Analysing the Opening Sequence of Se7en

The film Se7en was released in 1995. The director of the film is David Fincher and it stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as the main characters.


Titles

The titles scene in this opening sequence creates a very un-nervy feeling. This is mainly accomplished through the sharp small movements of the words on the screen. This is also accompanied with the high pitched sounds playing in the background. The words in the titling sequence are written in white. The colour white is used to create a strong impact on the audience because it stands out very clearly against the black background. The titles are written in a font style that looks like somebody's handwriting. The font style adds to the mysterious feel; this is because it looks as if someone has written the titles themself - therefore the audience is subconciously concerned of a creepy connection bewtween a mysterious person involved in the play and the titles.


Shots

There are many shots used in this opening sequence, including a piont of view shot, a low angle shot and the piece begins with a big cose up and several close ups.

The big close up and close ups are used to look at the character Morgan Freeman plays, to try and connect the audience to his character and how he feels from the off. It forms a very early intense feel. This technique is a great way to introduce a character, because we feel like we are looking into his thoughts and can understand him clearer.

There is also alot of medium shots used in this opening section. An example is right at the beginning, where Morgan Freeman is tidying about in his kitchen. The effect of the medium shot here empkasizes the smallness of his flat and gives us a glimpse of his hostile environment. As well as this, getting an insight of what where he lives looks like, gives part of his character away and consequently allows the audience to make small judgements of the character.

Another shot used in this part of the film, is a two shop. Within the two shop is an interaction between Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. The are having quite a heated conversation because Morgan Freeman's character does not fully trust the other character. The shot here helps to stress the intimate conversation.


Movement

At the start where we are introduced to Freeman's character, a ped up occurs. This shot helps to slowly reveal the character as the camera moves from his lower half of his body all the way up to his face. This way we get to know what the character looks like a bit more intimately.

A tracking shot is also used when the two main characters are walking down the street. This technique helps to show how busy this town is by the ammount of people that are spotted in their short journey. This technique helps to show how hard it must be to solve a crime in this town let alone a murder, by the audience witnessing a small busy sample of one street.


Sound

When we are witnessing the character in his cramped flat at the beginning of the scene alot of non-diegetic noises are heard. This is used to make the audience understand that this character is never really properly alone, as he is surrounded with noises/sounds even when he is on his own, in his most relaxed area. Some of the sounds heard are quite loud and you could easily imagine that he would hear disturbing noises in the comfort of his own home. However, even though all these noises are happening it does not seem to effect Freeman and his character continues normal tasks without being inluenced by the noises heard. This could show that he has been in these situations far too much and that these sounds are not abnormal to him.


Mise-en-scene

-to be continued-