This is my textual analysis on the horror film Se7en.

1. Seona J Carolan

2. This shot is an unconventional
establishing shot because it isn't
the typical long shot that reveals
the location of the film. Instead it
shows the flickers of pages which
makes the the audience feel
curious to what the book contains
and what is meant by this. The shot
uses light on the pages to create
shadow on some parts of frame
which makes the audience seem
unaware of what happens.

3. The title sequence mainly focuses
on illustrations and pictures to
create the idea of psychopathic
thoughts being displayed. It looks
very unorganised and mess
through editing however the
drawing are detailed and shows the
audience that the killer is
meticulous which is very common
in psychopathic horror films. The
dark showing from the right side of
the shot makes it unclear where the
filming is taking place and creates
a feeling of mystery for the
audience.

4. This is an extreme close up of
finger being pressed against a
razor blade. This creates a feeling
of disorientation. The hands
appear un kept and therefore most
likely to male. Males seem to be
commonly placed as the villains in
horror films because they are
typically seen as the stronger sex
and physically larger, therefore
deemed more scary. Although the
razor is small and could go
undetected I believe that
represents the a psychopath could
go undetected in a public setting.

5. These shots show how detailed the
villain is in his work. It shows he
has spent time on this work as if
importance. It looks more likely to
be the villain rather than the cops
saving the public because of the
use of smudging and dark
shadows. This makes the audience
feel unclear and curious about hat
is written. They can not read what
is written but the scrawl handwriting
makes it seem rushed and not tidy
like an official document.

6. This out of focus shot shows
nothing particular importance
however the bold colour contrasts
the rest of the shots which seem to
remain predominantly dull in colour.
The red is interrupted by the dark
black centre as if the red is
unclean. The red connotes danger
and blood an the use of this is
colour is very typical in horror films.
The red colour takes up the
majority of the frame and gives the
audience the feeling of it taking
over.

7. These photographs especially the
bottom one show to the audience the
fascination of killing an death, harming
other humans. It creates a sick sort of
feeling are the audience can see the
crimes outcome before they have
even happened. Photographing it
makes is become a living thing a hard
cop of a memory. It makes it hard to
feel any sympathy for the villains as it
shows he isn’t showing any sign of
remorse.

8. This blackout of words portrays the
feeling of mystery and unknowing
of the murderer/villain. It makes it
clear that he wants to hide and
complicate the vendetta. It makes it
harder for the villain to come clear
to the viewers and this builds
anticipation for the film.

9. These shots have fast pace
movement and displays the hatred
held towards other people. The
spot light on just the face of the
man shows that the victims will all
be targeted and important to the
killer that these specific people are
those who will be killed.
Psychopaths are more likely to
follow a set of rules/ritual for their
killings rather than a random
rampage and this is made apparent
with this shot.

10. These close up shots both contain
needles however they are very
different from each other. The top
one is far more sinister and shows
the darkness of the room and the
character. The bottom one shows it
being used ss more of an everyday
skill. These shots show the
audience that although he is a
murderer he is delicate in his
means of preparation. The large
fingers in comparison to the thin
needle shows his need for control.