Analyzing the opening sequence to "Seven"

Film: Seven (1995)

Lead Actors: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Gwyneth Paltrow

Director: David Fincher

Titles: Very dramatic. Fast paced. Such a huge comparison to the actual opening scene. The sound of a scratching against a blackboard sort of thing was so dramatic and chilling. They also lead you to not know what to expect. It sounds like a scream as well which is psychotic and scary and like a horror genre. The images are also disturbing, but it draws you in. Merged all together. You want to know what the opening shots are of. They seem obsessive. Like someone collecting evidence but you can see that this is definitely not a police station. We are pulled in like to be the police officers we cant se the man that we assume is the criminal but yet we know what he is doing- kind of. This is how the police officer would feel so this leads you to side with the police officer characters in this film as you feel the frustration to know who is doing this, just as they do. You can see the character of the criminal as he slices at his fingers; it is like obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Shots: Starts with a long shot to establish location and then moved onto a shot of characters face. This introduces you to the main character as you start with him and follow his journey for work. Claustrophobic, very close shot. Then close up of his hand picking up objects. Establishes job. As the two characters walk away from a crime scene we get a worms eyeshot to establish the power of the characters. Very long, continuous shots used, possibly to show lack of panic so no need (at the moment) for fast movements.

Movement: All movements are slow and deliberate. This works as, for example, when Morgan Freeman is doing his tie up this shows his character takes pride in the way he looks.

Generic Themes: We can see that Morgan freeman’s character is more dominant as he is more prepared with a hat for the rain and also, whilst Brad Pitts character gets knocked by someone and stumbles and dodges the rain, Morgan Freeman walks solidly and is sheltered by his hat. Also you can see Morgan freeman’s character is compassionate as he ass if the child saw the incident that he is investigating.No-one respects the corpse. The guy does not even care about the family.

Sound: Rain. Very downbeat. Sound of ambulance, is a very ominous tone. No music at all in the opening scene, very hollow. Goes straight into a scene. You can hear people arguing in the flat next to him. Shows how he is never alone. You can hear his footsteps- Sound is lonely, sad.

Mise-en-scene: Always raining. Shows gloom misery, washing away evidence, makes the job harder, like a barrier. Not a typical thriller opening. No tension or build up. Very dark. No pictures. Shows maybe no family. No personality in bed. Dull. They did not use any lighting when creating film. Naturalistic as they used whatever light that they found. You can see this.

This is a very slow film as well. There are no quick sharp shots.