The silence of the lambs

Minal Shah

This shot has superimposition- there is writing in this shot which increases the amount of information the viewer has. It tells them that the setting is in the woods. This gives the audience a sense of danger and isolation as the woods are a generic convention of thrillers. It can foreshadow danger and death.

In this shot you are able to hear the birds cawing. This again emphasises on the silence and isolation. Also, it implies what time of the day it is.

The bare branches add to that isolated and cold feeling. Also, the fog suggests ambiguity as you cannot see anything clearly and anything can come lurking out. This is another generic convention of thrillers.

The high angle in this shot makes the character feel inferior and vulnerable at this point in the opening scene. Moreover, it also shows how high up she has climbed which adds to the sense of danger as she may get pushed by someone.

The rope suggests that people do come into these woods as the ropes must have been placed there by someone. But, it could also mean that she knows the woods very well and she put the ropes there herself to climb up and escape from someone.

There is use of diegetic sound as she is breathing heavily which adds tension and panics the audience as they are unaware of the reason why she is running.

Her clothing isn’t very feminine and she is shown to be sweating. This shows that she isn’t a stereotypical heroine. She is almost shown to be very masculine.

This wide shot shows how deserted it is and shows her going into the fog and the audience not knowing the outcomes of this. Also, she is conveyed to be very small compared to the large setting which implies her to be vulnerable and trapped.

Tracking is used in this to bring the audience on a journey and get them more involved. It suggests that someone may be following her and that’s the reason she is running which increases the tension.

There is low key lighting in some parts of this shot which connotes that there may be some hope of her escaping. However, there is a chance of her being caught. This gets the audience to guess what is going to happen and hope for the best.

There is use of diegetic sound when she is running and steps on leaves. This emphasises on the silence which again adds to the sense of isolations. This increases the tension for the audience.

There are boards nailed onto the tree with words such as ‘Hurt’, ‘Agony’, ‘Pain’ and ‘Love-it’. This increases the tension as the audience don’t know who has done this and why these set of words were chosen. This adds to the sense of danger and makes this situation creepy.

It is revealed that she is running an assault course which again goes against the stereotypically portrayed woman. She is not very feminine.

Panning is used to show all the words which increases tension as it shows that there are several number of words.

There is use of non-diegetic music- the background music is orchestral, in a minor key. This is done to give a sense of worry and tension in the shots. It foreshadows dangers.

Also, in this shot there is a diegetic sound of gunshots. However, the audience is not able to see where they are coming from, who is shooting them and at who. This increases the tension.