Silence of the lambs

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)    <!--[endif]-->Discuss three points within the film that semiotics were being used?

In a horror you expect to jump there are many places in the film that do this, one of these places is when Starling enters the car in the storage garage under the name of Moffet upon entering the garage Starling sees a car that ones examined on the inside reviles the decapitated head of victim of a cruel and brutal murder. This scene starts by build tension for example; in the garage you can see hardly anything, the room is filled with clutter which in a horror film you expect someone to jump out of every corner. Then the audience comes to the crescendo of the scene when the head is revealed to the audience.

Through the film the lighting plays a massive part to building tension and a sense of fear. For example when “the silence of the lambs” reaches its highest point of tension there is no lighting at all, in this scene starling has just discovered the serial killer “Buffalo Bill” when she attempts to arrest this dangers and brutal man he runs away into his seller, kills the lights in an attempt to have the upper hand on Starling. In this scene you only clear images we see are the images through the night vision googols of the killer; this green tint to the world is intended to makes the audience feel on edge and in my opinion this works very well the fusion of no lights, being in a strange place mixed with seeing the world through the eyes of a killer and mad man builds up the tension and confusion of the audience which intern strikes fear in to their hearts.

In “The Silence of the lambs” we see the world through the eyes of a woman        

A trait not normally used in horrors, this makes the audience feel on edge right from the start because normally in a horror you expect the woman to be the defenceless,  week and pathetic character who cry’s and is then killed of straight away. From very early in the film we learn that starling is asked to conduct an investigation into the mind of Dr Hannibal Lecter a sociologist, cannibal and all-round dangers man. The fact that the film puts a woman with little experience up against a master of the mind and the comparison of a man verses a woman gives us the audience a sense of being weak and defenceless.

   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2)    <!--[endif]-->How was the genre communicated?

In “Silence of the lambs” as with many other horror films conveys the genre in a number of different ways I feel that in the film some of the most prominent are the use of music and sound and the way the camera is used at follow Starling.

The music in “The silence of the lambs” is one of the most important conventions, without the music one of the most iconic horrors of all time would just be an average horror with a good story. For example when Dr Hannibal Lecter is in his cage the music is calm this sets a scene a tranquillity and relaxation. When in fact this scene makes the audience witness the most brutality in the whole film. The contrast of brutality and tranquillity creates an unforgettable sequence of horror and violence.

 One of the other important semiotics for”The silence of the lambs” is how the camera moves throughout the film, in the open scene for example as Starling runs through the woods the camera follows her in the classic style of “stalking” this means that the camera mover in the style a killer may move to follow a target this in the opening sequence of the film confuses the audience as they think that Starling is running from a killer when in fact she is only performing a training exercise. Late on in the film Starling is in the house of the killer and the camera takes on the role of the killer so we can see the power he has over Starling in the end sequence, this use of the camera also shows the audience how defenceless Starling is, and I feel that that part of the scene has a deeper meaning of saying how everyone is week when they are blind to the evil all-around them.   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3)    <!--[endif]-->How is the main female character portrayed?

Towards the start of “The silence of the lambs” Starling is shown as a very stereo typical woman of horror; week, defenceless, innocent and sexualised.

In the start of the film Starling is used only as an item of sexual attraction towards Lecter as a way to gain information, but as the film progresses Starling breaks out of the stereo typical format for a woman in a horror and becomes a much more of an independent strong character, using her own indicative to achieve her goals.     

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4)    <!--[endif]-->How is the queer theory relatable to the film?

In “The silence of the lambs” the main killer “buffalo Bill” has a deep inner desire to be a woman. “Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a transsexual. But his pathology is a thousand times more savage, and more terrifying”- Dr Hannibal Lecter Silence of the lambs

within the film he shows traits you would expect to see in a character of the queer theory for example he uses camp gestures, bill in the film is not realy a “camp gay” instead he is a manly king of “gay”

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5)    <!--[endif]-->The most memorable moment in the film?

For me I have to say that to pick one part of this film and say it is my favourite is something I just cannot bring myself to do. As a young Harry this was one of the first “proper” films I watched and was certainly my first horror. Without this film I do not feel that I would have the same passion for films that drove me to take on a course like TV and Film. At the same time I have to say that both the young Harry and the Harry of today have an interest in Characters in the insides of the minds that drive people to do things. So for me some of the best parts of the film are when Starling and Lecter are having conversations about their pasts, there drives and the inside of Buffalo Bills mind.