Se7en - Opening scene Analysis

Seven is a Thriller, detective movie starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freemen. They're both detectives who's hook is to find out who the Serial killer is. You can tell they are both detectives by the way there’re dresses. They are both wearing suits and a long drench coat, like Sherlock Homes, which is the dress code for most detectives in movies. There is a scene where Mills is outside holding two cups of coffee waiting for Somerset in the rain; this also tells us they’re both detectives because coffee is associated with the stereo typical American cop/detective.

The opening scene shows Somerset in his apartment getting ready to go to work. You can tell that Somerset a lonely man as he lives on his own as there is no family or wife. You can tell that he lives in a big city as you can hear car horns and police siren going off in the background as he is getting ready for work.

Somerset is caring person who worries about humanity. You can tell that he cares by the way he asks one of the cops at the beginning "Did the kid see?" the cop’s laughs and responds “What kind of question is that? No one cares” This tells us that Somerset is one of the very few detectives that care. This scene is very dark and dual because there has been a death

When the scene changed to outside, it is raining because the city is socked in sin as there’s a lot of murder and crime. There are always police sirens going off in the backgrounds which tell us there is a lot of crime in the city. Somerset has been in the detective business for a many years and is retiring soon. You can tell that Somerset has been a detective for many years as he is used to the way things are. When he and Mills are walking down the street, Somerset is very natural the way things are whereas Mills isn’t. You can tell that Mills is new to the city because when he is walking down the street he is bumping into things and other people walking past him in the street, he isn’t used to the surrounding or how the city work whereas is.

Somerset is reading before bed which shows that he is well educated and intelligent. You can hear police sirens still which tell us that crime is still going on in the ‘city of sin’ late at night. Somerset has to sleep with the sound of a ticking noise in the background because the city is very load outside, you can hear people shouting, dogs barking and car horns. 

Opening Credits

The opening credits are a montage of different short clips put together of someone doing different things.  You’re unaware of who the person is as the shots are close up and you cannot see the person face. This creates tension for the audience and they want to know who it is.  The information that is given in the opening credits could be associated with the serial killer

 There is a clip of someone cutting hard sink off their figures with a razor. This gives the impression that the person is the serial killer as he is cutting the skin off to get rid of his fingerprint so that he doesn't give any evidence that he is responsible for the murders he committed. It tell us that the person doing it a very strange person as cutting skin off with a blade is not a normal this to do.  

There are clips of someone writing notes. This shows that the person is very intelligent and cleaver, this could be the serial killer keeping a log of all the murders he has committed which is a smart thing to do.

There is a clip where the person crosses out a person’s face, this tell us that the person is a violent person. 

There is a clip where the person cuts out the word ‘God’ from a dollar, this tell us that the person doesn't believe in god therefore he knows that he isn't going to go to hell for committing murders because he doesn't believe there is a god that will send him to hell.

 The colours used in the opening credits are very dark and black. Black is associated with death, evil and mystery which tell you that the film will be very dark and mysterious and tells us that the person in the clips could also be the serial killer. There are also flashed of red. Red is associated with blood and danger which tells us that there is a lot of danger and murders in the film. 

The music in the opening credits is called “Take me closer to god”. This tells us that there is going to death in the film.