The film begins with a character lying in bed in a darkened room, reading a book. We see him remove his glasses and set a metronome ticking on the bedside table. The sequence cuts between close-ups of the metronome and shots of the character in bed that move closer over time. This creates a focus on time and builds a sense of mystery. After the last shot of the metronome, the titles begin with an unsettling instrumental score. The titles show disturbing close-ups of items being assembled into a scrapbook. This leaves the viewer with many questions about who is assembling the scrapbook and what it signifies, drawing them into the film.

1. Film Beginning Analysis
Film:Seven
Director:DavidFincher
Screenplay:AndrewKevinWalker
Genre:Psychological thriller,Crime
The filmSevenisintroducedwith ashortbutcleveropening
sequence,before cuttingtothe title display.We are
immediately introducedtoacharacter; he liesinthe bedof a
darkenedroom, shownbya medium-longshot.Thisshotiskey
as it allowsustoestablishsetting,whilstmeetingacharacter.
We cannotlearnmuch aboutthischaracter purelyfromthis
shot,but we can see that he isin a plainwhite t-shirtand
glasses,tuckedintobedandreadingabook.It couldbe
assumedthathe is inthe comfortof hisown home,due tohis
laidback appearance.The movie thencutstoa close upof hisglassesbeingplaced onthe bedside
table,withthe camerathenpanningupto the hands of the character settingoff a metronome.This
promptsitsclickingsound.Uptill thispoint,we have onlyheardthe murmuredsound of something
goingon elsewhere.Itsoundslike shouting,butwe cannotbe sure onthe source. The movie then
cuts to a mediumshotof the character in the bed,butnow withouta bookor glasses,andfroma
fronton shotthat slowlymovesin. Thisslow movementaccompaniedwiththe tickingnoise creates
a focus ontime and itsrole inthe sequence.Itisthisthat helpstocreate a dark and mysteriousfeel
to the movie. Toremindusof the source of the ticking,we thencutback to the close up of the
metronome,andthenbackagainto the shot of the manin bed,whichstill,movescloser.The movie
continuestocut betweenthesetwoshotsforthe next5 or so seconds.Itis thisthatforcesus to
focuson onlythe metronome andthe character,whowe have still notlearntanythingmore about.
There isonlyone assumptionthatwe can make about him;oftenpeople willuse the regularbeatof
a metronome tocalm themselvesandsowe couldassume thatthe character istryingto reduce
stress.He may have thingsonhis mindor mayneedto relax,sothe metronome could be hismethod
of therapy. Afterthe lastshotof the metronome,we cutto a black screen,afterwhichthe titles
begin.The titlesare introducedwithaninstrumental.Itcontinuesthroughouttheir entiretyand
createsan immenselydarkfeel. Itisfast pace,whicheffectivelycontrastswiththe slow moving
start to the movie. Thistitle sequence involvesthe patternof aclose upand thena blackscreen(this
includesnamesof those involvedinproduction),whichrepeatsuntil itsending.The close upsare of
essential items/propsthatfitablackand red colourtheme,creatingahauntingfeel.The items
include ascrap book,documents,disturbingphotographsandarticles.These itemsall seemtobe
piecedtogetherinsome way,anditlooksas if theyare beingbuiltintoascrap book.We can assume
thisas we keepcuttingback toshots of the book,as if thisiswhere the other itemswe see are going
to. Thiswill leave the viewerwithmanyquestions- Whoispiecingtogetherthisscrapbook?Was it
the character at the beginning?Whydoesthe bookappearto have suchhauntingcontents? What
will thisleadonto? An openingsequence issuccessful if itleavesanaudience withquestions,asthis
will persuade themtostickwiththe film.Forthismovie inparticular,Ifeel the openingsequence is
successful formanyotherreasons.Injustone minute itmanagestocreate a dark and hauntingfeel,
plusgivingusan ideaof the genre. A cleveropening.