You are then shown a shot of her at the bottom of the stairs. This shot appears behind her and looks over her shoulder like something is watching her or following her. It also focuses on a door just over her shoulder which might be iconography as it could be where Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb is hiding. Clarice also appears black in the picture whilst all around her is colourful. This also shows the contrast between light and dark or it could be Buffalo Bill’s shadow behind her blocking the light. This type of camera angle really unsettles the audiences as they can’t tell the full picture and don’t know whether someone is behind her as it doesn’t focus on anything in particular so it is a restricted view. The diegetic sound of her breathing heavily also builds up suspense and tension as you can tell she is scared and the audience can imagine themselves in that situation more.
Next, there is a shot that shows a woman imprisoned down a well holding a dog. This is a bird’s eye view shot as we are looking down a well. This gives us the view as if we were really there looking down at this helpless and defenseless woman. It also shows Buffalo Bill’s power as he likes to be in control of his victims and be higher than them so they can’t retaliate. It gives the characters an insignificant look as they appear small on the picture so it takes the focus off them and on how far down they are. Brick walls in a circular shape surround her show there is no escape. It is dark and black down their showing that Buffalo Bill is scared of letting his victims see his true identity and how weak and insecure his true character is. No music is heard at this point and just there is complete silence showing they are isolated from safety and how scared they really are.
The lights then go out and we are introduced to a point of view shot. A clicking noise is heard as someone is focusing his night vision goggles. The point of view shot is tinted green. She can’t see where she is going which gives the audience a sense of vulnerability towards this seemingly frail woman. Appearance and reality is used as we can see what other characters can’t as the characters can’t see what we can. With a point of view shot we can tell what the character sees and nothing else. The restricted view unsettles the audience as we can’t tell what else is happening. It also gives the impression he is stalking her and because he is wearing night vision goggles it shows that he likes to be in control of his victims as he can see her but she can’t see him. This also gives a sense of inevitability to the audience as it seems nothing can save her now and we imagine ourselves in the threats position so we can see and possibly be able to tell why he is doing what he is doing as we see it from their version of events. The audience realise that because she can’t see him she is going to have to rely on her senses to be able to tell where he is. This kind of camera angle also introduces the threat but we don’t know fully who it is as we can’t see the threat, we can only see from its point of view. We can also see the characters movement and hear them breathe which gives the audience a sense of danger. There is complete silence as the point of view shot focuses on iconography which is when a significant object is shown to us which in this case is Clarice Starling. There is no score just diegetic sounds which are breathing and footsteps which give the audience a feeling of wariness as they can almost feel as if it is them making them footsteps or following an unsuspecting victim.
The camera then switches to a close up shot of the predator revealing him to be Buffalo Bill! You can only just make out it is him as it is dark. These camera angles are used to show facial expression or specific movements which may be fundamental in order for the scene to progress. In this case we realise it is Buffalo Bill who is following her and there is a sense of certainty that he is going to kill Clarice as he can see her but she can’t see him. It also shows his night vision goggles which is an important part in his dominance over women. There is no music at this part which helps build up suspense and tension as it feels like it is just you and them there and nothing else. You can also here all movements made by characters and sounds produced like breathing and sneezing e.t.c.
The music then begins to build back up after moments of silence. This shows to the audience that the climax is near and the audience feel that Clarice will be killed. The point of view shot used once again shows his authority and her vulnerability. It also shows what the character sees and nothing else. The camera angle gives the impression he is stalking her also because he is wearing night vision goggles it shows that he likes to be in control of his victims as he can see her but she can’t see him this gives a sense of inevitability to the audience as it seems nothing can save her now. At this point the audience realise that because she can’t see him she is going to have to rely on her senses to be able to tell where he is, we can also see the characters movement and hear them breathe which gives the audience a sense of danger, the restricted view unsettles the audience as we can’t tell what else is happening and this kind of camera angle also introduces the threat but we don’t know fully who it is as we can’t see the threat we can only see from it’s point of view but we already know it is Buffalo Bill at this stage so we know he is going to attempt to murder her. He then pauses and cocks the hammer. Its loud metallic click tips Clarice to his location. She reacts and spins around firing flaming shots from her gun muzzle at him, at point blank range. She hits the floor and struggles to reload her gun cylinder, there is no need. Gumb lay lifeless gurgling blood from his throat and dies a few feet away.
The threat (Buffalo Bill) is put across in different ways throughout the film. At times you see his ruthless inhumane inner self. He murder’s several innocent women in his sad sorrowful bid to become accepted into society for who he is. He not only murdered them but brutally butchered their bodies to make himself a new skin. Realising that he is not acknowledged by others he feels the need to adapt himself and change his sex to become accepted with the rest of us and punishes his victims the way he feels let down by the rest of the society. This has the effect on the audience that they don’t know whether to feel sorry towards him or resent towards him to his vicious acts of insanity. Just what he thinks he can achieve by all of his actions bewilders me. How many of us feel sorry for him as we have all not been accepted for particular interests such as supporting a different football team. Are his actions of normal sanity, would we act in the same way faced in the same situation? Whatever your views on the deranged serial killer what gives him the right to murder and butcher others for no apparent reason. I feel he is portrayed in just the right light to make this film as successful as it has been. It is not far away from reality and Buffalo Bill’s thoughts and actions match the ones we associate with a serial killer and his motive is extraordinary as we puzzle whether or not to condemn this mass murderer. The various camera angles used allow you to view him from all different perspectives. The music which follows always is spot on to the emotions you feel towards the character. The first person camera angles show he is a vicious self -destructible human being as his actions are unexplainable. Mid shots of him in his lair showing his self inflicted sorry state makes the audience feel sorry for him when he is put across in that manner.
“Silence of the Lambs” has been cleverly put together to create suspense and tension and is arguably the best thriller of its era. The film begins with a young woman running through the woods alone. This gives the audience the impression that she is being chased. The music used is an eerie orchestra and gives you a nervous feeling. It then turns out she isn’t being chased and is in fact a young an investigation academy trainee. You can tell this as Starling jogs past four signs which say: “HURT,” “AGONY,” “PAIN,” “LOVE-IT.” These words fit into the narrative of this film well as later in the film we see Clarice is still “hurting,” from her fathers death when she was a little girl. There is lots of “pain,” and “agony,” Buffalo Bill’s victims suffer and “love-it” could illustrate how Starling feels about her job and Buffalo Bill feels about being transsexual. Midway she is pulled off the course and is called into too seeing her supervisor. She goes up in the elevator and it is full of red shirted men, which emphasises her petite feminine structure and almost makes her seem incapable of her job. I thought that it was good that they chose a girl to do the action as girls are seen as more vulnerable, weaker and affected easier and this would add to more suspense and tension throughout the film. Is she simply a representation of a stereotypical heroine, symbolic of modern womanhood, or is she a more complex character. She is certainly strong, successful, ambitious and courageous. Although many times in this film she is represented as being emotionally weak but “Silence of the Lambs” is certainly a groundbreaking film, in terms of being the first Hollywood blockbuster in history to portray women as being the stronger sex and this can only add to the films suspense and tension. Clarice is employed to help reveal an insight into Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s brain as he may provide a key insight into Buffalo Bill’s thoughts and actions. She starts by interviewing Lecter but is scared and fails to discover any information about Buffalo Bill. On her second visit she agrees to exchange secrets about her own personal problems if Lecter gives her clues about Buffalo Bill. We are then introduced to a new character called Catherine Martin. She sees a man struggling to put a settee into his van as he has a broken arm she offers her help to the struggling man. This part makes the audience feel at ease as they don’t think that the struggling man could be Buffalo bill. They are lured into a false sense of security. She carries the settee into the van with him before he knocks her out and kidnaps her. At this point the audience are in a state of shock as they can’t believe what has just happened. He takes her to his lair, down in the basement of his home. Buffalo Bill then puts her down a well in his basement. Meanwhile Clarice and the police discover the fourth victim (Three have already been killed before the film starts) and during the examination of her body they discover skin missing and a Deathhead Moth placed down her throat by the attacker. Buffalo Bill used the skin to try to make a dress for himself as he wants to be a woman and is a transvestite. Clarice Starling meets Lecter again for a third time trying to interrogate information out of him but Lecter is too smart and out wits her. She reveals how when she was a little girl she woke up in the middle of the night to hear this terrible screaming noise and she rushed to the barn where the noise came from. She found a flock of lambs screaming as they were about to be slaughtered by her father. She was only young and fragile and in a bid to save one of the lambs she picked it up and ran away from home. Young Clarice was too weak and was caught by the police a few miles away and taken back to the farm where the lamb was slaughtered. Nightmares now taunt Clarice and she wakes up still hearing the lambs screaming and knowing she can’t save them. Hence the poetic title “Silence of the Lambs.” Now she thinks if she can rescue Catherine Martin then she will stop the Lambs screaming forever. In an epic forth meeting with Lecter they exchange secrets and information. After being dragged away still not knowing who Buffalo Bill is, Clarice follows up a separate lead to find more evidence about the mass murderer. Lecter manages to take the metal point off a pen and when the guards lock him up so they can bring his food in he unlocks his handcuffs and launches an escape attempt. He lunges at one of the officers and knocks him out. Then bites the other ones tongue out before battering them both with a stick. The audience are in disbelief but in the film Lecter becomes a villain viewer’s love and mixed feelings are sent out as they don’t agree with him killing people but everyone wants him to escape as he is so cunningly acted and is so clever, people like him. The FBI go to a home in Illinois just as Clarice goes to a different home and they both simultaneously ring the bell. At this point the audience are misled into thinking that Clarice has gone to the witnesses’ house whilst the police have gone to Buffalo Bill’s but in fact it is the other way round. Clarice is unaware that she has stumbled across the serial killer and she is now in great danger. She realises something is wrong and sees pictures of victims pinned up to the side of his fridge. Meanwhile the FBI realise they have gone to the wrong house and that Clarice has gone to the right one and she is in danger. At this point the audience is on edge as they don’t know what is happening but they know Clarice is in danger. Clarice holds the gun and points it at Jame Gumb. He dashes off down into the cellar. Clarice follows in hot pursuit. She creeps down the stairs and opens the door to which Catherine Martin is screaming from. Next, she tells Catherine that she is safe and reassures her then leaves the room. She opens each door down the sides of the parallel walls. Behind one of the doors moths fly out which are the same moths Buffalo Bill inserts into his victim’s mouths. This builds up suspense and tension as the audience keep wondering which door Buffalo Bill is behind and it is very nerve racking. The lights go off and Gumb reappears with night vision goggles on. This builds up suspense and tension as there is a sense of inevitability because Starling can’t see him but he can see her, so he has an advantage. He raises his gun and clicks the hammer, the noise triggers Clarice into action and she guns him down with multiple shots. Catherine Martin is freed by the police as they arrive. Afterwards she is awarded her scholarship and becomes a full member of the FBI. The phone rings and Clarice answers, Lecter rings her to ask if the lambs have stopped crying and informs her he is stalking Chilton (the FBI officer who makes him look inferior and treats him badly) and that he will kill Chilton.
In “Silence of the lambs” animal imagery is used to compare different characteristics of Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill. Buffalo Bill’s symbol is the Moth. They start out as unpleasant caterpillars which are prayed upon by birds before growing into beautiful creatures. This coincides with Buffalo Bill as he used these creatures to place down victim’s throats and the unpleasantness about him makes him strive to change his looks and that’s why he is a transvestite and uses his victim’s skin to make himself a new one. Clarice Starling is the bird “Starling” which is a little bird and is associated with being trembling and quaint. Her appearance is not threatening nor is it authoritative but her friendly image allows people to confide in her and trust her. Like their animal symbols the Starling preys upon the caterpillar/moth just like Clarice kills Buffalo Bill in the end. The symbolic effect on the audience really sends their imaginations running and links different uses together. The overall mood of this film is that of a typical horror film which uses realistic characters to build up suspense and tension as much as possible. This helps fit in with the audience expectations about the thriller genre.
The framing and editing used in this film is when the camera angles switch alternatively and faster. It is when the music changes to the type of atmosphere created, judging on the background. The types of colours used also show how camera angles and the film has been edited. The contrast of light to dark. How the camera cross cuts between images. How the framing is used to focus on specific objects which have purpose in a part later in the film (iconography). There are not many special effects used in this film. Fading is also used in the film to fade from one shot into the next to produce a different setting.
I think the scariest moment in the film is when Lecter is talking to Clarice through the glass of his cell and he questions whether or not she is scared of him. He then slowly walks to the glass where Clarice is standing. The camera zooms in on Lecter’s face. He scowls and then makes a slithering noise as though he is sucking the blood out of you. I think this is the scariest part in the film because I did not expect him to do that and it made me jump and move back. Other parts in the film could be just as scary but are too predictable but still very effective. That part also fits in well with his character as he is intimidating but a loveable rogue. The fact that you know he can’t get to Clarice but he is still frightening from behind the glass builds up suspense and tension as it shows how scary and threatening he is. The close up shot also made it look like he was looking straight at me from the audience and as though he could get out of his cell.
I think overall the suspense and tension is built up very well throughout the film and is cleverly put across in different ways through their symbolic characters. I think this is the best thriller I have ever seen as it has a sense of realism about it without being too unbelievable and because the actors fit into their roles so well it only adds to the story. Clarice Starling’s character is a work of a genius and how they risked using a woman as the more dominant character in the film really makes it so much better.
