THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

ABOUT THE FILM

• The film was made in 1991.

• It stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Lawrence A. Bonney.

• Imdb rated it 8.7 out of 10.

• It was released in America on 14th February 1991.

• It was originally a novel, which Thomas Harris wrote.

• It is rated R in America.

PLOT

• Clarice Starling is a young FBI agent in training who has been assigned to help find a missing woman and save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice tries to get a better insight into the mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath, hannibal lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist

TECHNICAL CONVENTIONS

CAMERA

• Many over the shoulder shots, this shows conversation between the two characters

• Lots of close up’s. clip contains lots of emotion. Close ups help audience identify the characters

• Mid shots, show characters body language and facial expressions.

• Low angle shot of hannibal lector- makes him look powerful and authorative.

• High angle shot on woman, makes her look small weak and vunerable

• Shallow focas. Attention drawn to characters.

EDITING

• Quick shots between characters

• Slow scene- tension- focus on narrative

SOUND

• Mostly dialouge.

• No backround music- tense- can focus on what is being said

• Some backround ,usic whilst walking to cell

• Exaggerated sound on high heels

MISE-EN-SCENE

• Lighting:

• Chiarscuro

• Quite bright

• Highlighting- eyes stood out

COSTUME

• Prison jump suit (grey) – Hannibal

• Woman suit – Professional (FBI or similar)

• Grey – bland, boring.

PROPS

• FBI badge

• Prison cell furniture

• Official documents

COLOUR

• Grey, browns – Boring, bland, not exciting. Neutral!

LOCATION

• Prison

• Prison cell

OPINIONS

• The start was slow as the speech was whispered at a slow pace which created tension.

• The shots were close ups and very personal and so made you look at the right character.

• It was good because it was intriguing and made you want to watch more but it was slow getting into it.

• Hannibal was creepy and organised in a prison way in that his room was perfectly organised.

• The woman was innocent and scared and her pale face and pink lips represented this as it showed she was pure and vulnerable.

• The background made it frightening as brick walls gave the effect of the prison being cold and dark and therefore evil. It was perfect for a thriller film.