The document discusses the visual design elements in the film The Silence of the Lambs. It describes how the opening scene sets the standard for the film's visual design by featuring Clarice Starling jogging through a foggy forest. It notes that visual design elements like set design contribute to the disturbing and unsettling mood of the film. Specifically, when Starling visits the prison housing Hannibal Lecter, she must walk past many cells, suggesting a descent into evil, before reaching Lecter who is behind thick glass instead of bars, signifying he is a highly dangerous criminal.

1. Silence Of The Lambs
The opening sequence of Clarice Starling frantically jogging through the labyrinth–like foggy forest
in director Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (1991), sets the visual design standard for
the rest of the thrilling film. The visual design of a movie is comprised of the contents of the frame
and how they are used to enhance the viewing experience for the audience. There exists a multitude
of visual design elements, each one playing a major role in every motion picture. Visual design
elements affect the mood and atmosphere in a film. The mood of a film is the emotion that is
evoked when viewing a movie, whereas the atmosphere is external, the physical, sensory qualities of
the film. Throughout the duration of the 138–minute masterpiece,...show more content...
The set design in The Silence of the Lambs also adds to the disturbing mood of the overall film. As
aforementioned, when visiting Lector at the prison, Starling has to walk past an abundance of
cells, almost as if she is descending into more and more evil, deeper into the depths of Hell. When
Starling finally arrives at her destination, she sees Lecter behind a thick pane of glass, rather than
the standard steel bars of the other prisoners. This distinct choice in set design is made to convince
the audience that they should be scared and unsettled for future encounters with Lector. Since the set
designers placed Lecter behind maximum security glass, he is no ordinary bad–guy, but a smart
mastermind and a brilliant criminal who needs to be treated with extreme
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