Silence of the Lambs - conversational analysis

 Analysing Conversations  

Before the beginning of the clip, Clarice makes her way down the stairs and through the corridor of cells. Along the way, some prisoners leer at her, and try to get her to pay attention to them, whilst others sit and stare at her as she walks past. Each prisoner is behind bars until the camera reaches the last cell, which is separated by glass, and the audience is introduced to Dr Hannibal Lecter for the first time. As well as being kept in a different kind of cell, Lecter is standing in the middle of it completely still, the only movement being his gaze fixed on Clarice, following her to his cell. Immediately, Lecter is made more terrifying by this contrast of attitude towards the agent, not shouting and jeering as the others do. By standing completely still and straight, the audience is given the immediate idea that Lecter is the most powerful out of the two. This is further demonstrated by Clarice’s timid walk and scared expression, sometimes even accompanied by a shaking voice, hosing she has a less powerful presence. Furthermore, the audiences first glimpse of  

Lecter is given from the POV of Clarice as she makes her way closer and closer to his cell. This gives the opportunity for the audience to empathise with the terror she feels in the moment.

When Clarice first greets Dr Lecter, she is seen in an over-the-shoulder shot of him. However, even through Clarice is the one speaking, Lecter’s head still takes up half of the screen, trapping Clarice into the right side of the shot, indicating that he is the one in higher power. He asks Clarice to show her credentials and making out that he can’t read her ID. So, he tells her to come “closer”, except he says it in a way that makes him seem almost to be in a trance, refusing to remove his unblinking gaze from her face. Giving her commands provides the impression that Lecter is still the one in power, and Clarice is more submissive by answering these demands, no questions asked. As she moves closer and closer to the glass, the audience is taken directly into Lecter’s eyeline, looking straight into the camera from Clarice’s POV, giving the audience yet another chance to empathise with her and realise the intensity of the situation. 

After a short while, Lecter directs his gaze, and the camera, to the air holes above him in the glass panel, where he takes an uncomfortably long time smelling the scent of Clarice’s face cream. Being able to identify the product she uses, makes Clarice obviously feel uneasy at the accuracy of what he is saying. All the while, Lecter is kept in the centre of the shot, very close-up, whereas Clarice is filmed in a medium-shot with her being positioned off-centre, to the right of the frame. This furthers explains how Lecter still has the higher power since his face takes up almost the whole frame. Having the camera tracking the movement of his head as he smells, gives the impression that Lecter is mor powerful because it makes the audience pay more attention to what he is doing in the scene.