https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEq-4fua3lM

For this deconstruction, I decided to look at the opening sequence for David Fincher’s psychological thriller, Se7en, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. These two protagonists work side by side as detective, trying to solve a series of murders, convicted by John Doe, who commits the crimes to the seven deadly sins. I chose to analyse this sequence because there are elements of cinematography, mis-en-scene, editing, sound etc. worth pointing and discussing.

First things first, cinematography. The title sequence starts with a close-up shot of a book, creating a sense of mystery for the viewer as they don’t know what’s in it. Moving on, the next camera angle is a high-angle shot looking down on the book, unveiling to the viewer what is on the page, then showing lots of varying shots of close-ups on objects that don’t seem to have any meaning to the viewer at that point which creates suspicions and keeps the audience hooked. There are no long shots in this title sequence so it doesn’t really allow the viewer to see what’s fully going on, reinforcing the mystery of it. Throughout the clip, all of the camera angles are high angles or at eye level which could connote that the filmmaker doesn’t want you to see anything of real importance yet, and that all the objects shown are of little importance as they are looked down on. As all of the shots are close up objects, there are many shallow focuses. For example of the books, a pen, photos etc. This gives the audience the chance to focus on what is happening with these items as it may be linked to an event that will happen in the film. It also distracts them from seeing who the person is that is doing these things which creates tension. During the opening sequence, majority of the camera shots are still. There is not much panning or any other kind of movement as all of the shots focus on one main thing and keep it at the centre of the shot.

The opening title sequence starts off with slow paced shots of objects that aren’t of any importance to the viewer at that point but which could be important later on in the film. It’s in a format of a montage. The fact that it isn’t put together in chronological order suggests the idea that this person is doing many different things to create some sort of file or investigation about something, such as getting photos and writing information. The editing then changes to fast paced cuts, showing a variety of different objects, giving effect as they’re shown on the screen for long enough for the audience to see what they are, but not long enough for them to figure out why they’re included. The credits shown throughout help define the genre as they are messy and flicker on the screen, the credits flickering makes the viewer think of a flickering light bulb about to run out of light, which creates a sense of foreboding. Most of the images shown, look as if they’re being doubled but they are blurred, which connotes to the audience that the person that is in the opening sequence is not mentally stable and doesn’t see things clearly. The editing also helps set the mood and adds to the curiosity of the viewer as the shots with the books and writing being highlighted in are more slow paced than the other shots, signifying importance and makes the audience wonder what the person is doing.

This quote came from an article about David Fincher and how he wanted the opening sequence to come about for Se7en:  Anatomy Of An Opening Sequence: David Fincher’’s Seven.

“Fincher has obviously developed into a genuine auteur, a really seasoned filmmaker who doesn’t have to rely on effects. Here he was thinking about the idea of credits as handwriting to suggest the dark part of John Doe’s personality and his obsession, and he actually scratched all the credits on a scratchboard and then scanned it back in. Then we made an animation, pieces of film where the type is clear and everything around it is black, and put those on a light box and shot them all on film, and then opened the gate and over-exposed them. We had to composite all these type accidents on top of the live action plate. It was very difficult…”

In this movie the soundtrack sets the mood for the further development and gives us a special uncomfortable feeling. The sound used in this clip, is mostly non-diegetic but some sounds are made to sound natural. For example, sometimes in the clip, a very high pitched noise occurs which tricks the viewer into thinking it’s someone screaming, which implies danger and someone desperate for help, thus this sets the audience up for the rest of the film. The background music is heavy-sounding and is quite fast. This is typical of a thriller movie as it creates a sense of suspense and the audience is constantly glued to the screen as they watch the drama unfold. David Fincher picked the remix of “Closer to God” from Nine Inch Nails, a popular Industrial Rock Band from their album Downward Spiral, for the soundtrack. The song is very electronic, dark and demoralising. The song starts very slow and eventually reaches it climax at the end of the sequence. At this point, the only sentence spoken is “You got me closer to God.” This quotation can be linked in some way to the 7 deadly sins, thus the entire basis of this film. Whilst listening to the music throughout the entirety of the opening sequence, nobody else talks of gives any information.

The opening sequence is used to introduce the figure of the murderer. Even though we don’t get to see him, we get lots of hints about him and what he is like – very precise, creative, careful, accurate mixed with psychopathic elements (cutting the fingertips with a razor). Lots of things are being repeated to prepare the audience for the further developments and to make them recognise these elements later on. God and his religion is the central motive . The sequence is supposed to irritate the audience and their awareness. You can also find cross-references to the medium film (presenting the photos and negatives), and the underground film.