Psychological Thriller genre opening: Opening sequence of 'The Silence of the Lambs'

Cinematography-

The scene starts with a tracking shot following the main subject, which is the girl running. As she runs, the scene is fast paced as it mirrors her fast breathing and adrenaline rush.
We first have a big close-up of her face and then it zooms out into a medium shot and a very long shot as she runs onwards through the assault course.
When the FBI approaches her and they have a conversation, there is an over the shoulder shot.
There is a downward tilt on a close- up shot of a tree with presumably important words hanging off it. The words ‘hurt’, ‘agony’, ‘pain’, ‘love-it’, have negative connotations and could foreshadow future events.
We later have a very long shot of the building which the protagonist is going into.
The camera zooms into the building as she enters it and then jump cuts into her walking down some stairs.
There is then a trcking shot that follows the protagonist as she walks in and out of rooms as she walks fastly with a purpose (increasing the pace of the camera.)
A mediums shot follows the conversation of the protagonist and another FBI.

Sound-

The beginning has non-diagetic music.The use of orchestral instruments gives the music a dramatic feel that connotes a sense of unease and worry. It fades out as she speaks and then starts again when she starts running once more towards the building.
There is the diagetic sound of speech when the FBI tells her someone wants to speak to her in the building.
As she runs you can hear the diagetic sounds of her feet running on the soil track and the russtling of leaves to set the atmosphere of the woods.
Later there is the diagetic sound of speech and people moving and talking as she walks into the building and speaks to another member of the FBI.

Mise-en-scene-

The beginning is set in the woods, so there are many trees around the track the girl is running. Connoting isolation and danger.
The viewer is made aware of the posts on the tree which means they might link to something further on in the movie.
When she enters the building we see guns and police officers. These connote law and order.
There is a shot showing photographs and news paper clippings of murderer called "Buffalo Bill", meaning there is already a villain on the loose and danger is connoted.

Editing-

The titles are white, simple and relatively small. They go into the film where they get larger as well as black and the capitalisation could emphasise the theme of urgency that goes on throughout the film.
they fade in and fade out very simply.
There are many jump cuts which quicken the pace of the movie and mirroring the tempo of the protagonist which is running everywhere.

Story and plot-

From the first few minutes we gather that the protagonist is an FBI that is called in for a mission of some kind. This idea of police is a generic convention of psychological thrillers because it depicts that there is someone out of place in society that is doing something bad.
As she enters one of the rooms, she sees pictures on the wall of a murderer which suggest that there is a criminal that this protagonist is going to have to find.
As she speaks to the officer, he sets her an assignment that is not clear to the audience at this point and creates ambiguity which is another theme within the psychological thriller genre.

Situations and locations-

The first part of the scene is filmed in some dimly lit woods, with relate to the genre because the low lighting is convention of a thriller.
The fact that she is running through the woods makes us wonder whether she is running from danger or not, however we later realise that she was training.
The woods is an isolated place and this, again, is a convention of the genre we are studying.
It is misty and early in the morning creating an eerie feel that links to the genre.
The viewer later finds out that she is running an assault course which is not very common of women and so is out of the ordinary. Out of the ordinary is also a convention of psychological thrillers.
The masculinity is continued in the building with the blue walls and the guns.
Inside the building the atmosphere connotes law and order, with serious colours and the presence of uniformed people.

Themes and values-

(these are all themes that link to the genre)

Characters-

The first character we see and follow is the girl and so we immediately assume that she is the protagonist as the camera follows her throughout the whole beginning sequence. She sticks out like a sore thumb in the corridors of the FBI base because she is the small female among the large men.
Unlike normal portrayals of females, she is sweaty unglamorous, and a bit masculine.
The FBIs address her with respect suggesting that she is quite respected in her job and she is successful.
The fact that she is a female makes her more vulnerable and breaks the normal view of a male cop chasing the 'bad guy'.
This strange choice of protagonist and hero links to the genre because it leaves the viewer with nothing to expect as the situation is out of the ordinary.

Psychological Thriller genre opening