Genre - Similar Textual Analysis - Sagar

Similar Textual Analysis For Seven

The scene opens with a wide shot of a man in his late 60’s (Morgan Freeman) in his kitchen with his back to the camera. You see him slowly buttoning up his cufflinks to his white shirt this shows the audience he is getting ready for work. Then it cuts to him in front of the mirror with a medium close up shot of him doing his tie up. This connotes that he is a well groomed man and takes care of his appearance. The camera then pans up to his face to reveal his facial expression is one of a very serious man with sadness in his eyes.

  The lighting in the room is dark and gloomy giving a dull atmosphere. As Morgan Freeman looks down, there is a point of view shot, were the audience sees through his eyes drawing them into the action. Appearing on a table there are four things a: handkerchief, police badge, a knife, keys and a pen placed in that order on the table all the objects are neatly placed this builds on the evidence of him being a meticulous man.  He picks up the police badge which connotes that he is in the police force. Then there is a brief close up shot where he grasps what appears to be keys, when he picks up the keys there is a close up on his hand where he does not have a wedding ring on this connotes that he is single, which could show that he is into his work more than his social life. He has a single bedroom apartment which means he is a single man.



There is a neatly laid out grey jacket on single bed. The bed sheets and duvet are clean and not creased. In the background we can hear the diegetic sound of the city noises e.g. police car, horning. This tells the audience of the location from what we hear perhaps a busy city. The different camera shots were used such as a close up of Morgan Freeman emphasing that he is a main character.

It cuts to a long shot him going straight to work suggesting that his work has just started. Within this mise-en-scene we see a dead body in a pool of blood, seeing this would make anyone depressed, but he takes it all in he’s stride as a professional policeman with considerable experience.

The scene starts off with Morgan Freeman walking down the corridor where he sees the dead woman laying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Then the other colleague says “it looks like a crime of passion,” this means the person who killed the woman did it because he loved her, that is a crime of passion. “according to the detective the neighbours said they heard shouting then a GUNSHOT” the unknown detective believes this could be important evidence, but Morgan Freeman doesn’t think this, as you see in the next quotation, then Morgan Freeman follows his colleagues question by using sarcasm”YES look at all the passion on the wall”,” did the little boy see the dead body?” his colleagues replies “what kind of a F**** question is that!”. His colleague making suggestion as if Morgan Freeman doesn’t know what he is talking about  He’s colleague then follows with a demeaning statement “we are all glad when you’re leaving always these questions, questions, who gives a F***!” Morgan Freeman is not phrased by what is going on he is just focus on the job in hand.

Brad Pitt enters the scene by having a close up camera shot emphasising that he is another one of main character. There is a steadycam shot used, giving you the feeling as if you are walking on the unsteady board in the set and in the scene as in a documentary with this being a real life situation. The scene cuts to Brad Pit and Morgan Freeman outside in the pouring rain where the dead body is coming out on a stretcher. There is yellow tap around the entrance of the apartment connoting it was under a police investigation. Brad Pit apologises for being late and interrupting. “Just got in town 20 minutes ago”. The diegetic sounds you can hear outside are police sirens, the hustle and bustle of outside life. From this scene you can see that Brad Pit looks up to Morgan Freeman. It then does another cut scene where Morgan Freeman in laying in bed what looked like he was pondering his next move with the case. There is a close up shot with the metronome moving side to side. The sounds from the metronome increase every time it tick-tocks, connoting that something might happen now. Brad Pitt has clothes which are more casual up to date with the time and very creased suggesting he is a young person who is not organised. In contrast Morgan Freeman wears smart clothes, it shows his maturity, and that he is a well organised man. The film gets the audience thinking of how these two main characters are linked with each other. Brad Pitt is eager, arrogant and just looks at the evidence that is in front him. He does not look at the deeper picture. I think he is more of an action man who goes in all guns blazing, but with less experience then Morgan Freeman.   The mise-en-scene raise a lot of questions, who is cutting their finger tips and why, which the audiences are asking for? A good opening Thriller Scene has to do this so the audience watches the movie till the end. If they get all the answers to the questions the audience will be bored, but if you leave some questions not answered it can be a cliff hanger for the audience.   Then it cuts takes straight to the next scene at the strange person house. The blurred up non diegetic sound is distorted just like the serial killers mind, also the editing and credits were the same. The text in the credits was scribbled as if an insane person had written it down on a piece of paper.  Also most criminals would use gloves, but this serial killer is so insane that he cuts his own finger tips with a sharp razor blade. All of these affects adds to the thrilling atmosphere, the main four categories are the mise-en-scene, camera shots, editing and sounds. All of these are for the audience!!!  My conclusion of the first scene is you get to know a little bit about each of the characters. I found the opening title sequence was dramatic and horrifying; it keeps you gripped and entraps you, wanting to know how the two police officers will cope with the pressure of finding the culprit.