CM Analysing an opening sequence: Genre, Film Language and Narrative:

Se7en: David Fincher, 1995:

Genre:

• Se7en belongs to a Thriller as its main genre with a sub-genre of psychological horror.
• The audience are completely getting what they expect from a psychological thriller, which is immediately showing a weapon (knife) and also a dead body and blood with a detective trying to work out how this has happened and why and who. Also with the title sequence being shown in montage editing it also demonstrates the distortion of the psychopaths mind who is cutting off his fingerprints and also scribbling in a note book in a crazed fashion.
• The text does conform to the characteristics of the genre, with the detective who is male which is a generic convention of a thriller, also the dead body character which is also highly generic to the genre.

Film Language:

• Mise-en-scene conveys the meaning of this sequence with the weapon of a knife which is immediately setting up the fact that violence is a regular occurrence and will most likely take place in the film. Furthermore the pool of blood, which connotes death, and also murder which is a strong convention of thriller genres. Also with the scribbled in notebook shows unstable and potentially insane man, which again is the normal characters seen in thrillers.
• The camera shot size, movement and angle also conveys meaning with the pedding up to reveal a dead body which connotes mystery of how and why this has happened, slowly revealing to the audience the situation that they have been placed in. Also the low angle shot on Detective Somerset shows a high up role in the film and that he is who the audience will respect during the film, and with a shot size of medium shot on Detective Somerset allows the audience to immediately register him as a character who will be prominent in the film.
• With the title sequence sound anchors the images via having a montage edited piece of film with a sound bridge that is very disjointed and scratchy on the ears. This creates a sense of insanity of the person who the audience are then positioned with during the title sequence.
• Through the dialogue and non-verbal language of the characters you can learn much. For example, Detective Somerset is very calm, collective and thinking as logically as he can focusing on the job saying "Did the kid see it?" (talking about the murder) which isn't caring for feelings of people just getting his job done. Yet Detective Mills runs up the stairs when we first meet him connoting youth as is fit and excited about the situation he is in, this leads towards the notion that he could be very naive and irrational with his way of life.
• Other visual techniques that the director uses are stock locations which are dark, small crampt rooms and also the usual weather of thrillers which is either raining or overcast to again reassert the darkness of the situation the characters are in.

Narrative:

• The form of the narrative is beginning with the character exposition, starting with the main character being established as the audience is positioned with him (Morgan Freeman) Detective Somerset, then going onto the introduction of (Brad Pitt) Detective Mills "I've just arrived in town twenty minutes ago," immediately showing the audience that Detective Mills is new to the area and the job too. Finally the introduction of the psychopaths hands which has set up the three main characters within two minutes.
• The audience is positioned in a linear position to the narrative, by starting where the film begins with the first meeting of the two main detectives.
• The techniques of identification are that the two detective's names are immediately stated to the audience giving them an identity. Furthermore through the police officer saying to Detective Somerset "we'll all be glad when we get rid of you" showing that he is alone until meets his successor Detective Mills. Also at the very beginning Detective Somerset is shown alone in his home which connotes loneliness and alienation at home and at work.
• The major themes in this narrative is death and murder, this is shown through the use of mise-en-scene and dialogue. Mise-en-scene has the dead body and blood, and the dialogue of "the neighbours heard the first barrel then the second" which is talking about a shooting which is murder and death.
• Tension is created by immediately showing that Detective Somerset is carrying a knife which is an immediate finger pointing towards death and weaponry. Also with the pedding up of the dead body is making the audience want to know who it is, who killed him and why did they kill him. Then it cuts to the title sequence which has very sketchy writing which connotes insanity. Also music that is very distorted to demonstrate to the audience something isn't right. Finally the cutting of fingerprints again heightens the audiences wonder at what is about and will happen during this film creating tension through out the opening sequence.