract is key as we hear the male character say 'crawford wants to see you in his office', and Clarice replies with 'thank you Sir'. This shows a very informal relationship between these characters and signals the audience to start asking questions about who this women is and whose office she is being sent to. We immediately get the answer to this question as the male character turns to watch Clarice run in the opposite direction, we see he is wearing an FBI hat, indicating they are in the police force.
There is then a short break before any other casting names come into screen, where we see Clarice enter the policing sight and we can see many other people training, we are able to hear diegetic sounds such as chatter and running, there is also the banging sounds added to the non diegetic music.
As the scene progresses, names appear on the screen sporadically, these include the costume designers name, COLLEEN ATWOOD. Who the music is by; HOWARD SHORE. Casting by; HOWARD FLEUR. The music eventually fades completely from the scene, and we are now able to hear ambient sounds from people within the police office, we hear dialogue between colleagues, whilst still getting credits, the credits that come onto the screen at this point are not as important as the ones that came onto the screen at the start of the sequence.
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