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Thursday, 10 November 2011

Analysing The Opening of Silence of The Lambs

Why is the opening clip a thriller not a horror?
Camera
Throughout the opening clip the camera tracks the girls movements giving the audience the impression that she was being chased leaning more towards the representation of a horror rather than a thriller film however as the clip progresses it becomes apparent that the women is not in any danger yet and is in fact doing an assault course. From this use of camera tracking it shows that she is the main character. When the female is in the office the camera overviews numerous photos relating to the same crime when she is looking around at it this gives the impression to the audience this is the main plot thats going to have an effect within  the movie. Introduces a new character into the mix the camera shot over the shoulders as soon as he arrives in the scene and  tells the female character to go to the station which sets and begins the storyline and the character turns around when woman goes pass him he has a serious facial expression, not good news perhaps? The camera follows a woman running through the forest, gives the idea that someone is chasing her but we soon find out that she is in a police training ground which is misleading. Still following the woman's storyline the camera is telling the audience in a way she is going to have the most impacted on the movie and being in the majority of it as well.

Lighting
The lighting at the beginning of the clip captured the time of day as it is early morning and foggy this gives the impression that it is quite a dull and gloomy film. The audience has a false sense of what's to come just from the use of lighting as this dark opening could be misleading which are factors of a thriller film.

Mise en Scene
When the male character (Police chief/boss) enters the room and informs the female character of her case to visit someone locked within an asylum again it gives the impression this will be playing up within the storyline of the movie itself.

Sound
The continuous music played during the clip where the woman is running. While the woman is heading into the station, gun shots are heard in the background which gives the impression to the audience what type of film it is. For example, comedy, horror or thriller and in this case it's a thriller. Gun shots being fired in the area  this again tells the audience what type of movie it is as well as the music in setting the scene or area of the movie. The audience are suddenly taken into a foggy forest and in the background a dark audio music playing this gives the impression its a thriller straight away as well a cold environment it is an overview shot in the beginning.

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