Explore the narrative image of 'Hannibal' and the way it is constructed through the DVD cover.
Camera:
'Hannibal Lecter' acted by Anthony Hopkins, is shown on the DVD cover by a big close up of his face, shot at eye level. This distancing instantly grabs the attention of the audience and signifies that the narrative of the film is based around him. More importantly this hides the characters identity as his action codes, dress codes and surroundings are withheld from the audience, which overall makes the cover more enigmatic.

Mise en scene and characters:
Only half of Hannibal's face is visible due to the shaft of light which is a strong connotation that this character is hiding and is evil, almost as if he is on the loose. The lack of lighting, producing heavy shadowing on his face also distorts his face, signifying how unusual yet menacing this character is. This is reinforced by the slight tilt of the face which also creates a feeling of confidence which makes the audience feel more threatened by him. Hannibal Lecter’s smile signifies that he is getting pleasure from hiding and acting evil which shows the audience just how twisted his character is. Both the tilt of his face and the smile suggest that he is confident because he has planned out the forthcoming events and these combined add to the desired enigma code. The age of the character and overall facial expressions make him seem confident and very knowledgeable, therefore very enigmatic – all the more frightening for the audience.

Colour is also very prominent within this cover. Black is dominant which signifies evil and hides this unknown characters identity. More importantly this hides his setting which frightens the audience more as we do not know where this evil character is hiding. The direct address also plays on the audience’s fears as this signifies that the character is possibly coming after ‘us’. Hannibal Lecter’s iris is bright red, which provides a strong connotation of blood and suggests to the audience that this man is highly dangerous. This feeling is supported further by the predominant red text. Linked to this, the black cover also highlights the film’s official rating of 18. This along with the rest of the cover really implies that this is a great thriller. The title itself ‘HANNIBLE’ is a take on the word ‘cannibal’ which is defined as ‘one who eats human flesh’. This therefore implies that the character featured on the cover is therefore this person. This adds an element of fear, for that reason making the cover more enigmatic. Similar to other text, this word is bold and in red, signifying danger and heightening fears.

In typical American thrillers, the heroes are conventionally attractive, whereas the villains usually ‘unattractive’. Having an unattractive character on the cover (sorry Anthony!), this conventionally tells the audience that this is more than likely going to be the villain of the film. Another convention of the thriller genre is that the villain is very normal and accepted within society. Adding to the enigma codes of the cover, this character is seemingly normal (for example clean shaven and clean appearance) which makes him even more fearful, leaving the audience feeling more vulnerable as he is accepted and normal. The audience is left to ponder on what exactly this character is capable of.