Se7en Opening Sequence Analysis

This film, Se7en, was directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker in the year of 1995. It follows the story of two detectives, a rookie and a veteran who hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins to justify his crimes. Immediately ths short summary gives away that the film is very comfortably within the thriller genre. This opening sequence is extremely interesting and could be considered creative and quite artistic. I have studied the scene closely and and also the kinds of things which make it thriller like, the kinds of colours, objects and fonts which make stand out amongst other opening scenes of  thriller films.

Firstly, you can notice the small jagged font used to present the names of the production company, 'New Line Cinema', the names of the directors and producers and also the names of the actors who star in the movie. There are then lots of short clips shown, extreme close ups of objects such as silver tools in the actors hands whilst the titles and names are flashing on and off, which of course creates a sort of tension, as the audience doesn't know who this person is or what they are doing. 

Meanwhile the music is loud and spooky, but not upbeat or lively, it is slow with an almost heartbeat type of rhythm. It also sounds as if there are doors or floorboards creaking, creating this eery stereotypical effect. Again there are more close ups of objects, but moving on to things such as books, newspapers and drawings, and still you cannot see the actors face, making it more intense than ever for the audience, and in ways it will make them want to keep watching to find out whether this mysterious person is revealed at the end of this opening scene. We then see the actors hand appear again, holding a pen and writing things out, giving you the kind of impression that it's something like a diary or some important notes, maybe even a scrapbook as there are pictures and scissors involved also. It makes you wonder what's going on and how it is related to the film.

A tad further than half way through this scene the music livens up a little and the beat becomes slightly faster, suggesting theres even more suspense being created. Every single short clip is a close up of something, whether is the papers and books, the tools or now even things such as needles, threads, wool and tweezers, just like there is an experiment going on; this is the general vibe given off.

Overall throughout this whole opening sequence the colours and shades used are dull and light, which creates this whole old fashioned effect. Every single one of these elements makes the genre of this film a thriller, just with more of a subtle approach. I believe the director made the viewing experience like this, as in it doesn't give alot of information about the plot or characters, so that it will make the audience want to continue watching, and metaphorically force them to 'sit on the edge of their seat' as they're in so much awe to find out what's happening, and what is going to happen.