Silence of the Lambs. Editing.
Anthony Hopkins's role as Hannibal Lector in "The Silence of the Lambs" is nothing short of grotesque. He gives an absolutely amazing performance playing the role of this deranged, psychiatrist. In fact, he plays the part so well that at times the madmen seems capable of leaping right off the screen and ripping some ones head off of their shoulders. The editing and sound techniques involved in the mise-en-scene gives the audience a taste of the real thing. The movie tells us the tale of a fully-fledged psychopath, in captive, who assists a budding FBI agent named Clarice Starling in finding a serial killer out on the loose. The serial killer happens to be someone known to the prisoner, Hannibal Lector. The movie is based around Lector and Clarice and the tug of war they play with the FBI's hierarchy in order to find this killer, who likes to murder, and scalp plus size women. The scene that we will be analyzing is the one where Lector escapes from his cell. The cell is located within the top floor of a security building. Lector's cell is placed right in the middle of the cavernous hall. However, he still manages to escape after killing the two incompetent guards who were watching him. The scene starts off with the guards
It reinforces the mad look in his eyes. We see the guard who has been handcuffed hopelessly struggle with his restrains. Classical music usually tells a person that things are calm, serene, and normal. Overall, the director was able to give the audience a richer sense of what it would be like to have met Hannibal Lector in person. We see the self-assured smugness drop and then switch over to a look of terror beyond words. It was her inability to have saved them that is now psychologically controlling everything that she does in her life. The jarring music continues through the whole thing, emphasizing two significant point of views. That is, we the shot of the guards at point A, and then we see the final shot when they reach point B. The movement of the guards from left to right is based upon a sequence shot. We see a high angle shot of the doctor sitting on the floor of the prison, his back to the bars, wrists sticking out waiting to be handcuffed. Sound, in the form of music was used to lull the audience into a sense of false security. Shot two, which is the reverse shot, is taken from outside the bars of the cell from the point of view of the guard. Parallel editing lets us follow the simultaneous flow of actions at the same time from two different location.
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Acceptance Essays
