Section 2 : Silence Of The Lambs Notes

General Notes

The woods shown at the beginning suggest a mysterious and unknown landscape, while the women climbing symbolises progress of some sort, maybe progressing through the ranks of her job, as she has anm FBI jersey on.

She seems like she is running away from someone/something and she is out of breath, as though she cant give anymore. Or as though she is traning for the army or FBI. As the scene opens the black trees give a good contrast against the white background/sky, also the trees on the leaves have all died, suggesting life/death and the forest surrounding suggests uncertainty. The mist in the scene shows the place to be mysterious or foreshadow the events to come. The text used for the titles is in block capitals, it is embossed and very simple showing this is it, and there is much more to hide.

As she runs past the sign it says "hurt, agony, pain, love it" - this shows or could foreshadow what the women is expieriencing or what she is about to expierience. Also when she enters the lift, she is the only woman there, the rest are men - plus they all have different clothes on to her, she stands out with the grey jumper on, they all have red ones.

Cinematography

The camera pans down to show the women climbing, this gives the effect that she is being chased or followed. The complex location of the forest and buildings and how the camera follows her through this journey prolongs this journey. Also the lift symbolises moving through the higher ranks. At the bottom are all the females in work wear, as the camera follows the lift above to the top, we see more men in suits, as though they are living in a male orientated world.
Also as she runs through the forest, the camera follows her, as though you are looking through the persons eyes who may be following her. The camera tracks in towards her head when she is in the office, changing the focus towards a man in the background, showing the audience that the most important person in the scene/shot changes. Close ups show the passion of the women to do well, and of Crawford show his face to look interlectual. The camera zooms in on disturbing images and pictures on his wall, showing this is his everyday life.

Music

The soundtrack used is a dramatic orchestral build up (cresendo and diminuendo) as she keeps running, as though there is a build up to an event at the end. The footsteps on the leaves are emphasised to show maybe the audience how fast she is running in relation to whether she is being chased. Also you hear an eagles call, which could show natural desperation - maybe to get away from who may be chasing her. Also this naturalistic look show she may be a natural person - running through woodland, and not through an urban environment. You also hear gunshots as she runs towards the facility - showing that the place she is at, has power and authority.

Character

The women we see is in grey joggers, which matches the grey lake behind her, as though she belongs in nature. Also it looks like formal training eqiupment and we can figure this out when we see the FBI badge. We cannot justify if she is male or female at some points because of her clothing, however she seems desperate to do well, committed, objectified, passionate and dedicated. We then see her go into the facicilty and we see she has a different outfit to everyone else, showing she could either be a rookie, or have a lot of authority. However Crawford shows his history by hanging all his badges on the wall, which symbolise his career serving the FBI, also this is his evidence of success throughout his career - he takes pride in it, as he has hung them on his wall. He has upper class clothing (suit) and looks very formal, this supports he is at the top of authority - and at the top of the building. He looks very interlectual with his glasses and his body movements show lots of confidence, he is very relaxed in contrast to the disturbing images on the wall behind him that would shock most people. However you can tell he is aging and maybe coming to the end of his career by the sign that he has greys.

The women takes orders from him, and accepts them as she must know this guy is very important, also you see plasters on her fingers, showing she could be quite frail. As he has just assigned her to a new job. This could suggest only the men do the proper work in the association and that women could be too frail and not up for the job.