SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

CLIP ANALYSIS

By isabelle smith

The establishing shot of the FBI building portrays it as friendly and welcome; the building seems very clean from the outside and the shape of the building is very neat and square. The sky is fairly clear and blue which reflects off the glass building having the effect of it seeming more clean and bright. We know as the audience that it is a safe place because the way the camera slowly zooms into the building is friendly as it almost welcomes us into the building and it is a huge contrast to the previous scene with the misty dark forest.

The shot of Clarice in the lift is effective in emphasising the position in women as a whole of all the women who work in the FBI building. Clarice is in the very centre of the lift surrounded by a group of men. They are all very shaved and groomed which makes us feel like we have more trust in them (as opposed to them having a beard and looking untidy which would make the audience feel less comfortable with them as it could be suggesting they have something to hide). The men are all wearing red which shows they are all of the same work status. Colours like blue and grey are associated with learning or more manual working types and as Clarice is wearing a grey jumper we are lead to the conclusion that it is likely that these men are above Clarice. the men dressed in red all have strong broad shoulders which highlights that they are are safe as they are strong and able to protect 'weaker women' characters.

We get a very different feel from the training facility in comparison to higher up in the building. The people in the training facility of the building all wear blue which I mentioned earlier can be associated with learning so we know that they are being trained. However higher up they are all dressed in suits and it appears to be a more male dominated area. The sound in the two parts of the building are also quite contrasting for instance in the training section, there is more unclear voice ambience, people are chatting to each other quite cheerfully and through the sound its suggested its more busy in this area. When Clara gets to the higher part of the building the men in the red collar have left the lift prior to this which shows they are beneath the suit workers status, the sound has changed from bustlting,chattering people to more of an office ambience; telephones ringing  and documents being printed.

We know that when Clarice has reached the top level from the extreme close-up on the lifts dial. The perfect V shaped sweat on Clarices jumper has decreased in size to convey that a significant amount of time has passed from her entering the building to reaching the top floor. There is a suggestion of uncertainty; as Clarice exits the lift she passes a sign. Prior to this moment in the building the camera movement has been smooth. What’s also interesting is that also prior to this point we have stayed with Clarice but there is a sudden clunky unsmooth movement to the side to show the sign which says “behavioural science services” which may indicate that she is nervous to meet Jack Crawford but it may also suggest that maybe she isn’t going to be safe here.

In the opening sequence (first 2-3 minutes) the takes at the start of this sequence last a very long time which creates a slower pace and but a more eerie atmosphere. But after two long takes they begin to get a lot shorter creating a tenser atmosphere. All these takes revolve around Clarice; she appears to control the edits here; as the camera tracks her and she is in every shot which entails that she is the Protagonist of the film. The music mirrors the shots as the music becomes more intense (higher pitched melody) as the takes become shorter which has the effect of creating an eerie unnerving atmosphere, (which as has the effect of making Clarice seem isolated and vulnerable in the misty forest).