Se7en Opening Sequence Analysis

Se7en is a psychological crime Thriller from 2012 directed by David Fincher. There are a number of elements in an opening sequence which make it appear as effective. The purpose of the opening sequence is to make the audience question what is happening during the clips due the fact there is little information revealed to the audience. This technique reals the viewers in and encourages them to continue watching the remaining duration of the film. For example in Se7en we are unable to identify who the character is and what the papers are etc. By little evidence being given away it intrigues the viewer and encourages them to continue to watch the film to find out the answers to their questions which they have self-created. The conventions shown reinforce the genre of the film which is a psychological thriller.

For example the use of props such as razors and records are iconography for crime. As there is no dialogue or no recognition of the man in the scene it makes the viewer asks who he is, what he is doing and why, this is greatly effective as it adds upon the idea of a psychological crime thriller. There are a variety of shots used throughout the sequence including; establishing shot, point of view shot, close up, point of view and extreme close up which appear from both high and low angles. The different range of shots engages the viewer as it’s dynamic and not repetitive. The use of these shots appear as effective as they give away minimal information about the film, the setting of these shots aren’t exposed to the viewer which further capture the viewers’ attention and places them in a thought provoking mind set. There is no movement of the camera in the opening sequence and the camera remains in a fixed position for each shot, which focuses the viewers’ attention of the object being shown.

The transaction between the shots is relatively fast, this compliments the music as they fit in together. The type of transactions used could indicate it’s a quick pace film which includes action, this would support the genre connections of the film. We are unaware of the location of the room where this scene is filmed which further adds upon the idea of the unknown and absorbs the viewer’s attention more. Throughout the sequence there are different types of lighting used. At points there is the use of chiaroscuro which reflects evil/sinister, at other points the lighting is dark and only key props are highlighted for example books, and photographs etc. this can indicate to the viewer that these props are a key essential to the film, however the shots shown don’t appear as long/close enough the reveal the full reality of the object. Although we as viewers aren’t aware of whom the character is the sequence provides us with a number of clues. From the hands of the person we can tell it is a male. The condition of his hands also tell us that the character isn't clean as dirt appears on them, this could also indicate he is a care free character or has pays no attention to hygiene or appearance. Particular shots also reveal the character has a plaster on his thumb which could slightly indicate how he is a involved in fights and corruptions.

The main actors/title of the film is placed on top of a plain background to stress their importance, whereas other actors/producers who are of less of a contribution are overlapping the footage. The pace the shots are fast and change quickly to other shots. There is mainly continuity throughout this sequence however it is broken at times when some titles are placed. There is no diegetic sound in this scene as it is overlapped by music throughout (non-diegetic). The music links well to the scene as it sounds mysterious. This sequence follows aspects of ‘Barthes Cultural Code’. The Hermeneutic is the whole of the sequence as the scene avoids giving the audience information about the character/what the documents are, but we are given clues for example photos, scans. The enigma in this sequence is the ending of the scene as you left wondering the relevance of the previous clip to the film, and throughout they are trying to pair the information together. The Semantic Code tells us that the film will involve mystery solving as by first glance it doesn't look like something a person would do every day.