Se7en textual analysis

1. By Charlie Cooke

2.  In the beginning scene shots such as close ups and mid shots focus on
Morgan Freeman to introduce his character and to show his home
and how he lives.
 The scene between him and Brad Pitt, is mainly filmed at a low angle
showing that these are both domineering characters, and are going to
be the main protagonists throughout.
 Whilst the two characters are talking, the shot reverse shot shows
their reactions. Although simple, there reactions show they are clearly
not the best of friends already and may not approve of one another's
ideas or feelings and so this may continue or change throughout the
film, adding to suspense, which is a typical convention of a thriller.
 During the opening titles, a montage of mainly close ups, over lap
with between each title slide. The shots such as needles, the
highlighting of certain words, and fingerprint gives the audience an
idea of what's to come. This also fits with genre as the needle will
portray a creepy horror sort of feel, and the fingerprints show how
detective work is going on and the highlighting may be something to
do with what the work is about.

3.  Once introduced to Morgan's character, the film wastes no time into
getting into a main bulk of the storyline, moving to the detective scene
and then to the scene outside. No shots are particularly long showing
the film will generally be quite fast paced.
 A slightly longer take, is when the two detectives are talking outside.
The focus on this shows the importance of not only the two characters,
but how they are in relation to each other. Its continuous and flows
smoothly unlike the other scenes. This stresses the and focuses on the
dialogue as may be important further in the film.
 In the titles, the superimposition of the scratches and marks fits with
the genre, as gives an uncomfortable feel which may associate with
pain. This, also a convention of a thriller, as usually involves some sort
of murder or grand crime which doesn’t ever seem to be the easiest of
deaths, and so usually involves some sort of pain.
 Also the cuts between the titles and the hints of the film, are unsmooth
and jittery which again gives an uneasy feel, in order to prepare the
audience of what's to come.

4.  During the first few moments of the film, there is silence and after this is
only diegetic sound, which already gives a sort of tension and anticipates
the audience of what's to come. Also showing Morgan's character to have
quiet uninterrupted life.
 The dialogue in the scene between Morgan and Brad is another way of
showing the relationship between the pair. The tone of both characters
voice is important and is shows the cool relaxed man that Morgan plays,
and the juxtaposing sarcastic man that Brad plays, which although still asks
cool, is slightly less natural. This may show that he has been in this
business less long and is still learning the role of the job.
 Also in this scene, although the rain in diegetic sound, has been turned up
and emphasised making the dialogue less clear. This then cuts to the scene
of him laying in bed. There is a significant change in sound between the
two scenes, which emphasises the rain even more. This symbolizes the
difference between his job and daily life compared to life at home, and
shows he leads a busy life yet once home goes back to being quiet, and the
silence also may show a breath of relief for him.
 To break the silence, he starts a metronome. At this point it has no
significance but may develop throughout the film, again adding suspense
which grips the audiences attention even more, ready for the titles.

5.  The opening shots in Morgan's home are very effective as although it seems like
the main focus is him, the props around him show the type of man he is. For
example we see a chess board which insinuates he is a rather clever man. We
also see he dresses in a suit, which along with other objects around him portray
him as a well educated and brought up man.
 In the next scene, we see a blood splatter which is in the background and is
never brought fully into focus. This gives the audience a chance to use there
own intuition without preaching it obviously. This is a common convention of
a thriller as it makes the consumer want to watch on, to answer the
assumptions they’ve already made.
 During the outside scene, the proxemics of the characters start off further apart
and not really engaged in the conversation going on. They then stop and face
towards each other, showing they are more interested, adding suspense. Along
with the low angle shot, the characters, in turn, step closer to the camera,
making themselves look more domineering one at a time. This shows they are
competing to be ‘top dog’, and this may be a problem throughout.
 Compared with the detective house scene, where the lighting was cold
blue/purple coloured; Morgan's home has a warm coloured yellow tone. This
shows how he feels comfortable in his own home, and is his time to relax and
be himself.