The opening titles colour are a mixture of red turning to white inferring the idea that evil is dominating pure. The background behind the titles like in Halloween is black and gives a connotation of horror,death and darkness things usually associated with horror/thriller films implying the nature of this film as it can not be any other type of film from these connotations.
The incidental music behind the title gives the impression of a shrieking sound implying pain and anguish while the instrument playing is a violin and the music is an orchestral sound implying more than one person is playing and stereotypically this is not the type of music to be played in a children's film for example therefore it suggests the nature of the film is horror as it creates a sinister mood.
The camera then turns to a point of view shot/establishing shot which the frame of which is extreme long shot of the opera house.
scene one opera house
Throughout this scene a set of images used to convey the meaning of the scene in contrast to a scene which contains dialogue. The camera shots used in this scene are very interesting one of which is a crane shot which shows a sweeping movement among the crowd of people and the orchestra this is used it seems to introduce the audience to the situation and what is going on.A medium close up is used to show the irritability on the conductors face clearly showing the man playing the flute is playing his instrument incorrectly. There is a focus pull as the crane shot is taking place as our attention is drawn to the main character of focus.
The doctors juxtaposition in the crowd of people is centralised clearly pointing him out as our point of interest.Also along with the doctors juxtaposition is his status as an actor as he is well known and therefore people our bound to pick him out as the main character. The close up of the doctor Hannibal's face which takes place after the crane shot reveals alot about what is happening in the scene as he turns his head to the side. This is a connotation of a dog who is about to eat implying the doctor two is about to strike. This close up used also reveals him wincing at the flute player and twitching implying he is irritated and annoyed by this mans mistakes. This also implies the doctor must be an intelligent man to pick out such a small mistake present in the orchestra.
The people in the crowd are also wearing sophisticated clothes suggesting they are rich people who are of upper class .
Scene 2 dinner
Hannibal's house is revealed to us through the use of a wide shot showing the street he lives in has houses that look like town houses which are usually found in London. The camera cuts to inside Hannibal's house where he is serving guests, the house if full of sterling silver , fine china and silver candelabras all things associated with a Victorian house implying Hannibal is very wealthy.However the film is set in America,Virginia so the fact his house is painted as very unique and out of odds with the normal implies Hannibal to is not a normal man.
Hannibal is shown serving red whine , red whine is a connotation of the blood of Christ inferring the idea of religion this again highlights the idea of Hannibal not being the sane man he is made out to be. The camera begins to pan and track round the table creating the illusion of Hannibal as the predator and his guests are the prey as he is circling them like he is about to pounce upon all of them.A low angle camera shot is then shown of Hannibal implying he is the dominant person in this situation and he has the power over these people.
Hannibal is represented to the audience as a modern day count Dracula. This yet again enforces the idea of horror this is presented by his sophisticated clothes he is wearing and his darkness and slickness in his posture and facial expressions as they show his pure evil streak. Hannibal is also wearing a white shirt shown by the wide shot used at the end of the scene. White is usually a connotation of purity however this is a contradictory statement as the viewer already knows Hannibal is anything but this.
In this dinner scene Hannibal's intelligence is highlighted once again as a dinner guests dialogue consists of him admiring Hannibal's intellect "cribbing the line from Horris". Hannibal's dominance again is shown in his dialect "well done Charles" as he is applauding Charles for recognising his intellect therefore it creates the impression he is treating him like a student/ child. The same men then goes onto address his fellow guests as a "herd" implying again Hannibal is there predator. Finally an over the shoulder shot shows Hannibal's evil streak as he smiles maliciously as the unbeknown guests begins to eat her fellow orchestral player.
Scene 3 special agent Graham
An over the shoulder shot at the beginning of this scene as Hannibal opens the door to another man indicates the doctor knows this man at the door as he refers to him as inspector Graham who is part of the FBI. Therefore this is an indication to us rather than him to who this is.Through this sequence shot reverse shots are present between the doctor and the inspector revealing alot about the two men . Inspector Graham is wearing a gun belt implying he is well equipped and a threat to the doctor. Inspector Graham is revealed as visiting the doctor in order to reveal his view on who the murderer is implying the two have a very close and personal relationship as he has come into the middle of the night just to talk to the doctor about his suspicions. This personal relationship is touched upon again when Hannibal touches Graham on the chest implying a close father and son relationship between the two.
Hannibal's dialogue throughout this scene reveals him to be the murderer as he inquires into whether Graham has told the bureau of his suspicions suggesting it is him who is the murder and is worried Graham is going to find him out. Later on he also asks if Graham wants to go to the "couch" inferring he wants Graham in a venerable position so he can attack.
Hannibal's office reveals alot about him as it shows he's a weird man as he has Japanese sculptures ad dead bugs on his shelf shown by the Pov shot of Graham which also hints at the later films in the series. There is a close up of some hunting arrows highlighting Hannibal's animalistic streak as it creates the idea of a predator and a prey commented on previously.As the inspector picks up Hannibal's book that he uses to make his victims body parts into something to eat a sequence of shot reverse shots take place between the book and inspector Graham the camera also begins to zoom in this builds up tension as he is slowly coming too realise the truth about the doctor as his eyes are starting to get closer to the words "sweetbreads".
The incidental music surrounding the scene begins to get louder and faster implying something epic is about to happen as the pitch continues to rise which in turn builds tension. This is followed by the action sequence between the doctor and the inspector as the two struggle and fight with one anoher as the doctor tries to kill him.Doctor Hannibal's dialogue consists of him telling Graham not to struggle and that he doesn't want him to feel any "pain". This implies a sick nature to the character as even though a loving feeling is present between the two he is still killing him.A low angle shot if Hannibal shows he is in power and succeeding.However as Graham begins to attack a medium long shot shows Hannibal enduring pain and still proceeding towards Graham which is a connotation of a monster from old horror films who even when injured pursue their victim.This is follwed by a pan from the inspectors body to a close up of Hannibal's face showing the two are gravely injured as it shows there is no life in Hannibals eyes.
Scene four actual titles scrapbook
After the pre title sequence another set of titles appears with Anthony Hopkins name coming up first implying he is the most famous actor in this film. The titles fade in and out once again. Light passes over a scrapbook implying the book has been there for a long time and the person is constantly constructing it.
The lack of day light upon the scrapbook implies that the book is being constructed in either a basement or attic implying this book is one which wishes to be kept secret. The incidental music behind this sequence like at the beginning of the pre title sequence is dramatic , mysterious and dark consisting of an orchestra of strings and is stereotypical music to be heard in a thriller film.
A close up of the scrapbook reveals it to be a book documenting the case of Hannibal as it reveals newspaper clippings over time about Hannibal’s legal battle including titles such as “Fiend serves organs to guest” and “chambers of Horrors revealed” implying Hannibal is in trouble from the murders he has committed and is found guilty. As the camera zooms in and out of the titles and pictures and pans and tilts across the book the incidental music is synchronized with the editing signifying the progression of time between each page of the book was made as the edits become faster the incidental music becomes faster.
Along with the pictures of Hannibal’s career there are disturbing images shown such as the anatomy of man and next to this is a dragon a connotation of the Armageddon 12:5 (known as the end of the world) implying this maker of the scrapbook believes he is not normal and is turning into this red dragon who will bring around the end of the world. This also indicates the maker is pouring out his thoughts in the book as he has disturbing written thoughts and images in the book such as a disturbing picture of a child. Suggesting this man is deeply disturbed. A zoom in on a picture of a boy with scratched out eyes also highlights on the abnormality of this scrap book maker maybe he is ashamed of what he has become and can’t bear to look at himself. The titles Juxtaposition is now on the left as the scrapbook is our main focus.
The lack of day light upon the scrapbook implies that the book is being constructed in either a basement or attic implying this book is one which wishes to be kept secret. The incidental music behind this sequence like at the beginning of the pre title sequence is dramatic , mysterious and dark consisting of an orchestra of strings and is stereotypical music to be heard in a thriller film.
A close up of the scrapbook reveals it to be a book documenting the case of Hannibal as it reveals newspaper clippings over time about Hannibal’s legal battle including titles such as “Fiend serves organs to guest” and “chambers of Horrors revealed” implying Hannibal is in trouble from the murders he has committed and is found guilty. As the camera zooms in and out of the titles and pictures and pans and tilts across the book the incidental music is synchronized with the editing signifying the progression of time between each page of the book was made as the edits become faster the incidental music becomes faster.
Along with the pictures of Hannibal’s career there are disturbing images shown such as the anatomy of man and next to this is a dragon a connotation of the Armageddon 12:5 (known as the end of the world) implying this maker of the scrapbook believes he is not normal and is turning into this red dragon who will bring around the end of the world. This also indicates the maker is pouring out his thoughts in the book as he has disturbing written thoughts and images in the book such as a disturbing picture of a child. Suggesting this man is deeply disturbed. A zoom in on a picture of a boy with scratched out eyes also highlights on the abnormality of this scrap book maker maybe he is ashamed of what he has become and can’t bear to look at himself. The titles Juxtaposition is now on the left as the scrapbook is our main focus.
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