Analysis of Red Dragon- Opening scene

Red Dragon- Opening Scene

For our second analysis, we watched the first few scenes from the film ‘Red Dragon’, which is based on a novel of the same name, written by Thomas Harris. The main character is Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins.

Sound

The use of sound in Red Dragon is key from the very beginning. The first sound we here is that of an orchestra, and like most of the noticeable sound, is diegetic. Before we actually see the orchestra however, there is a small sound bridge from the credits, to the first scene. The orchestra itself adds to the ‘upper class’ feel to the first few scenes. In the room, ambient sound is used to add to the tension and the atmosphere. They are actually more contrapuntal sounds than they are parallel as they go against the almost ‘weird’ atmosphere, as Hannibal is feeding his guests human flesh. The sounds do appear to be parallel is you don’t know about Hannibal, however.

Cinematography

There are a few very clear and important uses of cinematography, especially with Hannibal at the beginning of the film. Firstly, there is a crane shot of him as he is sitting in the theatre, as the camera drops and zooms in on his face, showing his emotion. This, like a lot of the techniques used with Hannibal is there to emphasize his importance as the main character. There is also a tracking shot of him when they are all sitting down in the room, as he is walking around the table. This is used to make him seem powerful and in control.

Mise-en Scene

There are a lot of examples of mise-en scene being used in the clip, and like with the cinematography, it is mostly based around Hannibal Lecter. He is usually always in the centre of the shot, showing his importance, and the lighting often also emphasizes this, like when it dims on him in the theatre. The theme of wealth is very obvious as well, due to the way the characters are living. They are in a large house, dressed very smartly and also begin at the theatre, somewhere that is usually populated by higher class people. In the room at dinner there was a golden, fiery glow, also suggesting class. However the fire could also suggest evil, something which is actually sometimes associated with wealth.

Editing

The changes in the tempo of the music and the way that Hannibal usually ends the scene in the middle of the shot suggest his importance, and there is also a fade in from black, after the credits at the start of the clip. Aside from that, editing is not the most prevalent feature used.