SE7EN Opening Credits

SE7EN Opening Credits- Timeline

Timeline

As you can see in the timeline above, before any identification of the film is made there are five credits shown. These include the studio, the makers of the film and the two main actors in the movie. These two actors were the most well known in the film so it is assumed that they were paid more, this will explain why their names were credited before the main films title appeared.

After the title has been given (SE7EN) there are twenty more credits that are shown, these start at the names of the featuring actors in the film, then it moves onto the other, behind the scenes parts e.g. the costume designer, the production designer, the producers and so on. The final credits included the writer, producer and then the director in that order. This order of credits follows the basic order of credits where as if they were at the end of the film they would be in reverse order.

Typography
The typography for the scene was done by scratching words into a black board and then placing the board onto a light box so that the light shined through the words. This was then scanned in and edited into the scene. The typography it makes is reflective for the genre as it looks scratchy and uneven, the script never in a straight line, giving it an unstable feel. This although noticeable doesn’t draw too much attention away from the images and short clips shown between all the credits making the scene flow freely. Capital letters are used in a similar but different font as titles for different people, for example one credit will say; DIRECTED BY David Fincher.

Genre and Mise-en-scene
The genre of this film (psychological horror) is shown throughout the film opening with blatant obviousness using the music and the images shown to create an unstable narrative. This generates a feel of unease for the audience as they watch the film with an obvious knowledge. The use of images with the eyes crossed out to represent the killer’s victims is commonly seen in horror film but the actual images of him using a black marker to completely black out the headshot of a man as the screen flickers causes the whole scene to give out a creepy atmosphere.

There are also shots of the opening where you see the man peeling his own fingertips. This was done using a razor that he was holding, he did this so that none of his DNA would be traceable further supporting the ideas of a horror film as the audience wonder why he would want to remove them. This helped the scene to exude the unstableness that the music and the darkness create.

Books and text are also seen a lot through the whole scene, handwritten and typed. There is an idea that the person (killer) in the scene is writing his own bible through the scene as the seven deadly sins are hinted at throughout. You can see the man blacking out words in the text such as ‘Transsexual’ on the typed text. This, as well as references to the bible give the idea that he is doing this for religious reasons.

As the scene continues you see the man cutting out images and cells and taping them into his own book, you also see a close up of a needle that is used to sew two parts of the book he is creating together. This generates a menacing image as you are unsure as to what he would do with the needle considering he just used a razor to remove his fingertips. This image supports the idea of the unstable ness of the scene making the man seem more dangerous.

At the end of the credits you see the man start to cut out the word ‘God’ this confirms any ideas that the killer will have some sort of religious based motive, it may also have the impression that this is an obsession which would conform into the conventions of horror films.

With the scene being so unpredictable with the footage shown being static and unstable it finalises any ideas of the film being a psychological horror film.

Sound

0:00- 0:49

Music starts with a loud thunder like noise before quietening to a steady synthetic rhythmic noises over the top that are synthesised; these include robotic like sounds and a repeated static like screech that is familiar to the sound of a record going wrong way. This makes the viewer uncomfortable as the sounds are not easily heard and are quite sharp and unpredictable creating a tense atmosphere.

0:50-1:13

Warped high notes and wind like sounds have been added to the slightly louder tempo, the rhythm slightly faster, this is keeping an eerie feel to the sequence.

1:14- 1:34

The music is all still synthesised but there are more layers to the sound, the music is slightly faster building the tension slowly and subtly with the images shown on screen. There have been a few high notes like chimes added.

1:35- 2:00

Rising and falling sounds like an accelerating motor have been added, helps to build the suspense even more as another dimension to the music has been added, re introducing the squeaky record sounds and keeping the eerie atmosphere.

2:00- 2:09

The music breaks as the single line ‘You get me closer to God’ is sung in a deep but slightly spiteful voice. The clip ends with a loud thunder like noise that it starts with. The sound slowing off as the last credit is shown.

Throughout the title sequence there is only one line of dialogue and no diegetic sound is heard, only the heavily synthesised score.