Amanda Stevenson

Analysis of an opening sequence

Analysis of 'Se7en'

In the opening sequence of 'Se7en' it starts with a close up shot of a book. The book looks quite rough which could convey that it has been homemade. The information from this shot is vague as you haven’t been given any information. You can’t see anything inside of the book which could give the audience the impression that the story is based on what is inside of it. The pages of the book begin to turn and in the top right hand corner you can see a faint outline of a hand which turns the pages. The page turning over could represent the page being turned to cover up the stories or pieces of information which causes the person guilt. The sound is quite dull to start with however various unknown noises start to occur which give off a sense of suspision as you don’t know what the noises are or what they could relate to. In the bottom right hand corner the title appears of what presents the film. This font is quite edgy and it isn’t positioned in line which could represent how the story isn’t right. It can symbolise how it isn’t a straight storyline where you can easily identify what will happen next. You also get two different style fonts be displayed together which looks mysterious and can have a sense of the film being unpredictable.

You then get a birds eye view shot of a pair of hands on a piece of paper. This look like a detailed drawing however they aren't just an ordinary pair of hands because the fingers are out of shape and they are bent in different positions. They look old as you can clearly see wrinkles and the hands in general look quite delicate and old due to the skinniness of the fingers. The way the end of the fingers aren’t positioned how normal hands are could represent a twist in the story to highlight how something isn’t right; it could convey a disability. The drawing has been stuck onto a larger piece of paper by some tape making it look like a scrapbook or a diary in which signicant images have been stuck into to relate to the person themselves or the storyline in general. Soon after this shot you get extreme close up shots of equipment which look as if it would be used for a camera or filming equipment. Throughout these few seconds the sounds in the background continue to vary with what could be associated as a typing sound alongside a beat which is recurring throughout.

Seeing a different shot we get a close up of the front of what could be the person’s diary. The front cover looks as though it has been handled frequently as it has small bumps and ridges in it. The patterned on the front is quite old fashioned which fits to the hands and fingers we have seen that also look old. There is then a close up shot of someone writing. No clear identity has been revealed yet as the shots is still close up on specific objects and the setting is unclear. When you see the hand writing on the paper, it is then edited to have the same image overlapping. This could be to cover up information and try to get the audience to lose focus on what is actually being written. The writing is displayed upside down which is also another way of trying to confuse the audience to get them intrigued on what is actually on the page. It doesn’t stay on the screen for long however you can see the writing is in capital letters connoting the importance of what is said or emphasizing how deep the

Amanda Stevenson

meaning of what is written is. From what you see, it doesn’t make sense so it could be written in a way that only the person writing can understand creating a puzzle for the audience to be able to work out. At the same time as having the pair of hands on the screen the title has been edited to have a shadow effect. Where it says 'film' you can see it written twice so this could portray a ghost like atmosphere or it could be that the audience will have 2 options of what could happen in the film which they have to find out themselves by watching it.

More close up shots are revealed such as when you see the scissors being used to cut film tapes and pictures which look like they have been taken and printed themselves through a professional camera. When he is cutting the images down to the way that the character wants it could illustrate the person cutting off irrelevant things and concentrating on what matters or is significant for what the character needs to add to the notebook or diary. Scissors are sharp objects which could be seen a weapon referring to violence which could be in the film. You also feel as if there is violence due to the bandages and plasters you see on the unknown man’s hand. The damaged skin which is clearly seen and the plasters could show how he isn’t afraid of pain or to show that he has been hurt. Where you see the selotape being cut on the stand, you can see how old it is by the rust and how much is has been used which could mean that there is a lot that is in the diary which people would want to find out. His diary could represent events that have occurred in his life or plans of actions he is going to take in the future. As the features look old it can portray that the character is retired and looking back to previous events from the past. When you see the close up shot of his hand you can see the dirt under his fingernails which can highlight how he doesn’t look after himself and is unhygienic.

The word 'God' is seen throughout the title sequence highlighting there is a religious feel to the storyline. Unclear information is revealed so the character could either be against religion or follows what they believe in. As the sequence goes on you can still hear the recurring beat however the sounds gradually gets louder to build up more tension. The noises give a creepy feeling and are unknown and unusual sounds. The turning the pages occurs again in the sequence however it is at a different angle. This time we see it from a side wards point of view and the page turning over towards use. It looks as though it is done on very thin paper or tracing paper because as it is turned you can see on both sides just a big block of writing. The handwriting is what looks like a rough draft as there is crossings out and mistakes. Also there are words which look like they have been written over several times to make them look bolder. In contrast to this a shot appears of an actual book with printed writing on a page. Here you get more of a feel on what the film consists of as you see the hand with a black marker pen crossing out words so you can’t read what it is. As this happens an effect is use to allow the audience to see what words they were. The main words included were 'intercourse, transsexual and heterosexual'. It could highlight would he could be guilty of what has affected him personally to give him the reasons to act the way he has or will.

Amanda Stevenson

The marker pen is still in use as the next shot is a young looking boy who has a line drawn over his eyes then a few seconds later the whole boys face has been scribbled over with the pen. This could symbolise how the man doesn’t want to have any eyes showing in case of fear of someone knowing who he is a revealing his identity, even through any pictures. It could show a sign of paranoia. When his whole face is covered up it could represent that he has gone as if something has happened to him or he has died.

This title sequence involves a lot that can symbolise how an event or something has affected the main character as there is aspects of the sequence which suggest he has depression. We also get this feel through the dark lighting which is used throughout the whole sequence as if he wants to hide his identity. Disturbed images are continued to be placed into the diary suggesting how he could be slightly messed up or disturbed himself. You get the same shot appear in the sequence that was the opening shot. This was of the book and the page turning. It has re appeared as it conveys how what has been shown has been the story shortened and out into fragments. The different shots symbolised a different section of the story which overall consisted of clippings from books, self-developed photographs and found images and objects.

In the sequence the titles have been present with the colour of the font being white and the background of it being in black. This connotes a contrast between pure innocence as the white and an evil death colour as the black. As you see more dark it illustrates how they would be more bad things happening than good in the film. Faded in the distance of these titles are unclear images which the majority consist of newspaper articles or pieces of hand written text which could possibly relate to each character named on the screen. Well-known actors are shown to be included in this film which can promote the film well. For example Brad Pitt is a well-known actor which can encourage people to watch the film.