The trailer introduces the 1995 crime thriller film Se7en, directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives on the trail of a serial killer targeting victims based on the seven deadly sins. Through its use of lighting, location filming in a dreary city, and the characters of the veteran and rookie detectives, the trailer sets the gloomy, tense tone typical of the crime thriller genre. The trailer builds intrigue around the complex case and killer through dialogue between the detectives, edited montages of crime scenes, and a repeating timer implying a looming deadline.

1. -TRAILER ANALYSIS-
SE7EN

2. ‘SE7EN’ was directed by David Fincher
and released in 1995, starring Morgan
Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and
Kevin Spacey. When retiring police
Detective William Somerset tackles a final
case with the aid of newly transferred
David Mills, they discover a number of
elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon
realize they are dealing with a serial killer
who is targeting people he thinks
represent one of the seven deadly sins.

3. MISE-EN-SCENE
The setting of the ‘Se7en’ trailer also compliments the codes and
conventions of a thriller through its uncomfortable use of rain. The
endless rain creates a background noise throughout the city, that
even in moments of silence, it can be heard. This use of
environmental noise builds tension and frustration, especially as the
two protagonists are trying to track down a crazed killer.
The trailer sets the scene by showing it is in America, which is
conventional as crime thrillers are often set in the US. We can see
this by the skyscrapers that are shown. It is also set in modern times
(1995).
Throughout the trailer, the majority of scenes consist of a dreary low
key lighting, as areas are explored through Somerset and Mill's
flashlights. These distorted views are key conventions of a crime
thriller that ‘Se7en’ adheres to.

4. The film’s main characters are played by Brad Pitt and Morgan
Freeman, and the trailer predominately shows them. Brad Pitt
had starred in 'Legends of the Fall' and 'True Romance' before
'Se7en' was released, two serious drama films. Likewise,
Morgan Freeman starred in 'Glory' and 'The Shawshank
Redemption', earning him critical acclaim. Both the actors
would have attracted a mature audience for this film, with the
movie goers expecting the film to be a compelling thriller. The
introduction of certain stars in the trailer can not only be used
to sell the film but also introduce the type of film the audiences
expect to see. The actors are in typical roles for 'Se7en' as
stated above, both Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt tend to be
involved in dramas and thrillers.
Typically, in crime thrillers, the detective police protagonists
dress in a sophisticated way in suits and suit jackets, which is
a convention ‘Se7en’ uses for its two main characters. In terms
of props and typical iconography associated with detectives in
crime thrillers, both characters carry guns on them, which is
highly conventional of characters related to the police in thriller
films.

5. In the very first shot of the trailer we see Detective Mills, with 2 plasters protecting cuts
on his face. This creates initial character development of him being violent. Also, his
facial expression suggests he is annoyed about the fight, implying he lost and might be
an unreliable character; an archetype of the Crime genre.
Contrasting that image, his partner Somerset is dressed smartly in a trench coat and hat;
straight away making him look a more sophisticated character, purposely juxtaposing to
Mills; suggesting a good cop v bad cop scenario or rookie v expert, a conventional
character battle in crime films. A repeated prop in this trailer is a torch. In this particular
scene, it’s the sole light source in a dark room – another archetypal technique of this
genre of film trailer. To add to this, the camera quickly switches to an evidence bottle,
again a common prop of the Crime genre.
Mills is seen punching his car dashboard and subsequently
putting his head in his hands. This shows how he is finding
the case tough, again showing his unreliable character that
has a flaw of being short tempered and results to punching
stuff to relieve his stress.

6. CINEMATOGRAPHY
The ‘Se7en’ trailer showing the company logo is a convention of a
film trailer and is used in the 'Se7en' trailer, with New Line Cinema
being shown. Trailer often use intertitles to reference production
companies and also help to give more insight into the film’s plot.
Conventionally, titles are used in trailers to tell the story and can
add a more serious tone. Sometimes, they may be the only words in
the whole trailer.
3/4's through the 'Se7en' trailer a title that shows the seven deadly
sins comes on the screen, and the title repeats 3 times afterward.
This obviously relates to the films title and plot, a serial killer who's
victims posses traits of the seven deadly sins.
The creepy font reflects the genre of thriller. This makes
the audience feel uncomfortable, unhappy and has an evil
sense about it. The credits are flicky, which makes you
feel uneasy and also has an eerie feel to it.

7. David Fincher makes good use of close ups during the ‘Se7en’ trailer, a technique used to help put emphasis on the
emotions of the characters and intensifying the scene. These shots are used in key scenes such as Mill’s interrogation
of a suspect, an extreme close up of Somerset looking through evidence, and when both characters are investigating a
crime scene.
In the close up of Somerset, we see the reflection of newspapers in his glasses. Not only do the glasses connote
intelligence (or potentially old age) but the fact he is reading late into the night presumably about the case implies he is
dedicated to his job – which is one of the two ‘Inspector/Cop’ character stereotypes. His job is everything to him, he
has nothing else to do but try and solve the case; in contrast to Mills who has a wife, although she is unhappy at how
Mills' job has made them move to more deprived areas instead of nicer ones.
A wide shot is used to show a dead body lying on a chair later on in
the trailer, with no face to add the mysterious nature to the trailer.
The previous shot shows Somerset holding up photographic evidence
from this crime scene with the word ‘Gluttony’ written in blood, one
of the seven deadly sins. This helps give more details about the plot,
and how the killer chooses victims that reflect the seven deadly sins.

8. SOUND
The non-diegetic voice over sums up the juxtaposition between Somerset and Mills as characters. It states
that Somerset it trying to “get out of the game” while Mills is “looking for a way in”. This tells the audience
how on is at the end of the career, hence why Somerset is portrayed as more wise then Mills, but clearly
has more past troubles – whereas Mills is more of a hothead rookie, who doesn’t have any problems… yet.
The voice over also states that they are “caught in a game”, suggesting that killer John Doe is always one
step ahead of Detective’s Somerset and Mills. This is another proposal that the narrative is complex, an
archetype of Crime films.
The diegetic dialogue then plays a part in the character development of Somerset and Mills as Mills asks,
“Do you like your job, the things you see?” This implies that the films narrative will be gruesome because
of the “things he sees” but also that Mills may be regretting becoming a detective in the big city. Maybe he
is not as confident as suggested at the start of the trailer. Incidentally, Somerset replies with “you have to
wear a blindfold sometimes.” Again this reinforces the idea of the film being gruesome at times, which will
please and excite a lot of the audience. The dialogue again implies that the characters don’t like the place
they live in. Mills’ wife asks Somerset “So how long have you lived here?” to which he replies “Too long”,
in a depressed tone. This is why he was going to retire before this new case, which implies that the
narrative will be intriguing for the audience, as it has persuaded him to stay on longer at the job he hates.
There are multiple onomatopoeic sound transitions between shots, in order to make the audience jump
and to scare them; generally making the trailer more exciting.

9. EDITING
There is a repetition of one particular shot; a ticking timer. It
is shown at an earlier point of the trailer and then reappears
later, implying that time is running out for the Detectives to
solve the case.
A tracking shot edited with an over the shoulder shot shows Mills
walking through a crime scene, the first actual key convention of
a crime film. The nature of this shot also proposes that this is a
fairly graphic film.
Once the scene of a dead body is shown the editing immediately speeds up, with 4 clips revealed within 2
seconds, as an eve faster montage. The pace of the editing increasing builds up more of an intense
atmosphere, and is a very typical trait of Thriller trailers, as well as Crime films. Along with this, every
scene with Mills is edited at a faster pace, either when he is at home or at work. This implies he is short
tempered and is under pressure from his job; which is his flaw.