Anaylsis of Red dragon

Red Dragon

The prequel to Silence of the lambs saw the return of Hannibal Lecter in this critically acclaimed  thriller. Directed by Brett ranter, the use of mise en scene, sound, cinematography and editing are all used to create an atmosphere of tension, eeriness and fear whilst focusing on the character Hannibal.



Cinematography
Cinematography is a key element throughout the opening to create this scene of dread throughout. It opens with a master shot of an orchestra suggesting he has class thus making the character from the onset all the more intriguing and interesting, this interest is as we later see one of Hannibal's strongest elements for a great film villain, and the fact he is not the generic villain all the more intrigues us as to what will happen next. The character becomes more apparent through the use of the slow crane zoom onto Hannibal's face. This emphasizes his emotion which itself is frustration, this frustration then hints as to why he choices his victims, a line from silence of he lambs and in this both begin to suggest Hannibal only picks on those he proclaims to be "rude". We begin to understand as to why this anger is present due to the shot which shows a character playing out of tune. The close up of the character playing the flute clearly and without doubt shows us he is playing out of tine, and thus not to Hannibal's liking. The use of the character is carefully placed within the scene to give a sense of status. This is done through his placing and the camera. The camera cuts the bodies of his guests at the dining table, rather focusing on Hannibal himself and the camera following him. This is gives the sense of him being in power and control. 

Mise en scene 
The clothes in which Hannibal is wearing is of key  importance. He has status, class and style, again like the use of cinematography, makes the character all the more interesting and intriguing. The setting and environment again support this point. He, by no means is a generic character. The way that he presents his dinner to his guests suggests he has charm, and again class. He has a way with people. yet the nature of what he is presenting suggests that the character is a schemer, sly almost yet is suttle in what he does. This itself build up the tension for the character and adds a great mystery as to his background. 

Sound
The soul use of an orchestra only adds to what i previously said. This is a character with class. He choice of surroundings, appearance and in this case sound illustrates his charm. The ambient sound  itself is loud, frequency turned up. It dominates the scene, the audience are drawn into the music, the audience are drawn into the character Hannibal Lecter. The dialogue exchanged between characters are also very important. It is Hannibal who dominates the dialogue, which may suggest he is a strong character, but more over he is influentional. He has a way with people, other characters, which his choice of dialogue shows.