BY MARIE DEANE, MOLLIE GILBEY, SEAN TURNER AND SARAH DAWSON

Analysing MediaThe Silence Of The Lambs

Firstly lets take a look at the. . .

Editing. . .

At the beginning of the extract when the cast and crew are being credited, it then fades into the next scene.

This subtly makes the change from the introduction to the action.

Editing continued. . .

• Next we can see from the picture below another clear display of an edit.

• When the woman is running in the forest area, there are a series of jump cuts which show her

from different angles.

• This allows the audience to see her in different ways- for example, when it cuts to her face, we

can see that she is worn out and exhausted.

Editing continued. . .

• When the woman is in the office with the man, there a series of jump cuts to the two characters during their

conversation.

• This allows the audience to see which character is talking and also see the other characters reactions.

Editing continued. . .

When there is a change in location from the forest where the woman is completing the obstacle course to the office where she is meeting with the man, there is a

cutaway shot from the old location to the new one.

This shows the audience the contrast between the two locations, the main difference being how busy each

location is.

Now lets take a look at the . . .

Sound . . .

At the start we can hear a high pitched noise, this implies a mysterious atmosphere.

Music like this sets the scene at the opening of the film suggesting to the audience a possible theme.

When the girl is running through the forest we hear natural noises of birds and rustling of leaves as she runs, this confirms the location that we can

see on the screen.

Sound Continued. . .

We can also hear -whilst the girl is running- panting and fast pace footsteps which adds to the drama. This builds tension and makes you think something big is going to happen.

We also see another character in the beginning the scene. The man coming to collect the protagonist (Clarice). He has a

deep masculine voice and other male attributes such as his walk and styling which

clearly show his gender.

Sound Continued. . .

Their is a change in non-diegetic backing music to represent the change in scene. This shows the difference between the opening

credits to the important action.

Later on in the clip we can hear a diegetic sound of foot steps and lots of background voices. This gives the impression of a busy workplace. Most of the voices we can hear

are of a lower range suggesting a more male dominated area.

Sound Continued. . .

The tense music comes back in to welcome the teacher showing the audience that

something important will happen.

There is a silence when the protagonist looks around the office. This lets you take time to look at what is happening in the scene and not feel tense about any action taking place.

Thirdly. . .

Camera. . .

In the opening scene of the silence of the lambs, a long shot of the woodland is used

to establish the location of the film.

We also see a close up of Clarice’s feet and then face which reinforce the fact she is

doing exercise.

When Clarice is in the office, the camera zooms into her face which shows the audience her change in expression.

Camera continued. . .

Tracking shots are used throughout to follow Clarice around. This allows the audience to clearly understand where she is at all times

A reverse shot is used to show conversation and the changing expressions of the

characters in conversation

Finally we analyse the . . .

Mise- en –scene. . .

In the opening sequence of the film Silence of the Lambs the micro element Mise-en-

scene was used throughout At the beginning of the actual footage of the

film there was the protagonist. She was wearing very light makeup and gym clothes She was wearing this because she was exercising and we know why she is doing this because at the beginning you see a

camera shot of the front of her jumper and it says FBI.

Mise-En-Scene continued. . .

The protagonist stays in her gym clothes throughout the opening sequence this could

show that her job is very busy and things change very quickly

When the footage of the film changes to the building were the protagonist is based, the other workers are wearing smart suits, this shows that the workers work in a professional environment and with her wearing gym clothes this makes

the protagonist very out of place.

Mise-En-Scene continued. . .

The protagonist stays in her gym clothes throughout the opening sequence. This could

show that her job is very busy and things change very quickly.

When the footage of the film changes to the building were the protagonist is based, the other workers are wearing smart suits, this shows that the workers are in a professional

environment. The fact the protagonist is wearing gym clothes makes her look very out

of place.

Thank you for reading!