Hannibal is a psychological horror/thriller film starring Anthony Hopkins as the cannibal, Mr Hannibal Lecter. The film is set ten years after the infamous thriller 'Silence of the Lambs'.
The opening sequence begins with a black background, connoting death or danger.
Non-diegetic music of which sounds like a piano is played whilst the black background is still on the screen. The music sounds from a previous era, suggesting the setting will be either old fashioned or set years ago from present day.
A male voice can be heard, however it doesn't seem to be a voice over like in so many of the Film Noir movies. This creates an enigma for the audience as there is no identity yet who the voice belongs to.
Red font/typography appears from out of the black screen saying 'Universal Pictures'. The writings is medium sized and quite thin, with the red giving the impression of blood or danger.
Another male voice is introduced but no faces as yet, however the audience can understand that there is a conversation taking place, even with no images.
The red font fades out with the introduction of more titles.
A small, unrecognisable white square appears and zooms closer, becoming enlarged. The title of 'Scott Free Productions' is shown to the left of it.
The white square is close enough now to appear as a television screen or the stage on a theatre, creating confusion for the audience as to where this is set.
The square is still surrounded by the pitch black background however three figures become apparant, and the voices are recognisable as those from before.
There is a black middle aged man sat casually on a chair, across from a man in a wheelchair and another standing next to him. The faces of the people have not been shown as yet.
A long/meduim shot establishes the setting of where this 'meeting' is taking place. It appears to be a large living room in a house, however the grand furniture and royal colours connote that of wealth.
The camera continues zooming in.
The once white square now takes up the whole screen, although still no emphasis on the faces.
Ambient and low key lighting connotes danger and perhaps plotting from the three characters.
Non diegetic music is still quite mellow.
Point of view camera shot suggests that someone/something is lurking or listening into the conversation.
A close up shot of the man in the wheelchair shows his face to be very disfigured, creating a shock for the audience.
The camera cuts back to the black male character, with a shot reverse shot of the two conversing.
A low angle shot of the disabled man portrays the background of the grand fireplace, once again connoting wealth.
A man is stading by his side wearing a formal suit, with his body turned slightly towards the man in the wheelchair, suggesting he works for him.
The black male character picks up a pink box and walks to the other man.
An over the shoulder shot reveals the standing male character unravelling the box, with red curtains and book cases connoting historical and old preferences from the owner, suggestively the disabled man.
A low angle shot shows the man's reaction to what is inside the pink box, whilst the camera continues to zoom in.
The calm non diegetic music stops and becomes an almsot ambient sound of the wind, connoting events are about to take a more sinister turn.
Finally, we see what is in the pink box. It is a human face mask with metal bars covering the mouth. It looks almost animalistic and perhaps belongs to Hannibal himself.
A high angle shot zooms into the mask, which then fades out. And the red font re-appears with the film title 'Hannibal' in a fancy typography.
The title sequence follows from this with the actor's names appearing in white bold writing.
A series of black and white images appear as if they are CCTV or surveillance tapes, connoting that of police and detectives. There is the non diegetic souns still of the piano, although there is the diegetic sound of police radios.
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