Sample Solution

Jonathan Demme, the director of “Silence of the Lambs,” and Tak Fujimoto, the cinematographer, do an excellent job in portraying almost every aspect of cinematography to make this movie suspenseful and gripping. Various motifs of camera angle, shot duration, movement, point-of-view shots, on-screen and off-screen space, and framing allow the viewer to better feel the intensity and reality of the scenes. In addition to motifs, there were certain scenes in the film that portrayed Demme’s directing and Fujimoto’s cinematography skills. There are many different camera angles throughout the movie. They are used to illustrate the height of a character, provide more on-screen and off-screen space, and symbolize power and suspense of certain characters. For example, when Clarice was in a room full of police officers, the camera was placed at a high angle looking down at all of the officers and other characters in the room. This usually occurred whenever the setting was a large, open room with many characters. It also occurred whenever a room was entered to show the off-screen space of the surroundings.