Analysis of opening sequence of 'Se7en' by Luke Graham

Film: Se7en
Directed by: David Fincher
Release date: 1996


The opening scene begins with an introduction to Morgan Freeman’s character in his apartment. Through diagetic sound we can hear city noises e.g., passing traffic, people walking and talking, cars beeping etc. which tells the audience that he is situated somewhere centrally in the hustle and bustle of the city. The use of discontinuity cuts quickly shows us the routine in which he gets ready; this introduction to the character shows the audience his personality and a little of the apartment and setting in which he is inhabited. We see the character as a reserved man who keeps his apartment clean and tidy and probably lives alone since he comes across as being independent and seems to keep himself to himself.
The use of low key lighting in this opening sequence of Se7en creates a depressing and mysterious atmosphere; demonstrating the depressing nature of the lead characters occupation and the eerie location. Another demonstration of low key lighting is the scene in which Morgan Freeman’s character, Detective Somerset, is viewing the murder scene in an apartment with another officer; the shot of the body is a mid-shot and at a slightly high angle so it is as if we are actually viewing the body whilst standing over it. During the opening to this film the audience is presented with a lot of this type of shot, making the audience feel as if they are there amongst the characters, this technique helps to heighten anticipation and helps to increase the realistic feel of the film.
The titles during the opening of Se7en include images, moving images and words. The ‘scratchy’ effect on all of the elements in this sequence makes the audience feel tense and anticipant for the film. The writing is small and white on a black background, the words are placed around the screen and the font seems handwritten and scruffy, much of this sequence includes bright flickers and the title animation seems as if the words are being scrawled into the images; portraying an almost vicious mood to the sequence and entices the audience with the interesting use of font size and style. The still and moving images consist of many different and strange things, the use of quick cuts, distortion and extreme close ups make these images quite hard to tell. We also see flickers of people’s faces, razorblades and splatters of either ink or blood. This entire sequence is in black and white and this effect means that the audience cannot tell whether or not these splatters are of ink or blood; this causes intrigue and suspicion felt by the audience. Another element of the titles is the sound used; we can hear a mixture of muffled drum beats and a high pitched scratching sound which parallels the music to the images and wording. The slower paced moving images help to intrigue the audience and make them interested in what is happening, for example we see hands touching and almost playing with a razorblade, as well as putting the audience on edge I think the director used this because it may have some significant to the rest of the film. Because we are shown a short scene before the opening titles, introducing main characters and understanding that we are watching two detectives who specialise in homicide, we instantly interpret that the hands are probably of a murderer who may be entering the film later on.
The use of mise en scene in the opening sequence helps to show us a little more about the characters that we are introduced to. The use of body language is a key part of this and near the beginning we see the characters of Detective Mills and Somerset walking alongside one another down a street. In this scene we notice that Mills bumps into a passer by and looks at him angrily as he carries on walking; this instantly tells the audience something about his character, that he is non submissive to anyone and that he has somewhat of a chip on his shoulder. Also, the dialogue between the two characters tells us a lot about the story so far and explains why these two seemingly opposing characters are brought together; Detective Somerset seems to have the upper hand over Mills as he seems to be more experienced with his work as a detective and we see that Mills is unhappy working under him, this also shows Mills’ personality and his arrogant attitude.
The lack of a soundtrack during the opening scenes with the characters has an interesting effect; the use of a soundtrack is commonly used to convey the emotions of certain characters or to reflect the pace of the film, by using no soundtrack the audience are clueless to what the characters are feeling which creates intrigue and curiosity, it aids in the realism in which they are trying to create and lets the acting talent convey the characters realistically and effectively.
Many of these conventions are used throughout the thriller genre to create mood, atmosphere and suspense and can easily be interpreted by the audience. Following the similarities seen in the majority of thriller films I believe our group will be able to present feelings and ideas that are all too present in thrillers effectively in our project.


Posted by-Luke Graham