Open Seven from Stephen Adams on Vimeo.
The film ‘Seven’ is a thriller based
in an urban American city. As the film begins the first character, Detective
Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman) is introduced in his apartment through an establishing
medium long shot. An over the shoulder
shot of him looking in the mirror shows him wearing a white shirt which could
connote that he is a good character throughout the film. Here there s lots of
diegetic noise outside which creates an atmosphere of chaos. This suggests that the film takes place in a
busy city. The apartment is shown to be
extremely organised and neat which implies his character has a rather obsessive
and compulsive nature. This is
particularly evident when there is a close up of his belongings lined up in
order on the table reinforcing this idea of obsession as he has to have all of
his things laid out in a precise way. As
he goes to pick up his jacket, he picks a small piece of fluff off the sleeve
which again suggests that he is very clean and organised.
An ellipsis fade edit cuts to a
dark, seedy and decrepit crime scene where the use of chiaroscuro lighting created
an intense and mysterious feel. A body
lies in the middle of the shot as the camera pans in a upwards motion. A medium long shot then shows Detective
Somerset walking towards the crime scene whilst conversing with a colleague. The lighting is still low at this point to keep
the sense of mystery and intensity. A
number of shot reverse shots are used as the man talks to Freeman’s character
as he is focusing on something and doesn’t respond. Detective Mills (played by Brad Pitt) then
arrives at the crime scene and the camera tracks his movement.
An ellipsis edit then takes us to a
busy street outside where a low angle two shot is used to connote their
importance. It is raining with a
slightly blue filter being used on the camera which emphasises the fact that it
is a dull day. The diegetic sounds of
rain and a busy road create a sense of chaos and possible impending danger and
that fact that lots of people walk in front of the camera, blocking our view of
the two main characters, makes the audience feel almost as f they are there due
to the natural atmosphere. Ellipsis dissolve
edits are used throughout the opening of the film to link all of the different
scenes together. These edits add
interest to the editing and create enigmas as it makes us think about how and why
the scenes are linked.
In the next scene, an ellipsis edit
takes us to the night time where Morgan Freeman’s character lays in bed under
chiaroscuro lighting created by one bedside lamp. The diegetic sound of cars and dog barks
outside his apartment are still present even though it is apparently late at
night, again implying that the film is set in a bustling city centre. He then places his glasses on the table and
sets off the metronome. This steady beat
is used to ‘fight’ the chaos occurring outside.
The camera begins to zoom in on Detective Somerset, and then on the
metronome, then back on him. This
zooming motion creates a sense of intensity and uncertainty as he falls asleep.
The titles then begin to appear on
the screen after the main characters have been introduced rather than being
played right at the beginning which is commonly used. The music used to accompany them is strange,
disturbing and eerie industrial rock music with high pitched screechy noises
which create an unsettling feeling for the audience. A variety of images are displayed containing
sharp objects like needles and razors which connote violence and death. Other images include those of children with
their eyes crossed out and this again adds to the suggestion of death and
violence. This montage of imagery is
used to introduce the killer and imply their psychotic mind set. The colours used also suggest this idea as
white, black and red are mainly used.
These colours could act as a binary opposition of good and evil/danger
which is quite a common thriller convention.
The font used for the titles is sans serif and looks as though it has
been scratched into the screen. They
move very jerkily which creates a sense of chaos and panic.
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