Se7en opening sequence analysis (By Laura Bebber)

The beginning of the title sequence almost instantly creates the sense of fear and intensity in which psychologically plays on the reader’s mind throughout the clip. The first brief frame is a close up shot of a book in which is primarily focused on for the duration of the sequence. The next shot displays a colourless drawing of a hand. This creates anxiety as the viewer has no idea of why they are viewing this. The detail of the drawing is very specific with every aspect being perfectly defined. This could perhaps have an importance in foreshadowing later events and the whole extremity of it really reinforces the genre of the film – a thriller. As the sequence progresses, we are thrown into a small montage of clips; all showing a tiny glimpse of sharp metal objects. The viewer ultimately finds themselves engrossed into the scene as they try to make sense of it and experience escapism from reality. Throughout the journey of the clip, the mystery begins to unfold and we create a scenario of what we believe is happening. It seems to me that the central protagonist is perhaps making a scrapbook of a victim in which will become apparent in the movie later on. I believe this because there are a number of shots that display the figure printing photographs, writing and highlighting certain words. Nearing the end of the clip we are briefly shown a brutal drawing of a man being murdered. This proves that the character is iniquitous and perhaps has a motif for the intentional murder of this specific victimised individual. The character is then shown to be sewing the book together in which creates even more mystery and delusion as this is a very eccentric thing to be doing. The close up shot brings us closer to the action and causes even more intensity. We, as viewers, already have a bad perception of the main character despite only being a couple of minutes into the film and their complete lack of identity.

In between each frame, credits flash onto screen with a suitably thrilling typography. The writing appears to slightly move perhaps representing nervousness and that typical tendency to shudder when indulging into something frightening. I feel the typography was cleverly chosen as white represents the absence of colour. Colour can instantly reinforce many emotions and without it, the mind is left to think for itself. Usually, white can be seen to connote purity, peace and innocence, whereas in this case I believe that it creates a sense of curiosity and lack of knowledge as we do not know the true purpose of the scene.

The music used throughout the entire opening sequence is very cleverly incorporated. It portrays the sense of fear and intensity well and is extremely captivating. The sound is very disturbing and ultimately reinforces the thriller genre.