The opening sequence to “Se7en” clearly reveals that this film is a horror. The extreme close-ups, chiaroscuro lighting and disturbing images make this film aimed towards adult males as it’s not really suitable for the younger viewers.
The opening sequence to any film needs to establish the genre, tone, character type and also should offer other information about the film. The opening sequence to “Se7en” is very dark. We don’t really see much of the surroundings or the person as everything is in close-up but we do see a characters hand as he is working on a table. The mise on scene is very crowded at this point as there are loads of files and paperwork often containing disturbing images and also objects like razor blades. The credits are thin and scratchy and contrast to the black background they are shown on and flash and move quite quickly. When these two elements are used together the tone and genre of the film becomes very clear.
The use of close-ups throughout the opening sequence emphasise important objects and what the character is doing. Due to the close-ups throughout the sequence it makes it very difficult to understand what’s going on, this gets the audience to get involved and try to work out what may be happening. Almost as if the audience have to play the role of a detective. This links to Roland Barthes’ hermeneutic code, the elements of the story that are not explained so become a mystery to the audience.
The non diagetic sounds are very eerie. It is a collection of noises which played along side the images and actions shown make the opening sequence very tense and scary. There are short stabs of sound when significant objects are shown, for example the razorblade. The sound gets faster towards the end of the sequence which can be linked to Roland Barthes proairectic code and this may indicate to the audience something else is going to happen.
The chiaroscuro lighting put all the important objects that the viewer is meant to see in light and the surroundings in darkness. The setting is very dark and we don’t quite where it is as there are no indications because the close-ups prevent us seeing around the room. This makes the audience wonder why he is working in the dark and raises questions like, why is he there and has he done something wrong? The disturbing images make the viewer fell uneasy and uncomfortable as they are shown in a very strange way. The man is slicing skin from the end of his fingers with a razor blade. This also links to the proairetic code because it makes the audience wonder what he might be about to do. The close up shot of a male, it seems, with a large amount of blood beside him, is very effective. It prompts different questions into our mind, especially, what happened to the male? Why did they do this to him? Have the detectives noticed yet?
There are a lot of cuts during the sequence which make very short takes and flashing images. This makes it very intense to the viewer as some of the images are strange and hard to make out so they have to pay a lot of attention. The sequence is full of short takes which make it very intense for the viewer.
The opening credits quickly inform the viewer of the main actors, director and the name of the film. All of which are important factors that need to be put into the opening credits.
