Title Sequence Anaylsis- Silence Of The Lambs.

I have chosen to do the title sequence from the “silence of the lambs”, I decided on doing this as I have yet to have seen the whole film.

Before the film starts there is a main image which is a big close up of a woman’s face taken at eye-level. The use of big close up enables the audience to have a very good view of the expression on the woman’s face, The woman is directly addressing the camera, this makes the image more striking and attracts people's attention. The woman’s mouth is being covered by some sort of moth-like bug, which at first glance appears to be harmless, but in fact there’s a skull on the moth. This skull signifies death and it seems as if this moth is trying to prevent her from speaking.

The film starts off with an establishing shot of the woods and lake, giving an eerie feel to the viewer. The music uses tension and release, a trait commonly used in the music industry to build suspense. The building of the music, from low to high pitch, and from quiet to loud adds to the tension created in the opening scene. As Agent Starling starts to run, the pace of the music quickens in time with her footsteps. When the agent is called, a tension peak is reached with this digetic sound, but the viewer is quickly alerted to the reality of the situation when they realise that the voice is in fact that of her commanding officer, and she is in no danger at all. The sound of the birds in the opening scene signifies death to the viewer, as vultures and birds are often associated with death. The mist can be perceived as oppressive and it seems as if it obscures your perception off events.

In the opening shot there is no camera movement. The camera, still in one continuous shot, pans down and to the left deeper into the forest from the tree creating a high angle establishing shot. The camera then settles on Agent Starling in the distance working her way up through the forest towards the camera. As she reaches the top, we can hear that she is out of breath, the camera retracts slightly as she pauses and looks around. The camera then follows her from a distance, creating a long tracking shot. The shot then cuts to close up of her face as she runs, then zooms out slightly into a mid shot of her head and shoulders. The shot yet again cuts, this time to a side angle mid shot from her rights hand side, the camera still moving with her, as she runs through the trees with the crunching of the leaves underfoot apparent in the sound. The camera is still following her as she runs until someone off screen shouts her, and then runs into shot towards her, as a consequence she turns around the camera then moves towards, with Starling bending over, exhausted, making the commanding officer look very powerful.

The four words pinned to the tree - hurt, agony, pain, love-it, instil in the viewer a sense of wonder, and leaves them asking why these words are there, and they also add to the tension and suspense at the start of the thriller.

Agent Starling is dressed in male clothes and we see her surrounded by men at the end of the opening scene, this makes the viewer feel as if she is out of place and in a male surrounding. Her clothes are sweaty and some may feel that she is incapable of doing a man’s job. In the title sequence the viewer is unaware of the situation. Initially, it’s thought that she may be running away from something or someone, but the reality is revealed when we see the climbing frame. It then becomes clear that she is perhaps part of the police force or army and this is confirmed when her superior addresses her as ‘Agent Starling‘.

The lettering used is another feature of the opening sequence. The letters are bold, black and uppercase. The boldness of the letters imposes a sense of authority on the viewers, which may be showing danger or the authority inflicted on Agent Starling by her male colleagues. Black signifies death and secrecy which are two major themes of this thriller.