Se7en analysis

Seven begins with an animated logo of the distributers-New Line Cinema. The logo works well within any film due to the film reel graphic. That, and the colours used in the logo are representative of thrillers, with black and white-the struggle between good and evil, and the mysterious backlight behind the graphic of the logo is realistic and akin to chiaroscuro lighting which is a common convention of the thriller genre.

The film begins with a sound bridge of police sirens from a black fade to the kitchen of detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman), we instantly recognise that he is the protagonist due to his white outfit and white kitchen connoting purity and cleanliness. This also links with his organiszed, almost obsessive compulsive, personality, as he has everything organiszed just the way he likes it and it lacks a homely feel. A binary opposition ins also present in the scene with the chessboard; the black and white opposing each other suggesting the struggle between good and evil, which is another main convention of the thriller genre which the film will include. It also suggests a high level of intelligence for both Somerset and the antagonist, as the two of them need to be equally matched in order for the conflict to be sustained.

The editing for these scenes is rather slow paced which may be connoting the way his life is at home-it is either where he winds down and recovers from work by relaxing, or his work is his life, so his home life is rather sterile and lonely. In the following shot we see he spends a lot of time getting ready, as he does up his cufflinks and straightens his tie in front of the mirror from an over the shoulder medium lose up shot. His OCD nature is again highlighted with the almost militaristic line up of his possessions which he requires for his job, most notably his badge which indicates that he is a detective.

We see in the next shot both his bed and his suit. His bed is as single, confirming that he lives alone and is asingle man, and it’s in an almost perfect state to say he’s just got out of it (again showing his compulsive tendencies), and he then picks a hair off his suit jacket, showing that he not only has obsessive rituals, but he is also a perfectionist. He then turns off a light showing that he is leaving and an ellipsis edit is used, creating a contrast with the next scene, as we as the audience aren’t ‘eased into’ the violent aftermath in the next shot with a fade, as well as creating a contrast with the slow pace of his home life.

Straight away, we know it is a crime scene due to the dead body and the pools of blood. We know that it was a shooting due to the blood splatter on the window. The crime scene is set within an apartment which appears to be in a poor area due to its squalid state. Somerset then begins to inspect the apartment, paying attention to every detail, perhaps causing more work for himself by doing so. This shows that his obsessive, perfectionist attitudes at home carry over to his working life. The use of selective focus in this scene highlights Somerset as the protagonist, as the other detective is left blurred in the background, showing he isn’t as important.

His colleague doesn’t agree with his tendencies, as indicated by him telling Somerset that he cannot wait for him to retire. This lets us know that he is going to retire soon, but also wonder what he is going to do with the rest of his life because his job seems to control his personality and purpose. A new character comes up the stairs, Mills (Brad Pitt) and then a close up of him indicates that he is of some importance. His clothing includes a leather jacket and he is chewing gum, suggesting a more laid back attitude to Somerset. Mills immediately identifies and begins to talk to Somerset with shot reverse shots showing their conversation. In the background behind Somerset metal bars and fences around the windows can be seen, indicating they are in a dangerous area. 

There is then an ellipsis edit to the outside of the building where diegetic police sirens and radios can be heard once again. The way in which this is handled, however, makes it seem like a common occurrence. More bodies are then seen being carried out of the building, denoting death. The pathetic fallacy of the rain ties in with this, indicating that bad things are happening and perhaps indicating that a storm is coming. Somerset and Mills are seen walking along the street with the camera tracking their movements. They are both seen at a low angle, connoting authority and dominance, although Somerset is in the foreground of the shot, perhaps showing that he is the more experienced of the two. Realism is added to this scene with the abundance of people walking across the x axis and obstructing the view of the audience. Mills’ movements appear more anxious than Somerset’s in the way he is walking and in his gestures, perhaps due to the fact that his isn’t too focused, as he is new to the area. He also gets knocked into by a lot of people whilst Somerset calmly strolls whilst avoiding passers-by. Mills attempts to show that he is experienced and the right man for the job, but Somerset sees through him, as he has more experience and knows what it takes to be a good detective. He then tries to defend his point of view by stating that he has been working on homicides for a while, but Somerset dismisses this, telling him that the area he worked in contrasts greatly to where they are both currently.

Another ellipsis edit cuts to Somerset in his bed, showing him on is own and that there is little to his life other than his work. Alarms are once again heard, showing that it is a dangerous area and that is also a regular occurrence. He puts down his glasses and in the corner of his room a bookcase full of books is seen; both of these items reinforce the idea of his high intellect, as the chase board in the opening shots also did. The activation of his metronome is then seen in a close up shot and it may serve the purpose of indicating the slow, regular pace of his life. Metronomes also stay in time regardless, showing his OCD nature once again. It is really monotonous just like his life, connoting that his life is the same thing over and over again; his job has taken over his life. The diegetic sound of dogs barking and alarms can still be seen, providing a contrast between order and chaos and showing Somerset’s need for regulation, with the metronome drowning it out. Close ups of Somerset’s face are then seen with the metronome alternating, as if it is his mind ticking.

The screen then goes completely blank and a non-diegetic sound effect of thunder is heard, acting as pathetic fallacy once again and suggesting a disruption in the order of Somerset’s life. The opening credits then begin with an image of a book and the pages turning over. On top of this some industrial music is played (Nine Inch Nails-Close remix) which creates a tense atmosphere. As the names of the credits appear, the chosen font looks to have been scratched on, making it appear eerie, just as the suddenly fast pace of the editing also does. All the images used are spliced together like a montage and show the grubby hands of the character in the scene who seems to be the antagonist. A lot of sharp objects such as a razor are also seen and the antagonist is seen to be cutting off his fingerprints, so no trace is left behind, connoting that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s on the same intellectual level as Somerset, therefore making the film more interesting to watch. He is the opposite to Somerset in the binary opposition of good versus evil and he is clearly the evil aspect, as shown by the use of dark imagery and the fact that Somerset is obviously a detective-the job commonly held by the protagonist in the thriller genre. The opening credits show his progress in an atmospheric fashion and depict him as being psychopathic, especially as he is seen blanking out words and cutting up pictures and removing the identity of people and dehumanizing them by means of drawing over their eyes. Some of the words he blanks out include ‘intercourse’ and ‘transsexual’ showing that he doesn’t approve of this and that he is psychologically disturbed. 

The antagonist is seen binding a book together with bandages around his fingertips’ this seems like an abnormal act as he is binding his own journals together when he could simply buy one. The scene ends with him cutting out the word ‘God’ from a dollar bill with the song finished with the only lyrics “you get me closer to God”. This may connote that the antagonist perhaps believes he is doing God’s work and that he is some form of messiah. It ends with a fade and resumes with a long shot with the use of a blue filter and the inclusion of tall office buildings of the city landscape, showing that it is set in an urban area, which is a common setting for thrillers, though we already knew this from the opening .

Se7en Opening Titles

Seven Opening Credits from Kieran Brooks on Vimeo.

Face Off opening analysis

The film opens with Touchstone Pictures’ logo, which makes use of a formal, adult and blue serif font on a black background-colours suitable for a thriller.  The jagged edges of the lightning blood could be seen as having connotations of violence and the flash as mirroring muzzle flash from a gun barrel. A sound bridge then leads to the opening credits which tells us things such as the names of the main actors and the director. They are white on a black background, possibly representative of the binary opposition of good and evil. The sans serif font could be an indication of the fact that the thriller is quite modern.

 

A ‘whoosh’ sound and a fade in takes us from the titles to the medium establishing shot of the film, which is out of focus and accompanied with ambiguous, non-diegetic background music, giving it an enigmatic feel. The forenames of the main actors in the motion overlay titles are white, whilst their surnames are black, further reinforcing the binary opposition of good and evil. The fact that one gets larger whilst the other gets smaller could be interpreted as foreboding a conclusion in the struggle for power between the protagonist and the antagonist.

The slow motion close up and medium two shots of the protagonist and his child suggests both physical and emotional closeness and provides a reason for his behaviour in the next scene through the Kuleshov effect. The use of a blue filter, making the carousel and the trees washed out, is an indicator that their happy circumstances are going to change for the worse. A longshot leads to an extreme close up of a sniper scope. It is accompanied by an exaggerated Foley sound effect and a change in music to dramatic and ominous during the lifting off of a clothe. Nicolas Cage is then seen backlit, making only his silhouette visible –indicating that he is the antagonist-with the main motion overlay title in the centre of the shot. His relaxed attitude, with the drinking from a straw suggests that he is determined and quite confident, much like John Travolta’s character. Later, a point of view shot through the sniper scope shows further emotion between John Travolta and his son and a slight zoom out perhaps suggests a lack of focus and a questioning of his actions.

This is however quickly disregarded and he proceeds to take the shot. The bass rumble sound effect before the shooting suggests that something bad is going to happen, just as the washed out colours also do, and it proceeds an extreme close up of the trigger and a cut to another extreme close up, this time of the CGI bullet emerging in extreme slow motion from the barrel-a cause and effect edit. The background music then stops accompanied with Foley enhanced, echoing sound of the shooting. A distressed neigh of a carousel horse is heard, along with the echo of the CGI bullet. From this extreme close up of a carousel horse a fast dissolve to rising balloons is seen, symbolising death. The music then resumes, but this time it is definitely negative and melancholy. The reaction to the shooting is seen in Castor Troy’s face in a close up shot. This is later followed by a medium close up of the now eerie and sped up carousel-its disconcerting nature is emphasized with the use of sound stings. A fade to black ends the scene.

The film resumes with an establishing long shot a city, a suitable setting for a thriller. He appears distressed and this is reinforced with the non-diegetic music. The track and tilt shots of the awards on the wall of his office show that he is successful and the close up of a gun indicates that his job involves violence. Parallel editing between his office and the rest of the building show him holstering his gun in a close up, western-style shot, perhaps suggesting that there will be a ‘duel’ between him and the antagonist.
                                                                                                                               
Nicolas Cage’s character, Castor Troy is established through the use of mug shots. A vertical tracking shot establishes his location and a superimposition edit leads to the inside of the building. The camera then pans downwards, with low angle shots indicating that he is in a positions of power. This is also shown in his owning of what appear to be bombs, with a skull and crossbones signifying danger. A non-diegetic ‘swoosh’ sound effect is heard as he casts his cigarette over one of the bombs and activates it. During the narrative exposition that establishes John Travolta’s character as being the boss of his organisation, Castor Troy’s actions are seen through parallel editing, further reinforcing the conflict between the two of them; the former is unaware of what the latter is doing.
  

The editing then focuses primarily on Castor Troy and his bombs are also seen from a low angle, reinforcing the fact that they are giving him power, in this case destructive power. The type of diegetic music used is contrapuntal, however it does match the setting, as it is religious with it being sung by a choir. Likewise, his headbanging, strong language and groping of a member of the choir doesn’t match that of a priest, but it does match his confident character. A zoom out then reveal the name of the event taking place at the location.

The close up shot of the telephone with John Travolta’s character’s wife still on the line and being ignored may suggest that the pursuit of his son’s killer has taken over his marriage. A straight cut to the location he is heading-an airfield-shows Castor Troy getting out of a car. He does so in slow motion, with his jacket making a ‘whoosh’ Foley sound as John Travolta’s also did when he left his office, and with the accompaniment of slightly funky music, reinforcing his relaxed attitude. A low angle shot shows two gold holstered guns that are revealed after a further ‘whoosh’ sound effect that follows that removal of his cape. The fact that it is removed by another person, and that another low angle shot is used when he reveals his plans, reinforce his position of power.

Face Off opening

Faceoff Opening from Adam Nixon on Vimeo.

Preliminary task evaluation

Perhaps the biggest thing I learnt whilst carrying out the preliminary production task is that the filming and editing processes aren’t as easy as I’d mistaken them to be.

We failed to realise that an establishing shot that included a zoom from a long distance wouldn’t be free of camera shake, despite the use of a tripod and the image stabilizer setting. This was especially apparent when it came to the editing process, as a larger screen made it appear even worse.

In a previous lesson we had already learnt that when two characters are having a conversation over the phone it is a good idea if one of them faces screen left and one faces screen right. Again, we didn’t realise we had made this mistake until it came to editing.

To prevent these problems occurring in our coursework, it would be a good idea either to plan in more detail, or review our shots whilst we still have the opportunity to rectify our mistakes by filming the problematic scenes again.

The least productive aspect of working in a group was the fact that we occasionally disagreed on what type of shot to use. This could be, and was addressed by, either compromising or filming all of the possible shots and making a decision in the editing process, as it is possible to edit down but not to create edits if shots don’t exist. Another alternative would be to change groups, which is something I think is going to happen anyway when it comes to the coursework task. Ideas will, however, have to be shared and agreements will have to me made.

In order to help me improve my AS coursework production, I have learnt that in the editing process shots often need to be cut down a lot so as not to bore the audience, how to do j-cuts, where the audio of the next shot comes in before the video, which made the phone appear to still be ringing when it was lifted off the desk, linking the two shots together, to try and avoid extreme zooms, as the result was less that desirable, and to have one character facing screen left and one facing screen right during conversations, even if they’re on the phone and not actually together. I also learned how to export the finished production and select the area it is exported to, after using various tools in the editing software, such as that that allows shots to be cropped a frame at a time and adding titles and transitions.

We were able to produce something that was by no means excellent, but still watchable as a first attempt at an AS production; it had faults, but it was also clear in meaning.

Although we messed up with the filming of the actual phone call, we still managed to include a couple of match on action shots and we obeyed the 180 degree rule, which was paired with the use of shot reverse shots for the face to face conversation. The combination of the 180 degree rule and the latter shot ensured that it was clear that the two people speaking were looking at each other’s eyes, as opposed to over their shoulders. Shot reverse shots were also used for the phone call. By using match on action shots-where action continues between two shots-it aids the audience’s understanding of what’s happening. Transitions have the same effect. The mistakes we made will enable us to improve in our marked coursework.

What pleased me the most about my role in that production was the fact that I was able to edit the footage in a way that made the match on action shots appear believable and I contributed just as much as the other members of my group did.