Analysis of Se7en

The opening credits sequence of Se7en is dark and rough introducing the viewer to some of the main themes througouht the scene. The opening sequence runs approximately 4 minutes; its purpose is to introduce the main protagonists, Detective William Somerset.

Mise-en-scene is paramount during the opening credits as it gives you a real glimpse of what the narrative will entail. This is the first glimpse we get to see of the killer and gives us key clues as to what he is going to do, as well of his personality. The opening credits shows the antagonist carrying out actions like, writing, developing photos, reading etc. This suggests that he is planning something thoroughly and from the way it is presented it implies that it is something bad. It may suggest he has a problem such as OCD. Most thriller protagonist’s s go thoroughly through there things, this way the audience can identify that he fits the role as the protagonist. These images are surrounded by lots of black, which darkens the whole atmosphere implying that it is sinister. The use and choice of colour is very interesting as it is black and white, this suggests simplicity and darkness. The only bright colour to be shown throughout the opening credits is red, this is clever and lets the viewer focus on this colour as it stands out, and the colour red represents blood and ultimately death. One of the more graphic scenes shows the man slicing off his fingertips, this suggests that he is going to commit a crime and doesn’t want to leave any evidence behind. It is a gory image, but it is very extreme which makes the audience feel the tension; by cutting off his skin it indicates that he is very committed to what he does as he is willing to put himself through pain just to carry out these acts of crime. It also suggests that he is experienced as he is very methodical what he is carrying out making sure all his pages are straight, this again proves that he might he might have a sense of OCD.

For camera angels they don’t use any wide shots or mid shots which could possibly reveal the killer. Camera angles are effectively used in this opening – by keeping the mystery of whom the person is, it intrigues the audience and makes them want to carry on watching. The use of both close up shots and extreme close up shots ensures we focus on the important and disturbing aspects of the scene as well as adding importance. This builds up intrigue within the viewer. The editing of these clips is very fast-paced and uses lots of transitions and effects to give the impression of chaos and that his state of mind is disjointed like the imagery shown.

The sound used in the opening credits sequence is all non-diegetic; the background sound is heavy sounding and is quite fast. This is particularly common of a thriller movie as it adds a sense of surprise and suspense. However some sounds are made to sound natural. For example, during parts of the clip, a very high pitched noise occurs which tricks the viewer into thinking it's someone screaming, which signifies danger and someone desperate for help and sets the audience up for the rest of the film.

The credits shown are distorted and messy therefore it is easy to define that this is a thriller, the credits flickering makes the viewer think of a flickering light bulb about to run out of light, which creates a sense of fear. The editing then changes to fast paced cuts, showing a variety of different objects, this is effective as they're shown on the screen for long enough for the audience to see what they are, but not time-consuming enough for the audience to figure out why they're incorporated. Most of the images shown look as if they're being doubled but they are blurred, which connotes to the audience that the person that is in the opening sequence is not mentally stable. This is clear from the get go of the opening credits is the character multicusly making sure everything is in place highlighting and sticking pages together.

 Examining this title sequence has helped me understand the features involved in 'crime thrillers' and how they have used Mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camera techniques to keep the reader on the edge of their seats. This hopefully will help my group when we come to planning our opening title sequence.