Se7en Analysis
In today’s lesson we watched a short extract of the thriller, Se7en, by David Fincher. The majority of the extract is the opening credits, so analysis of character, among other things, was limited. The mood of the film is seedy, dirty and dingy. There is an element of confusion and the unknown. An enigma is created through the use of the metronome and throughout the opening credits as we see only the man’s hands, and do not know what he is doing.
One of the main themes I identified was violence and to a point, sadism. The opening credits show us images of sharp sinister looking instruments such as blades, hooks and needles, as well as photographs of skulls and skeletons with metal instruments through them. Linking loosely to this theme is insanity, or more accurately disturbed obsession. The person in the credits creating this type of log or scrap book, is clearly disturbed, or obsessed in some way by pain and other unexplainable things, for example the blacking out of people’s faces, and the extreme attention to detail. Another recognisable theme is religion. We see the hands blacking out sexual references in a passage of writing, and ‘God’ being cut out of a dollar bill, which both connect to the lyrics at the end of the credits; ‘You bring me closer to God’. This suggests to us that the insanity could be influenced by religious obsession.
The focus on character was limited due to the fact that the clip we watched didn’t really give us much reference to the lives and nature of them. Morgan Freeman’s character is lonely, hence the fact he sleeps alone. He looks tired and withdrawn and gives off a retired attitude, based on his expression to the noise outside. Although the room is not luxury it looks tidy and in order which suggests Freeman likes routine and order. This is backed up by the strange want for a metronome ticking to send him to sleep. The character in the credits pays special attention to detail, cutting and writing everything with pristine precision and taking special care creating this log. From this we know he is a finicky person, and quite clearly disturbed, which we can see from the content.
The sound used creates tension and suspense, as well as a negative atmosphere. When we see William Somerset, Morgan Freeman’s character, there are sounds of people outside fighting which suggests bad happenings and creates a sense of dread. The use of the metronome is similar to that of the heartbeat often used in thrillers, keeping a pulse and building suspense. It also symbolises the passing of time. Alternatively to this diegetic sound is the music playing in the opening credits. Rather than a fluid melody it is a mixture of obscure sounds which sound metallic and mechanical. These sounds connect with the objects shown and the combination of both makes the audience cringe, like nails down a blackboard.
The ‘mise-en-scene’ of the short scene in the bedroom is neutral colours, murky, and minimalistic. There are not many belongings other than the bare necessities; one picture, books, telephone, glasses and metronome. The lack of homely and personal possessions suggests there is no maternal/paternal character to provide them, or he does not see value in them. There is a dim yellow light, giving the effect that everything is mouldy and dingy. In regards to the credits, there is intense attention to detail, shown through extreme close-ups. Everything shown is dirty, gritty and in bad condition. The flickering of the images and titles suggests a home video theme, as does the red light photograph development.
The opening shot of the clip we analysed is a mid shot of Freeman in bad. This establishes and lets us takes in the surrounding. Considering the content of the scene it lingers for quite a while on this shot suggesting that the audience are to expect something. This builds up tension. The next shot is an extreme close up of him putting down his glasses, which again somehow implies that something significant is going to happen, or alternatively, it is grabbing our attention using something mundane like glasses, and contrasting it to the metronome, which the camera then focuses on. The slow zoom on Freeman accompanied by the sound of the metronome symbolises time passing by. The shot flicks back and forth from the metronome to him, which makes the audience tense and expectant and creates a false climax in the film.
The editing of the opening credits, along with the extreme close ups of the content, create a sense of mystery as we cannot see who the hands belong to, and the quick changes of shot and the flicky quality makes the viewer confused. There is a very gritty, seedy quality to the images shown. It is distorted and the images are overlapped and obstructed. The images are not laid out in an orderly way, they are messy and distracting, which suggests a home cinema type theme. An idea that all these perverse happenings and taking place in someone’s shed.
