SE7EN analysis

Se7en opening scene Analysis

The film se7en is based upon murder mysteries and we understand that there are 7 killings, in which involve the 7 deadly sins. Detectives follow up the murders and they aim to succeed and figure out who is behind it all.

Mise en scene – (Setting) the opening sequence does not include any long shots of the setting; we would assume that the things taking place are happening in someone’s home, or in an office as the props are what you would typically find in these places. However, it is not shown therefore creating immediate nervousness and creates questions already i.e. when will the first murder take place?

As soon as the first shot comes into action, we recognise that it’s quite a dark lighting based film. By this I mean that the dark lighting throughout ensures mysterious-ness, danger and the isolation in the city because ‘nothing is the same anymore’.  The low lighting could indicate that the producer is trying to convey a message of how lonely and dangerous this city really is because of the individual-ness and how bad it is, everyone lives for himself or herself. Overall the lighting of the full opening scene is recognised as quite dark and simple, there Is no real bright lighting in the scene and this indicates the sever-ness of the scene in introducing the film and gives of an idea that most of the film will be dark lighted, and this is a really clever technique from the producer because it leaves suspense and carries on to play into a persons mind. In all fairness there are hints of dark red amongst the sequence, and this connotes danger and development.

The props used in the first scene may be associated with investigators, and detectives/detective work. This works really well because it gives us a simple explanation of what kind of detective he is because of the props he has and where he keeps them; this is things such as books, photos, files, pens and paper. This seems as if he’s straight down to work so early on. His props also imply that Detective Somerset is well educated and has a good sense of knowledge and he may have certain aspects which other Detectives may not have, as in he might have high anticipation skills because of his knowledge. Also the fact that he has quite a few numbers of pens implies that he is more of a clever detective who works better through written evidence and handwriting analyses of a murder and sets himself up well in providing work.

Editing - The transitions of the opening sequence vary. By this I mean that some are straight cuts and some cross fade or fade to black. The straight cuts are straight to the point and give their own effect compared to the other two editing types. The fading gives the effect of the clips being linked together and creates an eerie feel as to what is the whole point behind this all, and the fade to black reflects the sincerity and darkness of the overall film and these two editing types are very well in symbolising the severity of the film as they are both effective. This effect is positive because it’s vague.

Special effects - Some of the special effects used in the opening sequence include the clips being converted into slow motion and this creates a more sombre tone but however allows the audience to properly see what is clearly happening amongst that certain part of the sequence. There are also animations of flickering on the screen during some of the shots and this in most cases is the creepy parts of the sequence; which is done in effect and works well. This is used to create an eerie effect on the shots but also to set a mood to the sequence.

The opening credits of the film are very very clever, they are done in effect. This being because they give away clues an ideas of what the murders are like and how sever they are; they also set a mood of the tempo of the film and the credits also connote a lot of red, and red connotes danger, meaning that it gives of clues that the film is danger-based but also contains a thrill in the tempo of it.

Overall, I think the opening sequence to the film is maybe a little too revealing (as to what will follow from the rest of the film) but is very useful and effective because it understands the codes and conventions of the genre the film is. Also other positive aspects to the film is the overall presentations, because the editing, special and sounds effects to the film are used very well and give the sequence that little bit extra.