Seven is a 1995 psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and many more. The film is based on the screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.
Directed by: David Fincher
Produced by: Arnold Kopelson
Phyllis Carlyle
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker
Starring: Brad Pitt
Morgan Freeman
Kevin Spacey
Gwyneth Paltrow
Music by: Howard Shore
Cinematography: Darius Khondji
Edited by: Richard Francis-Bruce
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
The title sequence starts off with a close up shot of a book lying down, you are able to see a out of focus hand touching the book in the background, however the focal point of this shot is the book. This creates a sense of mystery for the viewer as they do not know what the book signifies or what it means. There are credits placed over the top of the book, showing who distributed the movie; NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS. The text used to display this is very ghost like, and fluorescent, it looks like something you'd see in a derelict area at the movies, again creating suspense.
The music in this scene is very subtle, it is not all violins and high screech noises. Instead, it captures noises that sound very realistic. For example, throughout the clip, there is a high pitched noise that reoccurs, which could force the viewer into thinking the noise is someone screaming. This connotes danger and adds to the conventions of a thriller movie. There is then a high angle, birds eye view shot where we are able to see what is on the books pages, it is revealed to be a hand, and then many objects appear after this. These objects are insignificant to the reader at this moment in the film and are not relevant, this keeps the audience suspicious and guessing. There is the razorish, harsh sound to the music at this point.
Every time a credit appears on screen the background turns to black, first is BRAD PITT, and then a short clip of a man twisting a razor between his fingers, then MORGAN FREEMAN. With each credit, once it is screened, the text shudders and flips for a mili second, this creates mystery and suspense for the reader, along with the use of reverse blocking to highlight the text.
There are a lot of images including dead bodies and murderous images, this could indicate to the reader what this film could involve, and connotes danger. The lighting in this opening sequence helps add to the ominous feeling as it is very bleak. There are a lot of tones, browns, whites, blacks, in this extract, and very little colour. This could be to demonstrate the dark mood that policing can be and sets an aroma for the film. There doesn't seem to be any happy images within the title sequence, which could mimic that of a police mans/women's life, with the same routines and that the job is hard work and nothing happy.
The title of the movie then comes onto the screen, it starts off small, and then jumps to a huge 'SE7EN' in the middle of the screen. More titles follow this; GWYNETH PALTROW, RICHARD ROUNDTREE, & R. LEE-ERMEY. These titles are seperated by images that are fast paced edited together, each video clip is short and snappy, each revealing something that will have future reference in the movie. This helps add suspense and mystery to the sequence, as well as the colours used, up until this part in the sequence, the colour scheme was pretty bland, however just before R. LeeErmey's name came on display, the screen flashed blood red. The music simultaneously raised in pitch, creating a tense atmosphere and putting the audience on the edge of their seat already.
There are no long shots in this title sequence, disallowing the viewer to see what is fully going on, which reinforces the mystery of the movie. Throughout the clip, most of the camera angles are high angles, or at eye level which could suggest that the filmmaker does not want you to see anything of real importance yet, keeping the audience suspicious and on their toes.
Throughout the rest of the opening sequence, there are the continuing images of books and items that are to do with FBI and mystery cases. This reinforces the subject of the movie and thrills the audience into wanting to know more.
The editing helps set the mood of the sequence, and adds to the curiosity as the shots including the books and writing being highlighted in a slower pace than the other shots. This signifies importance and makes the audience wonder what the person is doing behind the scenes.
The background music holds a heavy beat and is quite fast, this is typical of a thriller movie as it creates suspense and draws the audience in. Towards the end of the sequence, the music becomes much more intense and louder, coming to a crescendo, which could tell the audience that the opening sequence in nearly over and its time for the action to take place.
Throughout the entire piece, credits continue to pop on to the screen, it seems to be the main cast's names that come on first, and then ending with the least important people and those involved in the production.
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