1. Kerfi
Seven starts with a fade in from black, introducing the setting with dietetic sounds of the street. The
character is then established with a mid shot with a short depth of field, making him seem isolated in this
shot in the foreground of this shot there is a chess board reflecting that he is a man on intelligence. It then
cuts to a close up, over the shoulder shot again with a short depth of field of him putting on his tie making a
final adjustment to make it perfect, the colour choice of his clothes give connotations of him going to
funeral as he is dressed in black a black tie, trouser braces and trousers. Then cut to an eye line match to the
object on a table, the organization of the objects lay out on the table, with the badge reflects the precision of
his profession being a policeman. Alongside with this he picks a small piece of fluff of his blazer which is
laid flat on his tidy bed, suggesting he has O.C.D., this among other things reflects this is his daily routine.
Daily routines are done to feel comfort, not knowing what’s going to happen can be fearful. He could be
traumatized as he has a routine to know what to expect, to leave behind and not to fear what will happen
next, helping him cope with life and the pressures of work.
This is set in a fairly well decorated yet small apartment which is situated in an urbanized location which is
conveyed with the diegetic background sounds of the streets. There is also a diegetic television sound in the
back ground, from the neighbor’s apartment, suggesting he lives in a poor area in the city, as the buildings
are not well insulated, making it cheap, covey’s low salary and lack of privacy.
However he appears to be single, alongside this the routine he fallows could reflect his life revolving
around work.
It jump cuts to a dead body with a diegetic off screen sound of a detective explaining briefly what
happened. This shows the audience that he is a detective, however he seems to be different amongst the
rest, as he asks ‘did the kid see it’ along with the response ‘what kind of fucking question is that’ connotes
he is different to the others, due to his caring nature, as he knows how much of an impact it can have.
Detective Somerset obviously doesn’t fit in. this also shows the relationship between the two men. ‘We are
all going to be real glad when we get rid of you Somerset’ this conveys the lack of friendship between the
two, they are not like each other and not particularly fond of each other. They also have no connection with
each other, simply work with one another; however his lack of a reaction suggests he is above the others.
This quote also reflects that he is leaving his job soon. This jump cut also exaggerates the contrast of order
(in Somerset’s apartment) and disorder (of his job but also the real world).
We are then introduced to another character detective Mills, we see immediately see from his appearance
he is unlike Somerset with a wrinkled shirt, and leather jacket which suggests a rebellious attitude. We then
cut to a exterior shot where detective mills turns to look at a women, showing that he is a stereo typical
man with sex on his mind but also shows his lack of concentration. As they begin to walk the camera
begins to track, as we see detective Mills get brushed on the shoulder. He immediately turns around with an
annoyed facial expression reflecting his short temper and lack of self control. This also suggests he is not
from the city, as it would be common to get bumped in to. His persona is personified as; young, cocky,
arrogant, short tempered and lacks in experience. It is a combination of these things that creates a bad first
impression on Somerset. The contrast in characters reflects the binary oppositions which is often important
in narrative, of order- detective Somerset and disorder- detective Mills.
We then cut to a long shot, establishing Somerset is in bed at home. This cuts to a close up of him placing
his glasses (the use of glasses is to convey simple characterizations; intelligence, wisdom and
comprehensive) on the table and pushes the ticking device. It the cuts again to a mid shot with the ticking
playing in the back along with the sounds of the streets (the tick alongside the sound from outside again
reflects the idea of order and disorder) which he turn to look at, there is a slow zoom as if we are in his
head, as it cut back and forth to the ticking, which shows he is concentrating on the sound to fall asleep, but
the sound also slowly increases as we zoom into his face. The significance of this is, to firstly show he is
troubled, as he is unable to fall asleep on his own, but the ticking device is to reflect the repetition of his
life, connoting us back to his routine.

2. The colour scheme appears to be dull and monotonous creating a dreary atmosphere; however this also sets
the tone for the film, making it seem cold and heartless. There is also the lack of non diegetic sounds
suggests that David Fincher wants the audience to feel as though its factual, although no special effects are
used enigma is still created, as we don’t know the exact location or cause of the crime drawing us in.