Victoria Adekunjo

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Analysis to the opening of seven

By Victoria Adekunjo and Tracy Jacks

The opening scene to seven starts of with several close up shots of

inanimate objects such as a
book. Then as the film progress
non-diegetic sounds are heard
over all these objects.

In the beginning, the atmosphere

is quite dark because the lighting
looks like it has been colour filter to make the scene have a sinister setting. This could
suggest that this story is to do with some sort of criminal. In the opening scene, non-
diegetic sound is being used in the background, I recognise that it is a non-diegetic
sound because I can tell that it is artificial sound which has been created and used was
non-diegetic sound which adds more tension to the thriller filled atmosphere. The
sound is a generic convention that gives the audience an idea that this film could
possibly be a thriller genre because the sounds brings
suspense and this makes the audience are just waiting
for what will come out next. The sound is quite eerie and
makes a ‘thump’ sound which makes the audience would
feel as if something is about to come and as this could
makes them feel as if they are in the dark about what is
going on, so this
would make them feel very tense and nervous, also
with the sounds of knives scraping, it brings a sense
of foreboding.

The location is quite unclear to the audience,

however due to
the many sheets
of paper, books
and inanimate
objects; it could
suggest that this is located inside an office, a dark lair
or in some sort of private library. Since the Character is
collecting a lot of things and looking at disturbing
images it seems like the character cold have a
psychological problem or possible some type of killer.

The opening scene to seven is has quick editing that

does not give the audience time to look at each, this suggests that this is in the
characters point of view, and to make the audience feel what the character is feeling. In
Victoria Adekunjo
Media

this opening scene the character seems very confused or in a hurry. It also seems like
we are in the characters mind, like he or she is trying to get everything out but more
things keep rushing to him and he or she doesn’t have enough time to put everything
down., also it makes that character seem like it is at pace. Like in a music video, the clip
doesn’t stay in one scene so that it can keep the audience focus and entertain, similarly,
the opening scene to seven. The edited are quite quick
and do not stay in one place. It wants to draw the
audience in and keep transfixed on what is going on
and not let them lose focus.

The mise en scene is difficult to understand, but what I

can see is that the setting is quite dark and ominous,
like how the audience is feeling and not being really
sure of anything, also in the opening scene is that it is
obviously a thriller because the sound is quite eerie as if
something big is going to happen. With the rapid editing
it’s quite hard to distinguish anything, just that it is in a
room with somebody looking at pictures of people who
look likes they have been killed. In one clip, there is a
picture of man who has something going through his head. So
it does seem that this place is a place to collect data which
could be an office, somewhere around the main characters
house.

As the scene progress it is hard to see whether or not the

character is male or female
because it does not show
anything other than a rough hand which looks like it is
meant for a man as it is quite masculine and has the hand of
a worker, which is someone who does physical labour since
underneath his fingernails there are dirt around it and does
flinch as he is cutting his own skin with a blade. Also the
character could be a serial killer since there were some
clips where he had something which looks like a gun, but it’s quite to identify as it is
very close to the object and also he was cutting objects and looking at pictures where
people look like they have been murdered.

The visual style of ‘Se7en’ looks quite old fashion could mean that this story is done in
the past or maybe it is to make the opening scene look spookier, like something is just
not right. It also adds on to the suspense which is added by the non-diegetic sound.

The theme in seven screams that it is something to do with death, suspense, crime and
murder which are all trait of the genre thriller.
Victoria Adekunjo
Media

Overall, the opening scene of ‘Se7en’ is a thriller due to the non-diegetic music which is
quite eerie and brings suspense as the opening scene progress and it is quite hard to get
a clear meaning of what is going on. The audience would be left in confusion and would
be left with curiosity as to what will happen next.

To me, the plot is quite confusing and hard to understand, there is no straight forward
answer however it does leave me hanging and wondering what will happen next and
will make the audience want to know more. The only thing I can discover from this
opening scene is that it looks like someone is planning something, and that has to do
with either hurting someone or killing someone, it looks like a crime thriller.

This part was done by Victoria Adekunjo