This title sequence for the film Se7en effectively establishes the dark and disturbing tone of the plot through various visual and textual elements. It follows the hands of the antagonist John Doe as he flickers through his notebook, conveying his obsession with detail. The handwriting stands out as unsettling. Images of decaying bodies are flashed to suggest the character's desires for murder and mayhem. The typography uses a handwritten, etched style to appear as if written by the killer himself. Imagery of gory and surgical body parts are briefly flashed to give insight into the killer's mind and show he studies and documents his victims, implying his murders are purposeful. Shots focus closely on the hands to keep the killer

1. Textual Analysis
Se7en
A filmaboutcrime,mysteryandthe sevensins,Se7en’stitlesequence followsthe handsof the film’s
antagonistJohnDoe,flickingthroughhisnotebook.Hishandwritingsticksoutmostinparticular,
conveyingasense of unsettlement
and obsessionfordetail aswellas
the graphic images of decaying
people,suggestingthe character’s
desire formurderandmayhem.
Overall,thistitle sequence helps
the audience graspthe mind-set
of the antagonist andthe chaos he
will bringtothe plot.
Typography
The typographyof thistitle sequence appearsetched,handwritten.The effectof thisisthat the
titlesare made to lookas if theywere
writtenbythe serial killerhimself inthe
mostbelievable way.Furthermore,
makingthe titleshandwrittengivesita
‘human’feel thatdigital effectsmightso
poorlytry to achieve.Inaddition,the
chalklike fontevokesasense of roughnessandunsettlement,thusmatchingtothe overall dark,
disturbingtone of the plot.
Use of Imagery
As we can guessfromthisimage alone,the
title sequencesystematicallyflashesglimpses
of bodies,varyingfromgoryto surgical.
Throughthisimages,plusthe oddonesthat
are tooquickfor the eye to notice,helpin
developingthe audience’sunderstandingof
whothisantagonistis mentally.Here the
audience cansee inside hismind, the wayhe
functions.Noticeable, the killerseemstostudy
and documenthisvictims.Thisimpliesthat
that the killer’smurdersare purposeful;give
meaningortry to expressapoint.Effectively,
thisgeneratesquite acomplex minded
character whose insane actions,he believes,
are justifiable.
Titles
In Se7en,the sequence startsoutwithinformingthe audience thatthe filmisby‘DavidFincher’and
is‘an ArnoldKopelsonproduction’.Next,the names‘BradPitt’and‘Morgan Freeman’appear,the

2. twomain charactersthat appearedonscreenbeforehand.Furthermore,the factthatBrad’s name
appearsbefore Morgan’sandthat Morgan hadmore screentime before the titlesequence suggest
that these are twoveryfamousactors. The title ‘Se7en’thenappears,suggestinganyotheractor’s
namesthat appearafterwards,suchas
‘GwynethPaltrow’,are notasimportant in
the film. Mostin particularthose namesthat
appearin setsof threes,otherwisethey
wouldhave theirownslide toconveytheir
importance. Secondly,notice thatthe actor’s
name of he whoplaysthe killersname isnot
shown.Forexample,theycouldhave chosentoplace ‘asJohnDoe’underneathanactor’sname in
orderfor the audience toclearlyidentifyhimonscreen.Thissuccessfullykeepshisidentitysecret,
thusnot running the filmbefore ithasevenbegunaswell asstrengtheningthe genre of mystery.
Shots
Since thissequence followsthe handsof the antagonist,the majorityof the shotsare close upsof his
hands.Thiseffectivelykeepsthe killersidentifysecretforthe audience.Aswellasthis,the audience
witnessthe disturbingactsthatthese
handsparticipate in.Forexample,
here we see the killerusingarazorto
slice off the deadskinfromhis
fingers. Thiscreepy randomact
effectivelybringsthe audience closer
to understandingthisman’s
mentallty.Ishe sane?Whydoeshe
do this?