Analysis of Se7en

Luke:

A thriller is a film designed to keep the viewer on edge with suspenseful and sensational action. I will be looking at how editing and mise en scene are used in the opening two minutes of “Se7en” to show us what we can learn about characters and their situation. Mise en scene is everything that we can see in a frame. This includes lighting, props, setting, make-up, body language, body movement and costume. These can all be used to give us impressions about characters and the situations that they are in. Camera work includes the type of shot, camera movement and positions. This can allow us to understand character and their relation to other characters in the frame.

The scene begins with a medium long shot of a character with his back against the camera. From the mise en scene visible in the shot it is clear that he is in a kitchen possibly early in the morning as when he turns to face the camera he starts to fasten his cuffs showing that he may be getting ready for work. In the third shot we are shown an overhead close up shot of a table, possible from the characters point of view. The items that the character is about to pick up suggest that he is a policeman as there is a gold badge, a knife and a pen, which he proceeds to store in his pockets.

The bedroom shot of the character shows the lower half of his body as he goes to pick up his jacket from his bed. His jacket is neatly laid out and as he bends to pick it up he takes a small piece of fluff off the jacket, showing the audience that he is a meticulous person and also very organized. This is also shown in the previous shot by the way he puts the objects in his pockets. The camera then pans to the right, following the character as he walks over to the bedside table and switches off the light, implying that he is leaving.

The next shot shows a high angle shot of a body. From the position of the body and the blood surrounding it, it is clear that this person is dead, and has possibly been murdered. The camera tilts up slightly to reveal more of the body however the identity of the person is still unclear. It then cuts to a long shot of the character previously shown at his home. Because of his coat and hat we automatically get the impression that he is a detective who has been called to the case. The character then walks towards the camera while observing the walls as if he is looking for clues, as he stops the shot is a mid close up to show the characters facial expression revealing his interest in something that is on the fridge. The camera is at a low angle and looking up at the detective which suggests that he is an important character, which is again shown when the camera tilts down and back up again to follow his movements. The lighting in the scene is very dark which gives the impression that something sinister is going on. In the background of the shot there is also blood on a window blind which is revealed as the other character in the shot moves forward. This again suggests that this is a murder scene.

In the next shot the character that was previously present in the background is revealed as before he was out of focus. This character also appears to be a detective because of his clothes and gun, although his is dressed more untidily which suggests that he is less involved and is very different in attitude to the other detective.

We are soon introduced to a third character as he comes up the stairs, he is shown at a medium shot and we are able to see that he is much different to the other two characters. The camera is again angled to look up at him possibly to suggest importance. His clothing is also smart and also slightly more casual showing that he might be “cool” and because of his age and inquiring look he might have only recently started working as a detective.

Throughout the two minutes all the scenes are dimly lit giving a sense of mystery and possibly building suspense, confusion is instantly put into the viewers mind as within the first two minutes they already have questions about the death of the character. Mise en scene shows us the differences between the detectives and gives us ideas as to how they might work.


Charlie:

In my independent research I will be researching and looking at the mise en scene, and sound used in the opening two minutes the in the thriller Se7en.

The opening shot starts as a block shot of the kitchen in the apartment of the main protagonist, his kitchen looks like it has never been used, everything looks clean, in the correct place and well presented. The mise en scene gives you a good impression of the characters personality. For example he has a chess board in the kitchen, this could give you viewer the impression of him being a precise and likes to solve puzzles. There are also some sculptures of what looks like African animals, such as Elephants which could show a side of culture from his African roots, not to mention his appreciation of art which also goes back to the initial precise view of his personality.

When it cuts to a close up of the mirror, which reflects him putting his clothes on you can tell from the mirror and how he much time he spends putting his tie on that he cares about his appearance. You get the idea that in his work place he makes sure that people think he is together and completely in control.

When he goes to pick up the stuff he carries with him when he goes to work you can see that he laid them out the night before, all parallel to each other, this all enforces his precise personality.

He has a single bed, made obviously when he first got out of bed because he had his coat laid perfectly on the bed. The single bed could show that he lives alone and that could give the impression that he is lonely. That could be the why he has everything so perfect.

In the second opening shot you get an instant contrast between this protagonists home life to his work life. The second opening shot opens, as at a light low angle to the dead body on the floor, the old thing you can really see as it opens is the dead body and the victim’s blood.

The house/apartment looks run down, with stained wallpaper. You get the impression that the place were this movie is set is not a nice place, it seems to be set in a run down city with a high crime rate, as the detectives don’t seem bothered by the murder that has taken place.

The other detective has his gun clearly on display, and doesn’t carry himself as well as Somerset, his body language and the way that his clothes look like he has thrown them on just before he left his home unlike Somerset who spent time and effort getting ready for his day at work.

Another detective that is younger enters. He is wearing a leather jacket and is somewhat scruffy unlike Somerset. He is also chewing gum which shows a kind of disrespect to the victim, and I don’t imagine Somerset chewing gum at a murder scene. The use of mise en scene gives the impression that this young detective is arrogant and maybe naïve.

The sound in movies and TV programmes are divided into two types, diegetic and nondiegetic sound. Diegetic sound is the sound that the characters can hear, different methods of mise en scene can be added to make out that the character can hear, for example a radio if a song is on or dogs if you can hear barking, but sometimes you have to just presume that the character can hear. Nondiegetic sound is the things that only the viewers can hear, such as voice over, theme tunes and most of the sound tracks that are played during films.

In Somersets apartment you can hear a lot of diegetic background noise, which is used to fade the clarity and tranquil environment of Somersets apartment. The noises include sirens, beeping of horns, loud voices. This gives us the viewer an idea of the type of city he lives. The way that Somerset acts even though there is so much noise is making hard to make out what the character is thinking, but I came to the conclusion that he either blocks it out because it doesn’t bother him or he has dealt with the noise for so long that it doesn’t bother him.

In the second sequence of shots at the murder scene consist of two detectives talking, while in the background you can hear police radios, and the same nauseating sound of the background traffic, horns and people as the first shots. A 3rd detective walks up the stairs. The stairs are squeaking, this could have been used to demonstrate the poor and ran down environment of the city that this movie in set in.

When it moves the Somerset and the young detective (Mills) walking outside into the raid the get the sound of it raining, it’s not that important as it would be normal to hear the rain when you can see it.

I think that the constant sound of traffic and other background noises are used in this film the add the effect of a hectic lifestyle, this has been used to give the viewer and idea of what its like to be living in Somersets world.


ARRAN:



A thriller film aims to entertain and intrigue its audience in many different ways. The thriller film “Se7en” does this, and uses many methods to ensure that the viewers are intrigued. The methods I will be looking at will be the use of sound and camera work that are used throughout the first 2 minutes of the thriller film. The use of sound will create the right type of atmosphere and mood for the scenes, and build up suspense it. There are many methods of sound use such as: diegetic which is sound characters are able to hear (background noise, phone ringing (, non-diegetic which is sound characters can’t hear (voice overs, narration), parallel sound which is music that fits in with the scene (children playing would have nice positive music) and contrapuntal where music doesn’t fit the scene often used when an antagonist is approaching (beach scene from ‘Jaws’). Camera work can help give us impressions of the character, so we can learn more about them as the film progresses. Camera work includes the type of shot, camera movement and positions. This helps the viewer see the relation between characters in the frame.

The scene begins with a medium long shot of the character however; his back is facing the camera. Immediately we hear background noise, which consists of cars beeping, the noise you would hear in traffic jams in major cities such as New York. This is an example of diegetic sound, sound that would normally be found in scene as if it were real life. We can clearly see that character is in his kitchen, he then turns around and walks around the camera to another room. In the frame objects such as chess board, and some wooden cats that could be from another country suggest he could have cultural origins. We get the idea that this character is wise because he plays chess, and we normally associate activities such as chess with humble thoughtful people. We still have not seen the characters face, and as he turns around it is still shadowed. As he walks closer to the camera the top of his body is out of frame due to the camera position. It then cuts to the second shot which is an over-the-shoulder shot of this character buttoning himself up and doing up his tie in the mirror. As he does up his tie the camera tilts up so we can see his face this is presented as a medium shot. This is the first time we see the characters face. The third shot begins as a point-of-view shot of a table underneath his mirror where 5 of his possessions are neatly placed. This tells the audience that this character likes to be smartly dresses and also likes to keep his belongings in place and tidy. We can make out that one of his possessions is a police badge, which we see, picked up; then as the camera cuts back to a medium shot of his torso, put into his shirt pocket. This suggests he is serving in the police service as someone of high authority due to the suit he’s just put on. Still while all this is happening we can hear the faint background noise of traffic and people working.

The camera then cuts to a low angle shot showing his jacket neatly laid out across his bed. This also enhances the fact that this character is tidy. The camera then pans along with the lower half of his body as he reaches to switch off his bedside light. Immediately the next shot cuts to a high angle shot of a body, which we can see might be dead because of all the blood around it. We then hear a man talking to someone off-screen, then the camera cuts to a medium shot of the character we saw getting dressed walking towards the camera slowly down a small hallway, he pauses and then stops to look at a drawing or picture on the wall. We get the idea that this character is a detective and he asks about the dead person kid, the camera then cut to a mid shot of another man, the man that was talking at the beginning of the scene. He replies with something along the line of “Why do you care?” This reveals something about the detective’s characteristics, as he is concerned about the dead persons family whereas the other man obviously doesn’t care. The shot is still on the other man maybe a detective as well but we are unsure, as he moves around we can see a bloody splatter on the wall behind him suggesting that this is quite a gruesome murder, raising awareness to the audience. We then learn as the man carries on talking that this is the main character, he is about to retire. The detective continues looking around for clues, the camera cuts to a mid close up so we can see the detectives facial expression, he hasn’t said much as of yet which reveals more about his personality, he keeps to himself and won’t say anything unless its of relevance. The other man walks into a room around the corner of the cameras position, then another character enters the scene he comes up the stairs looks side to side, and catches the detectives attention and greets him he says “Detective Somerset… I’m Detective Mills.” We have learnt that these two men are detective and their names. As detective mills comes up the stairs and greets detective Somerset, a shot-reverse-shot takes place so we can see Somerset’s’ reaction, he looks up slowly. We can learn a few characteristics of detective mills as well in this scene. He is chewing gum, which suggests he’s cocky; he seems confident by the way he walked up the stairs and looked for Somerset. We also get the idea that he is important character because the camera tilted up to amid shot of his body as he came up the stairs.

The next shot is at slight low angle of an open door, moments later the two detectives walk out together talking, we can see from their facial expressions and gestures what kind of character they are. Mills seems to be moving around and making hand gestures, however, Somerset is still and keeps his and to himself. We can also hear police sirens in the background to ensure that the viewer knows that this is a crime. We can also hear the sound of the rain, this is another example of diegetic sound, the weather is gloomy to add effect to the scene, and it makes the film seem more sinister.

Throughout the two minutes of Se7en, enigma codes have been raised, such as why is this man dead. This has been created by the camera work. Dim lighting is used to fulfil the genre (crime scene). We get an understanding of the two main characters personalities and the environments that surround them. Sound has been used to create reality, in case the main sounds have been background noises. Suspense, confusion and awareness have been raised throughout these two minutes, which is what a thriller film wants.