Introduction
Director: Jonathan Demme
Producers: Kenneth Utt, Edward Saxon, and Ron Bozman
Distributed by: Orion Pictures
Worldwide box office: $272,700,000
Synopsis: Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee, is assigned by her boss, Jack Crawford, to interview the incarcerated Hannibal Lecter, a highly intelligent former psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. Crawford secretly hopes to get insights into a psychopathic serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill," who kills overweight women and skins them.
Film Opening Sequence
Clip Duration: 08:18
Start Point: 00:00
End Point: 08:18
Genre Studies
The Silence of the Lambs has successfully conveyed the genre of thriller and crime through the approximately 8-minute opening sequence. The choice of blueish tone was applied throughout the sequence, setting a cold and mysterious atmosphere. Moreover, the scene has a low saturated color, mainly with soft lighting but it is still able to give off a thrilling effect to all of the scenes. Not a lot of sound effect was used in the sequence, the mostly diegetic sound that is heard in daily life, with no use of abrupt sound for the jumpscare effect. However, the choice of using music for the background brings in the tension and seriousness for the first scene where Starling is running and the scene where she sees all the photos on the board in Crawford's office.
One detail that I think would really fit in with my film's opening sequence is the power of the female character, in a male-dominated environment and industry like the FBI Academy. The subversion of gender stereotypes was easily spotted during the opening sequence of The Silence of the Lambs, through how Starling was more outstanding than all of the other students in the academy and already had a job offer despite only being an FBI trainee.
Analysis
The sequence started with an introduction of the production studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Then the ident of the distribution company, Orion Pictures, and the ident of the production company, Strong Heart/Demme Production is introduced. 21 idents appeared during the first 6 minutes of the opening sequence.
The choice of typography used for the ident is very simple, with capitalized letters, all in black and a white outline. The title doesn’t fully convey the genre of thriller and crime, but the boldness of the letter gives the audience a hint about the content of the film.
The sequence first starts off with an establishing shot of a forest. The color tone of the shot is very blueish, signifying the coldness, of both the feeling but also the weather, based on how the tree looks. This sets the atmosphere for the film, to be cold and desaturated. An ident is then seen, confirming the location, which is a wood near Quantico, Virginia, USA. Non-diegetic background music is heard, which sounds very mysterious and similar to the music heard in the Black Swan opening sequence. We also hear the diegetic sound of birds, which is similar to an eagle screaming, alerting us that something bad or serious is to come.
The camera then pans slowly to reveal a woman running and climbing up a cliff using a rope. The film title ident is also revealed at the same time, The Silence of the Lambs. The music and eagle screams continue and the woman approaches closer to the camera, panting and breathing hard. A medium close-up shot reveals that she is wearing a long-sleeved sweater outside of a white shirt, connoting that the weather is cold, according to Barthes’s theory.
Moreover, we could her outfit is wet, indicating that she has been running for a long time, up to the point that she could sweat in the cold weather. By her appearance, she looks like a young woman in her early 20s, and based on her outfit, we could also confirm that she is a student in the FBI academy, which explains why she was running to boost her stamina and strength. She then continues to run in the woods but based on her pace and emotion, the audience could infer that she might be running as an activity, and not because she is being chased or currently in an urgent situation. Smoke is seen to be surrounding her, slowly covering her and limiting the view of the audience of the background environment. This adds to the mysteriousness of the scene and brings in the tension for the sequence.
A tracking shot is then used to follow her as she runs through the woods, in fast motion. The background music was also raised up, signifying her determination. A series of close-ups is then seen, showing her shoes in motion and her side profile, capturing the look on her face and her determination despite all the sweat that causes her hair to be wet and untidy. This character representation went against the narrow ideals of beauty of Van Zoonen, by having a female character look normal, with a not-so-tidy appearance.
She continues the route until she meets an obstacle, before easily overcoming it. The shot now no longer has the smoke and the sun started rising, connoting that it might be the sunrise, but the sun rays could also signify success that she is heading towards, thanks to her determination and hard work.
The voice of a man is then heard, calling Starling. The audience could then infer that the woman’s name is Starling. It is revealed where the voice came from as a man ran into the frame, telling Starling that a character named Crawford, wanted to see her. Based on the appearance of the man, from the jacket, and the cap with FBI stitched on, he might be the head teacher or coach of the academy, and what Sterling has been doing at the start of the sequence, is the activity or task that she was given to complete before being called to Crawdford’s office. Moreover, the way Sterling referred to the man as sir, connotes that he has a higher rank than her. As the camera tilts downwards from the sky, different boards and panels are seen to read Hurt, Agony, Pain and Love it, indicating the extreme training environment in the FBI academy that Starling has to go through. The camera tracks Starling as she runs out of the woods, towards a tower. The audience could then infer that this is the academy that she is currently attending.
Then an establishing shot is used once again due to the change in the setting and environment. Sterling started heading down the stairs, saying hi to one of her classmates. Even inside the building, a blueish tone was still used which led to the film feeling cold and scary. The conversion of gender stereotypes was used during this specific scene inside the academy. The majority of the students are seen to be male, while Sterling is one of the few female students in the academy. Despite so, she seems to be very relaxed about it, based on how she naturally walks and gets into an elevator full of male characters.
Straussian theory of binary opposites is also clearly represented during this scene. The contrast between the red outfit of the male and the blue outfit of Sterling gives the feel that the male character is taking the lead and controlling the system since the red color was seen to be more vibrant and more dominant in the elevator. The contrast in the height also adds to the power of males in the academy, and how females always felt overwhelmed by it. However the conversion of gender stereotype is that Sterling is completely normal when being surrounded by powerful men, she doesn’t care much and simply looks up to wait for the elevator to close and move. This action connotes that despite being a woman, she is not affected by the power surrounding her and that she has her own power, leading to her confidence.
A diegetic sound is heard, alerting that the destination of the elevator is heard before the elevator opens the door. We then see Starling walking out, still looking sweaty with messy hair, but confidently walking toward us. The camera then pans to a panel, stating Behavioral Science Services, which the audience could infer that the office of Crawford is in Behavioral Science Services. Women are seen in this scene but they all are working to serve a higher-ranking male character. A tracking shot was continued to use as we followed Starling to Crawford's office and several men in suits were seen. This connotes the ranking and power that men hold in the FBI industry.
Inside Crawford's office, a warmer tone was applied, thanks to the lamp seen inside the set. As Starling turns around, a medium shot shows her appearance an the surrounding environment of the office. Dolly Zoom is once again applied as we see Starling's emotion more clearly, looking confused but also curious. The scene then cuts to a board full of photos and newspaper pinned onto it. Audiences could infer that Starling was looking at the board. A close-up shot is then used for both capturing Starling's changes in emotion and also to observe the photos closely. Pictures of corpses in their worst condition are shown, which is a typical convention for thriller films, which brings in a thrilling and disgusted effect for the audience. Non-diegetic background music is then heard, to be similar to the one heard at the beginning of the sequence, which also brings in the tension and mysteriousness of the atmosphere.
The scene then cuts to an extreme close-up of Starling's side profile, in shallow depth of field, before a focus push is used to reveal another male character, which the audience could infer to be Crawford before Starling confirms it by referring to him as Mr.Crawford. Based on the appearance of the character, we can see that he is not much different compared to all the male characters seen when we follow Starling up to the office. They all dressed very well, in 3 3-piece suits, a tie and tidy gelled hair. Their appearance contrasts with the untidy appearance of Starling, but no one comments on how she looks, going against the narrow ideals of beauty on how women are usually judged based on how they look.
A conversation then begins between the 2 characters, mainly of Crawaford complimenting Starling on her achievements, being top quarter, a double major in psychology and criminology, summer internship, and more. This acted as a conversion of gender stereotypes when Sterling was still being noticed thanks to her achievement, despite studying in an environment dominated by males. Also, it shows how special she is that out of all the students in the academy, a female student got chosen, while still being an FBI trainee to help and receive a job offer from Mr.Crawford. According to Stuart Hall stereotypes, of the FBI are usually always played by male characters, and the subverting of female characters in the sequence went against the theory, creating a more diverse look and image of the FBI industry.
Afterward, a series of reverse shots of a close-up of Sterling and Crawford is seen as Crawford continues to talk and guide Starling for the upcoming job offer. Starling's job is to meet up with a former psychiatrist named Hannibal Lecter in the asylum, and we know that he is a monster, based on a male voice speaking.
An establishing shot is seen, this time showing a tower in brick red, and based on the stone wall at the front, the audience knows that it is a hospital, specifically called Baltimore State Forensic Hospital. Therefore based on the information given by Crawford in the previous scene about how Dr.Chilton will be guiding Starling when she visits the asylum, we could infer that she is currently meeting Dr.Chilton, which is also the end of the opening sequence.
The Silence of the Lambs has been able to set up a female protagonist, who is attending an FBI academy, and the act of her running, and training at the beginning showed her ability and capability for the upcoming job offer or task that she would need to complete. This way of setting up a character will be something that I will keep in mind for the improvement of character development for the next project. Without the restriction of time in the opening sequence, I may spend some additional research on developing and showing the character's abilities and skills before having her commit a crime.
No comments:
Post a Comment