Analysis of the opening five minutes from silence of the lambs

        

Analysis of the opening five minutes from silence of the lambs

In the opening five minutes of the film 'Silence of the lambs' camera shots such as a POV (point of view shot) this being what she sees and another camera angle is using a tracking method to follow Clarice to wherever she is going this makes us think she may be being chased. It becomes more apparant that she is not being chased when the camera angle changes and she begins to climb on equipment for the assult course that we can now clearly see she is doing. Another camera shot that is used in the opening a close-up. This is used on the headmaster, or man in control of Clarice and the school whilst he is explaining to her about 'Hannibal the cannibal', it gives us as sense of how important the information is, and how serious he is and how aware she needs to be when she eventually visits him in the mental prison/hospital.

         Another point that can be made about the opening five minutes from silence of the lambs is that intense classical music is used whilst she is being followed through the woods this gives us a sense of eeryness, and makes us feel a little creeped out. This also adds to the effect of us thinking she is being chased and as the tempo of the music increases so does her heavy breathing, this continues to make us think that their is definitly someone after her and she is in danger of being caught.

         Aswell as camera and sound being good sources of analysis for the opening, mise-en-scene also gives us a good view of the kind of location that she is in and what feel this gives the viewer. It shows her running through trees, so its more than likely going to set in a woods or a forest but we dont know the exact location, giving it that extra creepy and myterious feel to it. We can also see after finding out that she is not being chased that from the clothing shes wearing (trackies and hoodie) that she is willing to push herself to the limit and train extra hard to get her body in tip-top shape.