Name: Darren Seifer
Alias: Sometimes referred to by last name
Age: 38
DOB: 25/04/????
Appearance: Tall about 6ft 2. 12 stone. Reasonable build.
Hair Style: Black, wind swept to the left. Quite rough
Facial Details: Dark brown eyes, strong Gaze, slight stubble, small faint scar below right eye.
Hometown: Cambridge
Clothes: Suits, long coats occasionally, waist coats occasionally, Casual wear. Dark Red Converse
Family Members: Two grandparents. Mother & Father, Uncle and no siblings
Family Members status: Grandparents assumed alive. Mother dead (Known) Father alive (Assumed dead) Uncle alive (Prison)
Relations: Girlfriend 32 (Julia)
Personal Traits:
- Determined.
- Quite troubled.
- Can be cold.
- Hard working.
- Concerned only for his and his girlfriends safety.
- Speaks his mind.
- Doesn' like to to get too attached to people
- Cold at first, friendly when you get to know him.
- Can be aggressive when stresses
- Easily annoyed by people he doesn't know
- Dislikes power hungry superiors
Home: Flat in London with his girlfriend.
Occupation: Comic artist. Ex policemen of small village.
Financial Status: Reasonably well off.
Hobbies:
- Blogging
- Bus Hopping
- Photography
- Cooking
Interests:
- Reading
- Sci-Fi films
- Retro gaming
- Camping
Emotional Being: Appears quite happy, mild depression.
Will Power: Average
Dexterity/Physical Fitness: Quite fit and able, poor hearing in one ear.
Medical Conditions: Common Vertigo
Intelligence: Average
Childhood Experiences: Parents occasional abandonment, death and disappearance of childhood friend. Rejection from education.
Morals:
- Take what you want give nothing back.
- Why waste your time thinking about a problem, when you can do something about it.
- Don't ask to many questions, just live your life they way you want to.
- Stick it to the man.
- Read between the lines.
Vertigo - John "Scottie" Ferguson
John Ferguson is the main character from 1958 Hitchcock Psychological thriller "Vertigo" He is a troubled retired detective, with acrophobia (Fear of heights) which can be seen in the above scene. In the film he retires as a detective after his acrophobia leads to the death of another officer. So this establishes a troubled b-ackground to the film. He then lives with his ex fiancee and tries to find a way to get over his fear with little luck. He is introduced to a Madeleine Elster who is apparently possessed. After tailing her for a day, he comes to the conclusion that she is being possessed by her great-grandmother who committed suicide. She then tries to kill her self by by jumping in a bay. He saves her from the bay.
John then becomes attracted to her and this eventually results in Madeleine and himself confess their love to each other. However she then throws her self of a church tower and dies. John's experiences vertigo due to his phobia and fails to save her.
From this you establish that Scottie's is very troubled, but however caring and kind. After the death of Madeleine, he becomes depressed and mute, and sent to a Sanatorium. Where he then experience hallucinations and vivid nightmares. He later meets a woman who looks like Madeleine, he stalks this woman to her hotel where she exclaims that she is Judy and not Madeleine. (It is then revealed that she is actually Madeleine and her suicide was staged). This then leads to a change in Scottie's character he develops a relationship with this Judy and makes her look more like Madeleine. She reveals her real identity as Madeleine to him at the same place she framed her death. And then dies in the same way as she did the first way, accidentally.
Characteristics
-Loyal, he remains friends with his ex fiancee though out the film. He also loves Madeleine despite what happens.
-Obsessiveness over Madeleine he makes Judy into Madeleine before she is revealed to be Madeleine
-Kind, he agrees to help the apparently possessed girl he's never met. Worried about her committing suicide
-Depressive, after Madeleine kills herself, this effects him so much he experiences nightmares, goes mute, and stalk the places where Madeleine used to go. This also shows his loyalty and obsessiveness.
-Clever, establishing what is wrong with Madeleine.
Ethics and Morals
-He risks his life to save a woman he barely knows. So he is some what a Samaritan and Hero. Clearly making him the protagonist.
-He is very embarrassed by his acrophobia enough so to retire.
-He feels a lot of responsibility to others.
On screen he is mainly portrayed as a kind, caring character, but he is also shown having quite weak will power. Mainly pulled down by his acrophobia. Towards the end of the film he becomes strong willed and overcomes his fear. While he has some conventions of a thriller character he also has some which don't fit in. The depression period he experiences is unusual for a main protagonist as well as his obsession over Madeleine.
Why does "The Silence of the Lambs" belong in the Thriller category?
"The silence of the lambs" is an 1991 american psychological/crime thriller. It features two main characters, Dr. Hannibal (The Cannibal) Lecktor (Played by Anthony Tompkins) and Clarice Starling a Trainee FIB special agent (Played by Jodie Foster) The film is the second film to feature Hannibal the Cannibal, the first being the 1986 successful thriller Manhunter; though this is not a sequel.
The Plot is quite typical of the Thriller genre, Foster's character Clarice is pulled from her training to interview, the cannibal and former psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecktor. With hope that he could give information and aid the capture of another serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". This is our first reference to the Thriller genre, as crime is a comment element in the plots of Thrillers, and more specifically serial killers in Crime Thrillers. The plot in my opinion has two angles. The interview and escape of Dr. Hannibal I would consider to be the main plot, whereas the capture and investigation into "Buffalo Bill" is a sub plot to support this. I could be argued that its the other way around, but since Hannibal's relationship to Clarice is shown at the beginning and the end of the film I would consider this more important.
Typically of crime and psychological thrillers, the plot is rather complex and difficult to follow unless you have your full attention on the movie. Important information concerning the plot is all over the film and can sometimes be rather easy to miss. It contains clever twists towards the end, and unexpected events to keep the movie interesting and of high tension. Which a good thriller should have. The plot is mainly explained though dialogue, but there are also scenes of action and suspense. While the dialogue and script keeps the thriller complex, clever and interesting. The action and suspense keeps it engaging and exciting. There is a lot of tension in this film.
Tension is created in several ways. First being the music, it is mainly eerie, which can be seen at the beginning. And also piano pieces are used which is in the scene below. The lightning is also mainly low key through out the film, more so when Clarice finds Buffalo Bill.
The film also features gore and death, a very common element of thriller films. This can be seen when Hannibal kills the two guards and hangs up one of the bodies. He also cuts of one of their faces and uses it as a mask. The serial killer Buffalo Bill also trying to make a woman suit out of skin and parts of women he has killed by making the tension in the skin lesson with lotion. This is done to both shock the audience and keep them interested in the movie and discover the reason behind these things. The moth on the film poster and cover has a skull on it symbolizing death.
The two main characters also suit the thriller genre quite well. Clarice Starling is a trainee special agent for the FBI, a very suitable thriller main protagonist occupation. She is an independent woman, who appears to have a lot of aspiration to achieve. Like the main character in most thrillers, she is alone in the film. She also has a troubled background, which she reveals to Hannibal when interviewing him. Her father was shot, and she then runs away from her new home after witnessing some lambs being slaughtered (The origin of the films title.) She then lives in an orphanage. Troubled backgrounds again is a convention of thriller characters. She is also a strong character she manages to resist Hannibal's clever manipulation and also defeats the serial killer "Buffalo Bill" in a dark basement and manages to hold her nerve. She is a good example of a thriller protagonist the only unusual factor about her character is that she is female, which isn't very common in thrillers and she also has a quite innocent appearance. However Hannibal would not be interviewed if this was not so.
Dr. Hannibal Lecktor is a very unusual character in the films, but is also very conventional. As he is one of the antagonist, but also has a supporting protagonist role in this film. (You can say this as he does help to assist Starling in the capture of Buffalo Bill). Hannibal is a serial killer and well known criminal. He is consider highly dangerous and feared by many. His character is also very intelligent and manipulative another common convention of antagonists. He has a very significant impact on Starling after there first interview. His killer instinct and intelligence can be seen in this scene.
In my overall opinion this is a very good thriller film. It is engaging, clever and eerie and has a great sense of mystery behind Hannibal's character. The film is a good example of a thriller and also a crime film. As the story is plausible and based of real murders, and serial killers. It characters for me define this film as a thriller the most, and the music and plot supports this.
