The opening of the film starts of in a different manner compared to films of a similar genre around the time. The opening shot pans on a forest with credits appearing suddenly on the shot, in the background there are lots of bare trees with fog concealing them, the scene seems calm, however the music suggests otherwise by giving a worrying tone in it melody. A crow squawks as the first few credits begin to show. The crow is a predator of nature and is heralded as being smart, possibly foreboding how the main character of the film will be preyed on later on in the film through the use of smarts from Hannibal Lecter. As the credits appear, they are in a Bold white outlined black font, appearing in the center of the frame, punching in and out suddenly, this contrasts heavily with how the scene is behaving, as the camera pans slowly the credits come in sharply, this possibly suggests how the film will change pace heavily later on.
As the camera pans slowly, tension builds up until we see Clarice climbing up the hill with a rope, retaining that tension as Clarice attempts to run the course quickly. The close up of her face shows how determined she is while running, this can relate to her later on when she is determined to find information on Hannibal. The music also intensifies, adding in higher sounds from violins, giving the impression she is being chased. The impression of her being watched through the use of a tracking shot is also apparent. As she comes down from the rope wall, the medium shots allows the light from the sun to show on her face, revealing the sweat, further reinforcing how determined she is.
The next scene takes place in a prison where Hannibal Lecter is being held. As Clarice and the man with her walk down the stairs, they are behind red bars, the red bars could signify the hellish environment behind them. When the two stop in front of the bars as the man tells Clarice about how Hannibal brutally attacked a nurse after lying about chest pains, the two are in red light, as he tells the story the red light shows how close to evil they are, the close up of Clarice's reaction to the photo is unsettling. The man however receives an extreme close up, showing how he is not moved by the event he is narrating, as he has probably seen worse since he works in the prison. The bars open and two walk through, Clarice begins to talk when a buzzing noise and the bars shutting interrupts her, possibly showing how she is now trapped. An over the shoulder shot is introduced after she suggests the idea of her going in by her self, in the background behind the man we see a white room with a security guard dressed in white too, possibly showing that the area where he is kept is not hell, but maybe a step further, the white may signifies nothingness, relatable to how Hannibal feels nothing when he kills and is always calm. After entering the room, a 360 degree shot begins to take place, firstly we see the CCTV system, in which we see the man running up the stairs, showing how he wants to get away from the area. As the camera pans we see the environment and people inside, such as the security guards and guns on the wall, this also shows Clarice is observant. After introducing herself and talking to Barney the guard, she walks through the next barred gate, again the gate closes and she is now trapped even more, with two sets of gates blocking the escape. When Barney tells here what to do, he says "He's past the others" referring to other inmate with the harsh word, possibly signifying they are not human. As she walks through the 3rd gate, which again closes further trapping her, the audience is shown p.o.v shots of the prisoners, showing the diversity of the inmates. We also see that the conditions of the cells are pretty standard and bare. However when she see's Hannibal, we immediately see he has a better condition than the other prisoners. Hannibal also is behind Perspex glass rather than bars, relating to how the man earlier told Clarice about the brutality Hannibal can cause if he can get near to people. This shows he is much more dangerous than the other inmates. After meeting him and introducing herself, Hannibal immediately recognises her as one of Jack Crawford's detectives, showing he is smart. Clarice originally came to the prison to question Hannibal, but straight away Hannibal is commanding her, he asks for her credentials, telling her to come closer and to sit. He then straight away begins to question her, showing he has the power.
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