Group Analysis of The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller that blends elements of the crime and horror genres. It was directed by Jonathan Demme and stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine and Scott Glenn. It is based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lector to apprehend another serial killer, known as "Buffalo Bill". The film involves hyped scenes and action to excite the audience.

Camera by Whole Group
The use of camera in The Silence of the Lambs can create intense scenes and suspense to portray the thriller conventions. At the beginning of the first 5 minutes of the film the camera sets the scene and identifies the character by using a tilt to show the hill Agent Starling is climbing up and slowly approaching the camera on, which makes the identity of the character clearer to the audience. Voyeurism is portrayed when the camera follows the female which makes the audience feel as if they are involved and chasing the character. This can also bring in a sense of mystery which is a thriller convention early on in the film by making the audience question why she is running. The camera helps show the personality of the protagonist as it shows a side shot of her face where she is gritting her teeth as if to show determination.
A zoom of the camera help establish the FBI building, which gives us a sense that this thriller will be related to a crime. The camera also zooms in on Clarice running which helps the audience to see her in context. Once in the office camera is used to show the reaction shot of the character when she see's the the shocking photos on the wall. After the reaction shot a point-of-view shot is shown to help the audience understand why she has reacted in the way she has and also tells the audience that the photos are an important aspect to the plot of the thriller.

Mise-en-scene by Anna
Mise en scene is used in the Silence of the Lambs to help establish the story line,  characters and location in the first 5 minutes of the film. The opening starts off in a known spooky location of a forest which gives out a eerie feeling to the audience and as forests are known to be spooky and mysterious, it links to how The Silence of the Lambs is shown as a thriller to the audience. The two ropes shown when Clarice Starling is running up the hill indicates to the audience that another person is meant to be running alongside her. This shows the determination the character has in the film and that she is possibly alone in the forest.
A medium shot is then shown to identify the character and what she does as on her jumper is says: "FBI Academy" which indicates her career and more information about the main character. The jumper she is wearing is sweaty which shows she is hard working and committed. The audience also soon know that the film involves mystery as a man runs after the woman, wearing a hat with capitals on the front reading: "FBI". The scene in the forest includes foggy weather and with the leaves on the ground establishes the season, Autumn. The foggy location is known to the audience as spine-chilling as it makes the audience aware that perhaps something might jump out or give out a sense of voyeurism. -This helps portray a thriller.

A long shot of the building establishes the FBI Academy and the people that work there are wearing different clothes which shows they are at work and gives a sense of mystery to the audience. When the main character is near the top of the building, she is surrounded by men in suits who are looking down upon her as if to say 'you don't belong here'. It shows the proxemics in this part of the building, especially in the lift where Clarice is the only female, the amount of men featured shows the dominance they have. Proxemics is also shown when Clarice is in the office as she looks like a schoolgirl who's noisy and interested in everything. A motivated cut is then used to help the audience get eager to know what she is staring in shock at. Once the cut to the photos on the wall is shown, this helps identify the plot to the audience as there are newspaper article headlining "BILL SKINS FIFTH" which tells the audience that the film will be gruesome with also the help from the photos shown. This helps establish that the silence of the lambs is a thriller as this genre usually has some gory scenes involved.   

Editing by Danny
Editing is used to portray a thriller during The Silence of the Lambs, when a match cut is used when the main character goes into a lift. This portrays a thriller because she goes into the lift last when its full, then is the last to come out. What this does is show the importance of the situation, that she has to go to the very top of the police building to talk over it. A motivated cut is used when you see the main characters face in reaction to what she has seen on the wall. This portrays a thriller because you see her face before you see what she's looking at so its not a normal reaction shot because it leaves you on a cliffhanger like a traditional thriller. A cut from the opening credits to the location is used to portray a thriller. It cuts to a very secluded location which is covered with fog. This links to a thriller because everything is hidden.

Sound by Aimée
The sound used in The Silence of the Lambs is used to create an immediate sense that it is a thriller and that the situation in the film is already untenable. In terms of sound the music plays a big part in the opening of this thriller by creating an eerie situation.The piece of music starts as high pitched then starts getting deeper and then becomes high pitched again. This music gives a tense suspense for the audience as the camera also works with it showing the forest but the mystery and suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. As we are introduced to the character when she is running the music starts getting faster, more mysterious and higher pitched, this builds the tension  and makes us think that she is running away from danger or possible unknowingly is approaching danger. The music is then stopped, but the music possibly being in that area of the scene shows that the setting itself there may be dangerous and that's why tension is created. When agent Starling is in the office the trill on the clarinet and music then starts again when she see's the crime wall with the deaths on it, this makes the audience tense as the same music was used in the forest making a slight indication that it may be linked. The diagetic sounds of the eagles squawking and the clear crisp sound of the leaves makes a tense situation as the character Agent Starling is alone which makes the audience uneasy. The sounds of the prison gates and gun shots creates a picture of crime and death which is a sub-genre and convention of a Thriller. Finally dialogue is used both to introduce the character and create anxiety. The character is approached by a man calling her "Agent Starling"; he is a higher rank than her as she answers "yes sir". This helps introduce the character and establish her role, Mise-en scene also helps support this. She is also seen panting and out of breath which bring ups the question of why? and if she is running from someone, if so who?