The opening sequence of Silence of the Lambs establishes a tense, ominous mood through low key lighting and camerawork that leaves the audience uncertain about what is chasing the female protagonist running through the foggy forest. As she reaches the FBI building, the music and lighting change to indicate it is a safe haven. In Mad Max, establishing shots show a desolate wasteland, creating isolation and uncertainty. Fast-paced editing and disfigured characters unnerve the audience as Max is chased. Costumes, lighting and sound further a tense atmosphere as he is captured in a hidden, dangerous place. Both openings set up mystery and danger through visual and audio techniques to engage the audience in the thriller genre.

1. Silence of the lambs- opening sequence.
Mise en scene.
At the start of this opening sequence low key lighting is used to set an eerily mood which makes the
audience tense and on edge when watching through this opening sequence. We are shown a female who
is running through a forest in joggers, due to the location in which the scene is set we are lead to believe
that she may be in danger as she appears to be running away from something that we cannot see, this is
because a forest is occasionally associated with being a mysterious or dangerous place to be since it is out
of sight from people passing by or isolated from the surrounding streets or buildings. Also as the female
character gets closer to the FBI building we can see the fog slowly disperse around her which makes us
think that the closer she is to the building the less danger she is in, along with making the building seem
like a safe haven for her. Also through using props we are shown who the female works for which is the
FBI, this is shown to us when a man stops her to inform her that someone wants to see her immediately,
furthermore once the female meets with the detective we are shown a clear view of his pin board which
contains brief newspaper articles talking about a serial killer named “Bill” there is one specific newspaper
title that states, “ Bill skins fifth” which gives us the perspective that the killer is vicious and relentless for the
rest of the movie it could also show the detectives obsession with the killer which is why the female agent
has been called in.

2. Camerawork.
An example of when a camerawork technique was used would be a long shot of the female character shows
her going into the mist whilst she is still running through the forest, this leads the audience into thinking
something bad may happen as we are no longer able to see her anymore which creates mystery between the
audience and film, you could also say that it assists the type of genre that the film it builds up a climax.
We are shown a close up of the female jogging which allows us to see how hard she is working to represent
her as a hard working and committed individual, it could also show how she may have been running for a long
time which leads us to believe she is being chased which is why she is not stopping. Also from the angle we
are shown it leads us to think whether there is someone behind her as we can see her face and shoulders but
not fully behind her so we are left with the uncertainty as to whether someone is going to catch up with her.
Finally there is a pan when the female jogs out of the forest onto the grass leading to the FBI building this has
been done to contrast how close both of the locations are but how different they are in terms of the
atmosphere and safety, because an FBI building is well built with security and seen as some place safe but a
forest has the complete alternative representation of this as it is seen as a dangerous place, the purpose for
doing this is so that they can create a meaning that both danger and safety are always close to each other.

3. sound
To create a thriller scene sound has been used throughout by using a soundtrack. The soundtrack
at the start of the scene builds up to form a climax when she is running through the fog and speeds
up from time to time when she appears to gain speed running faster. However once she is shown
to run out of the forest the music swirls into a more calm and less tense tone of music when a pan
from the forest to the building is shown. This has been done so that both locations can be
compared through doing this we are told that the FBI location is less sinister compared to the
woods which changes the atmosphere relaxing the audience as they will not expect something
dangerous or unexpected to occur anymore.
There is diegetic sound when a helicopter passes over the location this can show how busy the
area is, as helicopters generate mass sound around them which is usually associated with busy
locations if they are loud it makes them appear as a place where lots of things go on. It also
makes the opening sequence more naturalistic as we would expect helicopters or other vehicles to
be operated in an FBI headquarters which shows that it is guarded with security yet again
presenting it as a safe haven for the female, the sounds is also realistic making us believe what is
going on even further than we may have before.

4. Editing.
The opening sequence contains titles that would appear instantly and then rapidly disappear this builds
up tension through the rest of the opening sequence and helps to do so throughout the rest of the film
by doing this it keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats when little things happen. Secondly there is
a cut that switches from an stablishing shot of the FBI building to the other side where the female can
be seen running along a walkway connecting two buildings, the change in pace of cuts are due to the
female when she comes into the shot the speed of the edit between cuts increase which shows how
busy she is because the change in speed I abnormal compared to the rest of the location.

5. Mad Max opening sequence.
Camera work.
At the beginning we are shown an establishing shot of the environment around him, it shows to us that
the earth is a wasteland in the film as all we can see is sand dunes and rocks this portrays how
isolated the world is which makes it less realistic to modern days. This means the audience are unable
to relate to the film in any way this is what's makes it a thriller genre as we are unsure what will
happen in different scenes.
Once the main character drives off, the establishing shot angle stays in the same place until another
car jumps over the camera which could make the audience feel on edge or intimidated by the sudden
change, the camera pans upwards to show the other cars driving off which leaves the audience to
wonder why they are chasing him and whether or not they already have.
Finally we see a close up of one character which may make the viewer feel on edge as he does not
appear to look normal instead he is disfigured and has a sinister appearance.

6. Editing.
As for editing they have used CGI to change the faces of characters who appear in front of the
main character when he is trying to escape, this may shock the audience and creep them out as
well which is what a thriller genre usually aims to do. Also the young girl who can be seen
randomly when he is holding onto the poles and underwater may create an edgy feel to the
following scenes as we expect her to appear afterwards but are not sure about when this will
happen.
Secondly the fast paced editing is used to build up on tension, this is used when he is running
away from the antagonists, throughout this scene the speed of editing gradually builds up which
leads the audience to wonder whether he will get caught, leading them into the anticipation of
what the outcome will be. Plus the constant change of characters and backgrounds makes it hard
for us to keep up which increases the climax for the audience.
Finally as he comes to a dead end we are shown the vast landscape with towering rocks and
small buildings with windmills, this shows us how he is stuck and makes the audience anxious
about what he will do escape the situation, it also makes the audience wonder where he is.

7. Mise en scene
In this opening sequence the use of costumes help to create the eerily and pale characters which
do not appear to look normal or humane which adds to the tension of the movie as we are not
certain what these people are like, they are also made to look threatening which is also assisted
by the violence that they conflict onto the main character once he crashes, plus the clothing they
wear is tatty which could contrast how resources are low which follows the theme of the movie.
As for props we are shown the main characters property which consists of only a few cups and
containers along with blankets, this makes us wonder why he has such a small amount of objects
that belong to him.
Finally lighting Is used at the start when we are shown the desert around the main character, the
lighting begins with bright but can also be classed as dusky as the sand creates a blur effect,
however once the character is captured the lighting suddenly changes to a dark which can portray
how he is danger as low key lighting makes us feel uncertain about what is in there it is also an
unpleasant atmosphere. The sheets of light that can be seen shinning through the cracks in the
rock show how the place he is in is hidden from the outside world which makes us wonder why this
is.

8. Sound.
Diegetic sound has been used throughout to make the audience feel as if they are in the movie,
the sound builds up when the cars are chasing the main character which makes a climax build up
and leads the viewers to wonder whether they will catch up to him or not.
The gradual build up of sound creates an anti climax mood as we expect something to happen
but instead the car gets shot and then the sound cuts out which makes the audience pause to
think about whether or not he is dead, this leaves us on edge and in uncertainty.
the voice over at the start gives us an insight to what happened, it allows us to understand what
is going on in the world of the movie.