presentation on the micro elements in silence of the lambs

1. Opening Sequence
Katie, Abi, Matt and Alex

2. Editing

3. Jump cuts Swipe
Credits and
Title
The Match cut
Edits
The female
protagonist
running

4. Title and Credits
During the opening scene of Silence of the Lambs
the credits appear on the screen in bold
accompanied by a voice over whilst there is and
establishing shot of the woods.
As the camera pans down the title of the film
appears again in big bold writing before
disappearing again.
After we have been introduced to the female
protagonist the credits continue as she tackles the
obstacle course.

5. The Female protagonist running.
During the credits there is a close up shot of the
female protagonist feet. During this close up her
running is increasingly sped up. This creates a
unfocused look and gives us the feeling that she
is running as fast as she can as if she is trying to
get away from something and is in danger. This
may link to her fear and her need to run away
from something or someone later on in the film.

6. Swipe and Jump Cuts
When the female protagonist is summoned to
the office she uses a lift. The opening of the lift
doors creates a Swipe effect which then leads on
to the next scene of her walking to the office.
Throughout the opening scene there are jump
cuts when the scene changes quickly from one
location to another. For example when she is in
the woods and the by the building.

7. Match Cut
When the female protagonist is in the office she
and is speaking to the man there is a match cut.
Depending on who is talking the camera will
focus on that person and then cut to the other
person when they talk. Another example would
be when the man talks about the ID as the
camera focuses on the ID just after he talks
about it and then cuts back to the man.

8. Sound

9. Sounds
Birds Calling
Protagonists
Breathing
Pace of
Music
Manner of
Speaking

10. Birds Calling
At the beginning of the opening sequence
we hear birds calling suggesting that the
sequence is taking place outside
somewhere, most probably in the country.
This sound is important as it sets an
indication of place, which is a factor that
typical opening sequences contain.

11. Protagonists Breathing
The next sound heard is a woman
breathing, the way that she is breathing
suggests that she is physically tired and is
doing some sort of exercise. As opening
sequences usually give an introduction to
the main character we are lead to believe
that as this woman is the first character
we hear she is the protagonist.

12. Pace of Music
As the protagonist starts to run faster the pace of the music
gets quicker which builds tension leading the audience to
believe that something bad will happen. This tension shows
us the genre of the film as thrillers use a lot of tension to
create an effect on the audience. Showing the genre proves
that this is a good opening sequences and once the
audience knows what genre the film is in the beginning,
they can decided whether they would want to carry on
watching the film, instead of having to watch it to the end
to discover this.

13. Manner of Speaking
When the man in the office talks to the
protagonist she responds in a formal
manner suggesting that she is of a
lower status than him most likely in her
job. This could mean that she is forced
and obliged to talk to him in this way.

14. Mise-en-scene

15. Setting and
Props
Make-up
Lighting
Costume
The
Mise-en-scene

16. Setting and Props
The eerie feeling at the start is also shown
by the building being in the middle of a
clearing outside a forest with no sign of
other buildings around. This could suggest
isolation and an attempt to stay hidden.
Lastly, the walls in the office scene are
covered with photos showing that the FBI
is always looking for clues as to solve the
cases that they have been given.

17. Lighting
Silence of the Lambs starts with having an
eerie mood and a sense of fear which
could be echoed later in the film. The
eerie mood starts in the first scene of the
woods because it’s shows the tops of a
forest of trees overlooking a lake with a
blue, natural, low-key lighting suggesting
it’s a cloudy day in Winter…

18. Costume
A female character is then introduced who is seen
running through an obstacle course. She seems to have
been running for a while by the beads of sweat on her
face and the patch on her jumper.
The level of fear is put in here because certain camera
angles and how the camera follows the female could
also show that there is a sense of loneliness because
she is the only one doing the obstacle course. This is
until a man shouts her name and catches up to her. He
is wearing a bright vest and a FBI cap showing his
importance over the female would is wearing some
plain, warm jogging clothes.

19. Make-up
She challenges the female stereotype
by being less feminine than other
females in media by having a more
masculine voice and not wearing a lot
of make-up, but still wears earrings
showing she still has a feminine
personality.

20. Camera

21. Pan Shot
Over the
Shoulder
Close-ups
Camera
Establishing
shot

22. Establishing Shots
In the opening of Silence of the Lambs there is an
Establishing shot which shows the audience that this
scene is set in a forest. I feel that this sets the mood of
the opening as quite eerie. This is because being in a
forest often means you're hidden away from everyone,
so you're much less safe.
The eerie setting to the opening is later backed up
again by another establishing shot which shows the FBI
area. This creates an unpleasant atmosphere as it
makes the audience question the enigma of why the
FBI are in the middle of a forest.

23. Pan Shots
In the opening of Silence of the Lambs there is
a Pan Shot which follows our protagonist
through an obstacle course. I feel that this
follows the action and highlights that the
protagonist is athletic / trained in some way.
Another pan shot is used as the camera
follows the protagonist into the FBI building.
This shows that she is of importance as it was
fluent, suggesting that she wasn't stopped to
see ID as she is well known

24. Close-ups
Close ups are used to highlight the
important information in the FBI
Building, we see this when it shows a
newspapers of the antagonist, Hannibal
Lecter. The close ups show the
importance of this character and allow
the viewer to read the headlines which
give away a lot about Hannibal.

25. Over the Shoulder
There is an over he shoulder shot
used when the protagonist is talking
to her boss. This allows us to see the
conversation almost from the
protagonists point of view. Creating
the illusion that you are following this
character and reinforcing her
importance in the film.