The document analyzes the opening title sequence of the psychological thriller film Se7en, directed by David Fincher. It discusses how the sequence effectively sets the dark, disturbing tone of the film through the use of extreme close-ups, flashing frames, a washed-out color palette with flashes of red, unsettling sounds effects, and minimal shots of characters to create mystery. The document also notes how these directorial and editing choices aim to intrigue the audience and build suspense from the start.

1. Opening
sequence
analysis –
Se7en
Directed by David Fincher

2. Overview
• Distributer – New Line Cinema
• The opening sequence of se7en gives the
audience an insight into the film as it
introduces the character of the killer (John
Doe, played by Kevin Spacey) and hints at
the story.
• Immediately the title designer Kyle Cooper
and director David Fincher set the tone and
atmosphere of Se7en as the disturbing and
horrific film that it is through their choice of
shots and titles.
• Due to the horror/thriller genre, it is clearly
based at an audience of young adults.
• Se7en is a well-known psychological thriller with horror elements and after
watching the opening sequence, I feel I want to direct my own similarly to
this as a psychological thriller based film.
• I do however recognize that in order to meet the marking criteria, as well as
the clos-ups I will need to experiment with a range of shots and movement.

3. Genre
 The introduction of the extreme clos-up of
hands and dark lighting immediately enforces
the horror genre, due to the audience not being
able to identify the character. This adds mystery
to the opening sequence and makes the
audience want to know more about the
protagonist, achieving the aims of an opening
sequence.
 It has a very sister tone due to the mise en
scene such as the crossing out of children's
faces, again highlighting the psychological
horror.
 The title of the film also highlights the horror
genre as it flashes on and off screen in a very
distorted way, giving the impression of a
psychopath.
 Because of these horror elements, it Is likely to
be aimed at a target audience of young adults.
 The editing uses jump cuts and sudden
movement which shocks frames and the
audience, putting them on edge, and enforcing
the thriller genre.

4. Themes and Typography
The colours chosen in the opening
sequence are dark, and dim lit,
creating the mood and atmosphere
fit for a thriller/horror.
The typography used for the
names, is in a graffiti/handwritten
style and when names appear they
are distorted, and look abstract.
This then gains a shadow
momentarily, and then goes to the
next camera shot. This editing
creates the disturbing and
uncomfortable feeling for the
audience which reaches the target
audience of thriller loving adults.

5. Institutions
The institutions that were involved in ‘Se7en’ are
widely known companies. It was presented by
new line cinema and produced by Arnold
Koperson.

6. Shots
• The shots of the title sequence are a few second frames with
quick cutaways, not focusing on one particular area; this
makes it seem as if the audience is seeing something they
shouldn’t.
• This then creates the impression that they are witnessing
some sort of preparation for what is going to take place
within the film.
• Another main focus is the extreme close-ups onto objects.
These limit what the audience is seeing, creating more
tension and fitting with the thriller genre.

7. Shot Types
The opening sequence is made up of many
extreme close-ups that work together to create a
montage. This is effective at intriguing the
audience with providing them with little detail and
by distancing them by not showing any wider
shots that would give a clearer view of a
character.
This can be effective at creating a tense
atmosphere for an audience by showing minimal
full length character shots. I would like to do this
in my own opening sequence, but in order to use
a variety of shots I will include long shots of
setting and mise en scene (not necessarily
characters).

8. Mise En Scene
• The opening sequence is full of unusual creepy mise en scene, such
as pictures of victims faces being rubbed out by black marker pens.
• This immediately puts the audience on edge and connotes the edgy
sinister feel that the horror/thriller takes.
• The audience is shown the word ‘God’ being cut out of a dollar bill.
This hints towards the storyline of the film in which the character
believes he is God.

9. Editing & Colour
The editing that went into the opening
sequence lasted five weeks compared
to the two days it was shot over. This
can be seen because of how
advanced the editing is with the use of
dissolving transitions and flashing
frames. This gives the audience the
feeling of disjointedness, creating the
desired effect for a psychological
thriller.
The editor Richard Francis-Bruce
creates a textured effect which gives
the entire sequence an effective
washed-out grey tone. These dull
colours connote a lack of feeling
which are then mixed with flashes of
red which appear randomly, connoting
violence. All of these elements have
an effect on the audience and warn
them for the films dark edgy story.

10. Music By Howard Shore
• The music chosen and used by Howard
Shore is a remix of Nine Inch who are
known for their association with dark and
gruesome Imagery.
• The music is gritty and reflects the overall
disturbing tone of the film.
• As the music increases in tempo, the
random images begin to flash and come
up quicker, making them difficult to follow.
• This then creates the feel of urgency, with
some of the images being repeated often,
creating a sense of unease and
disorganization to the film.
• There are disturbing sound effects, such
as nails scratching on a chalk board,
which create a unnatural atmosphere and
make the audience feel uncomfortable.

11. Characters
• Similarly to ‘The Walking Dead’ sequence that I looked at
in my previous blog post, there is minimal shots of
character in the opening sequence.
• In doing this the audience is alienated from a character, as
they are more mysterious as their face has not been
shown.
• This is effective in the genre
of horror/thriller, as it adds
suspense and tension for an
audience.

12. Credits
The titles appear distorted and flash
onto the screen. This creates the
impression of a psychopath, relating to
the horror genre.
The protagonist John Doe played by
Kevin Spacey, credit does not appear.
This is gain to create mystery behind the
villain, so the audience is only shown
minimal information to keep them
wondering.
I believe watching and analysing this
opening sequence has helped me
understand what I need to include in
mine because I now have a better
knowledge of what credits to include to

13. Final Piece
This title sequence is effective at creating the mood and
atmosphere fit for the psychological thriller. I will focus on
setting and mood in order to achieve the desired atmosphere
for my audience.
The distorted feel that the sequence has by flashing between
frames is effective, and has inspired me to use something
similar when it comes to editing my final piece.
The use of building suspense by only using extreme close-ups
of a characters hands and mise en scene is effective at
building suspense, and I will use something similar in my
own.
The soundtrack used in this sequence is also effective at
creating tension and adding suspense, due to the distorted
high pitched notes. To achieve the thriller genre in my own
sequence I will build the instruments to form a crescendo
similarly to this.