Wednesday 22 January 2014

The Silence Of The Lambs opening 6 minutes.


This is the opening scene that is seen. The very first setting sets the atmosphere or a dark place due to the misty sky and the bare trees. It almost looks like it was filmed in black and white or edited to look black and white. This sort of effect and use of colour will captivate the audience as to what may happen next or where this location is and what relevance it has the rest of the narrative. 


The change seen next is the character. This character is female with her hair tied back suggesting she is undertaking some sort of activity which requires a lot of concentration. She is also wearing a jumper with sweat stains suggesting the activity is something physical. This idea of strenuous physical activity is further shown with the diegetic sound of the characters' heavy breathing whilst she is trying to catch her breath. At first glance it seems she is running from something, but taking in account of the stains it seems as if she is training for something.



The next change in scene seen is the names of the actors. These are rolling whilst the first female character is running with a back tracking shot. The shot from behind shows audience where she is going and makes them familiar with her surroundings. During this, the sound heard is of her footsteps as she runs through the forest.


The thought of the character part taking in some sort of strenuous activity is shown here as she is seen climbing wall of rope to reach the other side. It seems as if she is training for something which requires a fit and healthy physique. The need for exercise explains the characters clothing of comfy clothing in which one can move about with ease. The viewers would see this scene as a major change from the eeriness of the previous scene as it seemed to be black and white and not much was revealed - whereas in this scene the imagery is in colour and the audience know more about what is happening and who is involved.
The next sound heard after the characters' grunt's as she climbs the rope is a male voice calling out to the female. This is heard before the male character is in sight and it filmed through a hand held camera making the effect of someone being followed apparent. The camera angle then changes to a behind shot of the two characters in the shot. The use of different angles gives the audience more perspective as they see the action from different angles and a point of view at one point with the hand held camera. The male character has to call out to the female character 5 times before she turns around and acknowledges he is there. She then follows his instruction of someone wanting to see the character in an office. This suggest he is in a slightly higher position than her. This is also evident from this choice of clothing.
This establishing shot shows the viewers where the female character has been asked to go. We know this because this is the very next location and scene after a meeting is mentioned. There is one similarity from the previous scene - this is the bare tree behind the building. Other than the trees this location looks completely different to the previous scenes. This suggests to the audience that there is a big change in people as well as their activities.
Once inside, it is clear it holds a different environment. This is because of the people seen in black t-shirts - they seem to be conversing and based in different groups of employees. Throughout this footsteps can be heard of people going up and down the stairs.
The next screengrab shows the female once again in a male dominated environment. She steps right in between them and does not seem to worry or feel like she is out of place in the lift. She is also wearing clothing to them and they are also much taller than her. This links back to when she was training outdoors on a course that viewers would usually associate with tall, strong males. This tall, strong person was seen as the FBI officer. The female character is also placed in close proximity with the other taller members. When she is seen coming out of the lift, she is seen leaving alone - suggesting the other people left the life before she did on a lower ground. This shows she is going to the top floor possibly to meet with someone in a higher position.
This shot of a sign sets the scene and atmosphere of building. Although the scene was set before with the other people, the sign further set the location in stone to where she is. Throughout this, again the main diegetic sound comes from the footsteps of the female character and also footsteps from others surrounding her. There is also a murmur heard of voices from a discussion, the two people having this discussion are soon revealed. This further creates question for the viewer as to why she has been called in while she was training and also why she is in that specific area of the building in which she has been called into.
A 3 shot is seen next, two males and the female character. The mise en scen of this shot reveals more information. The two characters seen are the two which were heard conversing in the previous scene grab. Their suits suggest they are of quite a high position. This is confirmed with their set of an office and formal looking background with one of the men perched on a desk with some papers in his hand. Most likely of some evidence they have gathered on a case they are working on. To further increase the essence of an office, markings can be seen on the board behind them. The markings either look like a map or a brainstorm regarding the case they may be talking about. Behind the man in the dark grey suit there seems to be a framed white paper - this could possibly suggest it is a certificate to show his qualifications. With the conversion between the two males and the female, it seems as if they know of her and and they respect her. They tell her to wait in the bosses office with a nice and calm tone. This sort of conversation in other films may come across as patronising from the two males to the female.
Once in the boss' office she begins to look around. This is one of the walls she sees. The wall contains cuttings from newspapers about a recent discovery of a serial killer. There is also a picture of a possible location for where one of the bodies was found. The camera then cuts back to close up of the female character where she seen as absorbing the information. In a generic scene this female character would be portrayed as taken back by the horrific headlines. However this still shows the female character showing stereotypical traits that would be taken on by the male character.
This mid shot shows the boss who had called the female character in the opening scene. His suit further shows his presence as the boss. Another cliche seen here is the boss watches her as she reads the articles and then starts to converse with them. Before he is revealed, he is blurred - this links back to the opening scene where the atmosphere consisted of the female character looking like she was running away from something or someone.

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