Se7en opening analysis

There is a lot of mise-en-scene in the opening of se7en. One of which is the costumes worn by the characters. Freeman dresses smartly in a suit in black and white; colours often associated with a thriller. He appears professional, unlike Pitt, who wears a leather jacket and is not as well kept; an indicator for lack of experience compared to Freeman. The comparison between the two characters can continue by the way they walk down the street. Pitt bumps into people continuously while Freeman does not. Pitt also appears to be smiling and trying to control the situation, however Freeman appears very serious and has the situation under control as he knows about the area better. There is a lot of paper in the title sequence, and some of the text covered over in black marker to appear 'erased'. This can indicate the genre of the film being a thriller with important details often not shown until the end.

Camera shots are used effectively in this opening. For instance, there is use of a tracking shot as Freeman and Pitt walk down the street. It is also slightly low angle to show the characters' importance early on. However, Freeman appears in front of Pitt, showing the dominant character in the scene. A wide shot is used as Freeman lies in bed. This shows the room quite well, and give an insight on Freemans' life; such as the fact he slept on the right side of the double bed, indicating he had a partner who he used to sleep with.

Sound is used somewhat in the opening scene, though it is mainly dialogue between the two characters at the beginning. However, when Pitt tries to take over Freeman in conversation, he is cut off by Freeman who lets Pitt know who is in charge by telling him blatantly. Other uses of sound are the sirens of the cars made in the city while Freeman and Pitt walk through the city. This was to indicate the kind of area the characters were in. However, Freeman does not appear affected by the noise, where as Pitt appeared slightly annoyed by the constant stream of noise; showing the expert in the situation. There is also the metronomes' ticking. Once it began ticking, all other noise was cut out; showing the impact of repetition to Freeman. Lastly, there was the use of the non-diagetic music playing over the opening credits. This was rather unnerving and set the tone for the film quite well, as it was quite distorting and, in general, weird.

Finally, editing was used in the opening of Se7en. It was mainly in the title sequence of the opening. The text used for the titling was quite scraggy and rough, almost wrote in a way. This can express desperation, and show the genre of the film still early on. The text also jumps around quite a bit, allowing the viewers to see the thriller aspect of the film.