Analysis of "Se7en" (1995) Opening Sequence

This is the opening sequence for the thriller film "Se7en", produced by Arnold Kopelson, which came out in 1995.

Sound


In the clip, there is both digetic and non-digetic sound used. There is digetic sound used throughout the clip, such as hearing the scribblingof a pen and turning of pages, this is scary and adds alot of tension and suspense, something of which is supposed to be in a thriller film. From the digetic sound, you get the idea that this is a thriller film otherwise it would look out of place using scary and mysterious sound for example a comedy film. The non-digetic sound in the film is "an uncredited remix of the nine inch nails song", the song is of high suspense, but it's played underneath the digetic sound so both the sounds can be heard. The song also goes at a higher pitch when the man turns the page of  a book, this is a stereotypical element of a thriller/horror film which is often used as it builds suspense and tension to the scene. Aswell, when cast and crew information comes up on the screen, there is non-digetic sound which is like a light flickering this fits well with the style of text used and how the text flickers on and off the screen.

Colour

The general colour scheme for the opening sequence is black and white, this makes the person in the scene seem like a mysterious character, again it also leads you to believe that it is a thriller film and it has a dark and deep storyline to it, your normall, everyday person would not need to been shown in black and white. There is red used, is like a blood splatter, this signifies that the person in the scene could be a convicted murderer or could be involved in some type of crime. The fact that the only colours in the clip are black white and red is significant, its almost saying that there is only one ending in the film, and that is there will be blood. After the person's face is crossed out, the screen turns to blood red, this could mean that he has already fell victim.

Mise-En-Scene

From the shots used you cannot tell where the film is set, so you cannot say whether or not the location effects the activities what the man is doing. There is no indication given as to why this person is scribbling out people's faces and parts of text, other than the fact that he/she may be plotting against these people. From my own knowledge i know that crossing people's faces out and lines of texts is something which is done by cereal killers and if you are stalking someone so this is certainly a probability as to what the man is doing. The fact that we only see the person's hand in the whole clip is significant as he's identity is not given away which is more of a thriller element.



Camera & Editing 


The majority of the camera shots used are close-up's of what the person is crossing out and of the things he is putting together. There is a lot of short jump cuts used, this signifies the time change, but as they are only short cuts you know that the person is still working on the same project. The Cast and Crew information flickers on and off the screen like a flash, it fits with the genre of the film, and it's jumpy, just as the film will make the audience jump and be hesitant.

There are many conventional elements used in this opening sequence, such as using the film company logo, and showing Cast and Crew information. I feel that genre of the film is shown clearly in the opening sequence, you can tell that it is a thriller film by the sound (both digetic and non-digetic), the colours used (Red, Black, White) and what seems to be a collage that the person is putting together has a thriller type stalker feeling towards it.
I think that the audience reception to this opening sequence is that they will feel that it is a film that puts you on edge and that it will be rather gory and have some mild horror elements to it.