Analysis of title sequence

Se7en

The introduction to se7en is very dark, the images go past so fast it’s hard to tell what your seeing. It’s mainly in grey scale, with the directors names in white, against a black background. The cuts are very fast, and some images seem to flash at you. It shows someone creating a journal, and overall reminds me of American Horror Story, which is probably a pastiche of Se7en. The music in it also reminds me of American Horror Story.

The first shot is of the journal, the words are blurred, nothings still, and it very faced paced. This makes the journal seem to be alive, and animalistic. It mirrors the man’s mind, and his animalistic urge to kill. Between this and the next shot there’s a bang sound, and it goes to a film negative.

The next shot is of two hands; this is a photograph, tuck in a book. It represents age and disability. The position of the hands look like they could be around someone’s neck, it flashes in your mind ‘choking’. 

Because the hands look frail, it makes you think it’s the victim being chocked. With how fast the hands are on for it makes it look like they’re coming for you. There’s a red line through the page, this suggests that something’s wrong, also the camera angle is wonky, also making you think something’s not quite right. A shadow moves over the image, and the light seems to be swinging behind them this makes the viewer feel uncomfortable, like their being watched.

The next shot is a close up of a razor blade, a metallic scream starts. It makes the viewer think ‘death’, the sound starts like a scream, but them ends metallic. This hints towards the killer being a machine, he kills because he needs to, he’s driven to. He isn’t human, no emotions, no soul, empty and this makes him seem more dangerous.

Brad Pitt’s name pops up next, the font looks like it’s written by a child, hinting towards innocence. The scratching sound sounds like chalk against a blackboard, it’s not quite in focus, making the viewer feel ‘blind’, therefore powerless.

The next shot is a close up of fingers, taking off dead skin with a razor (this could be glue) but with how fast it is, and with the previous images of fingers and razors and the razor sounds it appears dark and scary.

Then there’s a close up of something, it’s blurry, unrecognizable  It could be a developing picture. Then the title appears, Se7en, and it’s scratched.

Next you get a quick shot of a bandaged finger.

The next shot is of the journal, and the man writing in it, the lines look repeated, and it doesn’t look like words (more like symbols). This is achieved by a double exposure; you don’t see things in focus. It then goes back into focus, and the words are upside down. This shows the image is important, not the words. It’s also implies that the world is upside down, making you feel weird.

The next shot has a red tint, which ripple, it looks like blood. This could be the liquid used to develop pictures.

You then see the man cut some film with some scissors, and he sticks this under the words sexuality and homosexuality.

It then goes to some notes, and his fingers again. He then sticks a picture down.

He then goes through some documents and blacks out some words, which he finds inappropriate, like sexuality and pregnancy. 

Next you have a close up of a face, which looks like a ghostly face against a window, it’s hard to make out as a face. You hear the scraping noise again, which relates to the razor. There’s another close up of the book, but it’s unreadable. The man then runs his finger across the edge of the picture, but it sounds like a razor. The viewer gets the impression he’s cutting someone up.

The next scene is of a boys face, and the man crosses his eyes out. This means you can no longer tell what his face looks like, he’s lost his identity. Maybe he’s dead. Suddenly it jumps to the same picture but now his entire face is crossed out, at this point the music becomes a lot darker and louder. This makes the view think that now he’s killed someone, everything’s been building up to this.

Then there is another red tint, which makes the viewer think that he definitely has killed someone.

The fingers are now dirty (he’s done something to make them dirty, killed someone?) He then starts to bind his note book, but when watching this for the first time you don’t know what he’s doing. The binder is metal, and looks similar to many razors.

There’s then cut up pictures of body parts. This mirrors cut up bodies, and restablishes the fact that he has killed someone. The pictures move away, showing that one of the pictures of a head has something stuck into the back. Because of the dark nature of the intro this seems very dark, and like a torture (instead of a medical procedure, which it probably was).

The next scene shows the man wiping a needle, but it looks like he’s pulling something from his finger. It’s not until the next shot when you can tell that he was cleaning the needle, because then he threads it.

The next shot is a a extreme close up of a one dollar bill. You can’t tell what it is the first time you watch it, God sticks out from the bill. At the end of the intro the a voice sings ‘you get me closer to God’. This shows that the killer thinks he’s equal/ above God, or that he is God. He can take a life when he wants to.

The music has a rhythm that sounds like a/ mimics heart beat, which pulls the viewer in more.