Research and Planning Se7en

Se7en Analysis 

As soon as the opening scene begins I have a feeling it might be a psychological thriller and the whole opening was filmed at a high camera level. Most generic thriller films are usually based around crime, for example a serial killer on the loose I noticed conventions that would usually be associated with thriller such as the non-diegetic sound in the background

Sound

There is not any diegetic sound at all featured in this sequence, only non-diegetic sound in the form of  a catchy but mismatched theme song, setting a dark, suspenseful atmosphere, bringing us back to the genre of thriller.

Camera shot, Movement and angle

The opening of Se7en consists mainly of close-ups or extreme close-ups of bandaged, callused hands preforming different activities like making things, turning of pages and writing could suggest that the person in the opening is very intellectual also the director could have intended for the audience to feel confused and disorientated because they can not see the whole picture.

From the strange behaviour of the person in the opening one could infer that this person could be antagonist of the film, like using a blade to peel off skin, this sort of gives us an idea that this film could be in the thriller genre. Most of these shots are shot from an aerial point of view but they do vary, some from a high angle and some from a low one which creates a eerie feel also adding to the feel of a thriller. 

There are very few movements of the camera, for the majority the camera is in a stationary position focusing on a fixed point or action its more the images on the screen distorting that gives the sequence its movement, but there is flashes of a track, towards the end of the sequence, of a bookshelf full of folders and files, the picture flickering and distorting.

 Editing 

In this sequence the person seems to be making or documenting something, but it is not edited chronologically, adding to the mystery of the scene. there is a mixture of slow and fast cutting, giving the scene an erratic and unstable feel to it making the viewer on edge. also for the titles it cuts back to a black screen with the titles on it, flickering occasionally like the picture does creating an empty atmosphere, giving the sequence an eerie feel. 

Mise-en-scene

The scene is very dully lit and located in a flat or a loft of some sort, featuring only one character which is assumed to be the murderer or deranged killer. The tasks this man is preforming, sticking down pictures of people (dead and alive) seem to suggest that there may be a string of murders also the crossing out of different words such as “transexual” could show the killers victims or who he aims to kill.

Themes 

I think the themes that with be running through this film are anger, death, insanity, jealousy and depression. The visual style of the movie is quite dark like the camera lenses were slightly dusty, I think this adds to the scary look of the film. I also noticed everything shown in the opening looked quite gritty very grumpy and unwelcoming.