This document provides a film analysis of "The Silence of the Lambs" through examining various shots and scenes from the movie. It analyzes how the opening uses spooky music to set an eerie tone. Key shots are discussed that establish settings, introduce main characters, show important clues, and utilize close-ups of characters. Common thriller conventions like imprisoned shots, point-of-view shots through goggles, and dimly lit underground scenes are highlighted. Overall, the document examines how various visual elements come together to effectively create suspense and move the thriller plot forward.

1. THE SILENCE OF THE
LAMBS
Film Analysis

3. SOUND
 At the beginning of the film throughout the production and distribution
company’s logos and the opening credits there is non-diegetic fast pace, spooky
music. This helps to create an eerie mysterious atmosphere of the first scene in
the woods as there is a sound bridge carrying the non-diegetic music over from
the credits and titles. The music in the opening scene acts as a general pattern
throughout – the pace of the music gets more erratic as the scene gets more
intense and non-diegetic is used in combination with the diegetic (dialogue)
music to create a tense and scary/thrilling atmosphere.

4. OVERVIEW
 Title: The Silence Of The Lambs
 Release: 1991
 Director: Johnathan Demme
 Genre: Thriller
 Summary: A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated
and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial
killer who skins his victims.

5. BEGINNING SHOTS
The film begins with the production and distribution
company logos of the film – conventionally with a black
background which for a thriller film helps to begin the
build of suspense.
After analysing a few thriller films and any film in general
it is a typical convention that the production company
and distribution company logo and titles come before
anything else, and generally the title of the film is shown
either at the very end or after the logos and opening
credits.

6. SETTING THE SCENE
The establishing shots used in this film are
very effective for setting the scene – many
different locations are used throughout the
film and so this is important to make the
establishing shots clear and effective.
These two shots are used in the beginning of the film
where the setting is in a forest and the weather looks
cold but on a bright morning – the shots are quite
ambiguous in that the scene looks particularly eerie
(typical thriller convention) but we also don’t know
what could happen next.

7. VERISIMILITUDE
Thrillers are generally based around unrealistic
or extreme events that you would not expect
to come across in every day life, and so the
location is significant in helping to make the
audience feel a sense of verisimilitude.
These two shots are establishing shots showing two
different every day locations – one of a large plain
building similar to a school and the other of a large
building that connotes a workplace; this is effective in
that it creates a sense of realism which makes the
overall effect of the film better on the audience.

8. LOCATIONS
Although producers have to consider making the
audience feel like the events are real, there is also a case
of making the audience feel scared, to do this they have
to use particular eerie or disturbing locations, which
may or may not be familiar to the audience.
The shot above is of a hallway in a prison which
seems to be located right on the bottom floor – in the
basement, which creates a sense of isolation and of
no escape. The next shot is an extreme long shot of a
house surrounded by bare trees; the shot isn’t
particularly disturbing but it does create a sense of
mystery.

9. CHARACTERS
The characters used in thrillers include both a
protagonist and an antagonist, however the
antagonist is not always made known to the
audience from the beginning of the film.
These shots are from the beginning of silence of
the lambs where the first two characters are
introduced; a male who wears an ‘FBI’ cap which
represents his character as part of a
governmental job (police force) which is a typical
convention of a thriller character protagonist.

10. OTHER CHARACTERS
The same convention of the characters is shown
again in this shot where the location is in a police
department office with two police investigators,
connoted through their uniform (suits and badges).
This next shot just shows a different side to the
characters; here we see the woman from the beginning
with a group of men dressed in the same red t-shirt and
shorts uniform, the female character stands out in this
shot because she isn’t in the same uniform as the other
men and is the only female character in view.

11. PROPS/SIGNIFICANT SHOTS
These shots are significant in showing the audience
important pieces of information that are part of the
narrative or to keep the audience at the same pace as
the film. This first shot is in the woods where these
signs are found on a tree saying ‘PAIN, LOVE-IT’
which builds tension and a sense of mystery.
This next shot sets the location by informing the
audience where the next scene is if they do not
understand by the setting ‘behavioural science
services’ the use of this links in with the plot and is a
typical convention of a psychological thriller film.

12. SIGNIFICANT SHOTS
Here we see a particularly useful shot of editing
where the camera is being used from the point of
view through night vision goggles; with a green
gel over the screen. This is effective in the way
that it is used to show mystery and build suspense
on what will happen next.
The next shot is of a tortured dead body in a scientific
laboratory. We find it gruesome yet interesting because
we get a thrill over seeing the dead body being
analysed as it portrays to the audience the mysterious
investigation – what they are investigating.

13. CLOSE UP SHOTS
Close up shots in thrillers are used to show the characters
emotions and feelings as well as their reaction to events
or other characters in the scene. This close up shot of
the female character shows no emotion or feeling of the
character – her facial expression is blunt and gives
nothing away, which could be interesting in that it reveals
a sense of mystery to the audience.
This next shot in the same scene is an extreme close up side
profile shot of the same character, using a shallow depth of
field with a focus pull on the female character – the use of
this focusing on the characters expression shows that she
isn’t giving anything away – building suspense.

14. USE OF IMAGERY
Here we see polaroid pictures of specific events that
the narrative is based around; the images are pinned
onto a brown pin board in a police office where they
are being used as part of an investigation – a typical
convention of a thriller movie (police investigation).
The camera cuts from an extreme close up of the
images to a medium shot where the camera pans across
the pin board showing an article from a newspaper and
other images from the investigation. As the camera pans
over these images it then zooms in to a close up of the
newspaper article, showing the audience what the event
is that is being investigated.

15. THRILLER CONVENTIONS
This low angle shot is particularly typical of a thriller
movie, as well as the use of the bars – this shot
connotes a feeling of being trapped/imprisonment,
the bars acting as the barrier and so seem
intimidating to the audience and/or the character
behind the bars.
This next shot is also a typical close up shot used in
thriller films; we have seen this character before where
she showed no emotion in the close up shots, yet in
this shot she is on the phone and her reaction is shown
through her startled eyes and half open mouth where
she looks shocked/scared.

16. THRILLER CONVENTIONS
This scene is a good use of connoting the genre of
thriller; the location is in a well underground and so
the lighting is kept dim which creates a dark
atmosphere, there is a woman stuck at the bottom
which creates tension for the audience putting them
on the edge of their seats.
The camera then cuts to a shot of the woman stuck at
the bottom looking up to the camera – high angle shot –
showing that the antagonist has dominance and makes
the woman look weak. Her facial expression is tired and
scared – the close up shows how distressed the character
is – a sense of danger is created in this scene.

17. THRILLER CONVENTIONS
This next shot shows typical conventions of a
psychological thriller – in a small confined brick wall
room with a wooden bed and a man in a straight jacket
strapped in a frame whilst a detective talks to him. It is a
high angle shot which makes the audience feel like they
are watching the scene from above, the use of these
characters builds tension.
Another shot which creates tension and an eerie
atmosphere is this point of view shot of an old house
surrounded by bare trees. The shot is interesting
because it makes the audience wonder who’s point of
view the shot is from.