Textual analysis Seven

About the movie The movie seven is an American psychological thriller released in

September 1995.

It tells the story of a young detective, played by Brad Pitt who is partnered with the retiring detective Morgan Freeman and soon tasked with tracking down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as tropes for his murders.

The film was released by New Line Cinema and it went on to become the seventh-highest-grossing film of 1995, with over $327 million worldwide. The film was also nominated for Best Film Editing at the 68th Academy Awards, but lost out to the film Apollo 13.

Camerawork The use of an aerial shot may have been used for this shot because it could show that the audience is seeing something that other characters in the film may not be. The reason why I believe this is because by using this shot it makes the audience appear as if they are looking down on the situation and almost looking into the action.

The constant change of both camera angles and shots is used to confuse the viewer and to not let them focus on what the true narrative of the opening is. This may also be used to give an erratic feel to the atmosphere.

One of the most commonly used shots within the opening of seven is the use of an extreme close up this may have been used to show small details of the scene as a way of given clues as to who the hands belong to as well as empathising the sharpness of the blade in the shot.

Mise-en-scene Prop:The use of the picture of the two hands may have been used as a shot in the opening of seven in order to use foreshowing to give the audience clues as to what may happen in the film. An example of this is that the hands looked discoloured which could connote that the person maybe dead which creates a creepy atmosphere.

Colour:The use of the black and white throughout opening could connote good and evil as well as a light or dark atmosphere.

Colour:The use of the colours of red and white across the screen of this shot connotes a clash of different people in the film. For example the use of the colour red could represent fear, blood, murder or danger. But the white colour could represent purity and innocence. This also could represent a good vs evil theme in the narrative.

Mise-en scene Colour:The black screen in the opening sequence connotes the idea of darkness, loneliness and being alone. This may have been used to show parts of the film narrative.As well as the black and white showing a contrast between light and darkness within the films narrative.

Prop:The prop of a picture of a boy is significant in the opening sequence because it is the only time a face is shown in the opening 2 minutes of the film. This is used to increase the mystery in the opening minutes because the audience don’t know who the person is and how they fit to the story.

Composition:The composition of many of the shot are based within very close up shots. This therefore doesn’t show the audience much of the the setting around the main action within the shot. This therefore creates an element of mystery which also help keep the audience engaged.

Mise-en-scene Lighting:On this shot there is one key spotlight used pointing downward on to one side of the paper, which is giving the shot low key lighting. The spotlight may have been used to represent a prop for example a desk light. Although it’s main purpose is to use the limited light in order to create a dark atmosphere therefore making the audience tense.

Editing Shallow focus has been used in this shot as a way of connoting mystery because its unclear what is being written. As well as create a sense of disorientation for the audience. This may also be used to help show the theme of mystery which is common in thriller films.

A black shot has been used as a way to break up the important shots of the opening sequence. The effect of this on the audience is that it creates confusion for the audience which in turn builds suspense for the viewer. It may also have been used to connote the idea of a dark narrative or a dark outcome at the end of the film.This effect was also created by the use of jump cut and the use of flashing light when ever the shot turned to black.

Fast paced editing is also used throughout the opening sequence this could have been used to be able to break up the shots of different locations therefore creating more confusion for the audiences. Which therefore adds to the element which is present throughout the opening sequence.

Sound Throughout the first opening 2 minutes of seven the sound in the background of the action is Parrell non-diegetic dissonant sound. This is used to create tension as the music rises with the action and able to help create suspense which make the audience more tense. The use of Parrell non-diegetic dissonant sound is stereotypical of thriller films because it helps create tension which is found in thriller films.

Other sound used within the opening is the diegetic sound of the metronome which is Parrell with the shot of the a ticking metronome. This could be used as a way to symbolised the passing of time or a clock. Which could show that considerable time passes within the start of the film or that the protagonist are in a race against time in the film.

The use of inconsistent volumes throughout the piece is used to unsettle the audience and making them fearful of what was going to happen. Which will also help the film keep the attention of it audience. This also goes along with the Parrell nature of the sound with the sound increasing in parts which could be seen as significant.

Iconography The use of the blood within the shot is an example of a stereotypical prop within a psychological thriller film opening. This is because it symbolises danger for a character within the film. This also link to stereotypical theme of danger for the protagonist in both horror and psychological thriller film. It is also used to foreshadow the death of one the protagonist in seven.

Audience theory The type of audience for the film seven is mainly a niche audience. The reason for this is because many people are put off the film by the violent nature of some of its plot. The reason as to why I know this is because of the opening having props such as sharp objects and blood which therefore connotes violence within the films plot. The demography of the average person in sevens niche audience is within the D or E letter bracket which contains manual workers, the unemployed and students as well as some other lower income groups. One of the reason for this may be because the film will be popular with students because of the mystery and them wanting to work out what happening as well as them not being put off by the violence. The psychographic for some of the people in the niche target audience for seven is that they may be in the category of explorers. The reason for this is because they are a typically younger people as well as them being educated so are able to understand or figure out parts of the plot that aren’t clear to all the audience.

Narrative and CharacterOne of the only ways in which the film opening for seven isn’t stereotypical is in terms of character. This is because there is no character clearly shown within the opening which is not stereotypical of thriller films. One of the reasons as to why they might have done this is because to helps to empathize the mystery of the opening therefore makes the audience guess as to what the opening is trying to show which also will help keep the audience engaged.

In terms of narrative is also not stereotypical for psychological thriller film opening because of the lack of key characters or storyline. This is stereotypical because any thriller opening introduce you to the characters to be able set the scene to be able to help the audience understand and relate to the characters, unlike seven where no characters clearly shown in the opening of seven.

Typography of credits The font used within the credits is two sans serif fonts with the font for the names in the credits having a style that looks as if it could have been hand written. This therefore could have connoted it looks very thin and also has an appearance that has a creepy feel because it is seen as old fashioned and also has the appearance that looks like spiders legs which could also be seen as giving a creepy feel.

And the font with their role for example the “casting by” part of text looks more as if it was from a typewriter. This therefore gives the audience a more old fashioned feel to the text because typewriters aren’t used in everyday life ,which therefore may give the audience the idea that the story may not all s et in the present day or the characters are seen as more old fashioned or not adjusted to modern life or society.

What I could take from this researchOne of the things that I could take from this research is the use of typewriter style credits to give a more old fashioned and mysterious feel to our credits.

Another thing that I can take away from textual analysis is to target a younger people as a target audience for the film opening. The reason for this is because my research and analysis has shown that most people who watch more violent thriller films are of a student age range of late teens to early 20s.

I have also taken from this research that I should use Parrell non-diegetic dissonant sound within the opening to help create and atmosphere as well as tension within the opening to keep the audience more engaged.

During this research I have also found that it is effective for me to use darker colours both during editing and costume and props in order to connote a more darker outcome to the film.