Media Assignment: Se7en

Media Assignment: Se7en

Connor Cushingham

 

Opening Scene

The movie opens with a black screen; the only noise is the non-diegetic noises of an urban city. The shot then goes to the main character; Summerset, who seems to be getting ready for work. The loud noises of the urban environment continue throughout the scene as Morgan Freeman’s character; Detective Summerset is getting ready, this reflects Summerset’s grudge against the city and potentially the world, as his character has come to a point where he cannot understand humanity anymore.

 

The next shot is a mid-shot angle of Summerset’s tie, he adjusts it and then the camera tilts upwards to his face in the mirror, giving the audience a good image of what he looks like. There is then a wide shot of several personal belongings laid out neatly on a desk in front of Summerset. This connotes the idea that Summerset is very organised, which is reinforced as he delicately removes each item one by one with a steady touch, placing them into his pockets as he gets ready for work. This tells the audience that Summerset is a very professional character, as he has been seen adjusting his tie for a very official job and he is quite organised. The urban diegetic sounds echo throughout the scene, which emphasise Summerset’s quiet professional and delicate nature in what seems to be a loud and rough environment. The scene then suddenly cuts to a very dark shot of a dead body with a puddle of blood surrounding him. This scene displays a contrast between the dark, dangerous urban city and Summerset’s delicate, refined demeanour. The scene is dominantly shrouded in darkness, with light sources being very limited and not illuminating all that much. This leaves Summerset often plummeted into darkness, which may connote to the idea that Summerset is always shrouded in darkness due to the horrors he has been forced to witness and his eventual distaste for the current state of the world, potentially influencing his current delicate and almost lifeless demeanour. In the scene we can see some “Mise En Scene” through Summerset, who is donned in a long beige coloured coat and an iconic trilby hat, both of which are signature clothing items of a detective. This choice of costume evidently connotes to the audience that Summerset is a detective without telling them directly, which is supported by the crime scene implied through the dead body. Summerset evidently seems to have distaste for current society, baffled by how people can mercilessly harm one another as if it’s the norm. This is supported by his first line in the scene. “Yeah, look at all that passion on that wall” which he says in response to a co-worker remarking that the murder was a “crime of passion”. Summerset says this sarcastically which connotes his disagreement with his co-worker, expressing that he cannot understand how a person could do this and that it cannot be explained or justified by being labelled a “crime of passion”.

 

There is a mid-shot of Summerset examining the fridge; however this seems to be away from the actual corpse in question, instead Summerset is focusing on pictures drew by a child, as well as fridge magnets which connote to child playthings. Summerset then asks if the child had seen the murder, connoting Summerset’s worry that a child’s innocence would have been shattered if he were to have seen this kind of murder. This also connotes Summerset’s faith in humanity, it seems to have been effectively diminished over his years as a detective, and however despite this he harbours compassion for the youth of the world, as they have not yet been tainted by the social norms. Throughout the scene there is absolutely no diegetic sounds, no music or anything, instead it all seems to be diegetic to connote the idea of realism and severity of a crime scene, the only sounds heard being dialogue and the generic background noise of an urban environment. Throughout Summerset’s mild conversation with his co-worker involving the child potentially viewing the murder Summerset seems shrouded in darkness while his co-worker is slightly illuminated due to being close to the only light source in the shot. This connotes the idea that Summerset is very misunderstood and exiled from his co-workers, having very compassionate ideals however nobody seems to agree with him or support them, which is reflected by his co-worker’s judgemental barks at Summerset after he inquires about the child.

 

The next shot is of Brad Pitt’s character, Detective Mills, who has just been introduced. The shot is a mid-shot to display to the audience Mills’ appearance, which seems to be a little less traditional to the detective theme and more modern, lacking a trademark hat or coat. This connotes the contrast between Mills and Summerset which is built up throughout the movie. This is also reinforced as Mills introduces himself to Summerset throughout the next scene, already talking more than Summerset has throughout the entire movie up until this point. Afterwards Summerset cuts Mills off mid-sentence to propose that they go to a bar to discuss the case that they have both been assigned to. This connotes that Summerset is quite old fashioned, also evident by his traditional detective attire. It may also connote the idea that he is quite secluded, enjoying a quiet and traditional environment to ponder his options. Summerset is then cut off during his sentence too, by Mills, who proposes that they both go back to their department, which seems quite official. This connotes that Mills wants to prove himself to Summerset, as he is evidently quite a young and new detective who feels a need to justify himself in his work, wanting to go by the job in a very generically official way by staying in the workplace to do work. The entire scene is from a low angle, looking up at Mills and Summerset, this is to give them the appearance of being important, making them look taller and more of the centre of attention.

 

Soon afterwards Mills constantly chats to Summerset, who evidently doesn’t seem thrilled with the conversation, to which he responds with “I want you to look, and I want you to listen”. This connotes that Summerset is a very practical person and enjoys a lot of silence, he tells Mills to look and listen rather than talk, as Summerset has had enough with listening. When Summerset tells Mills to look he could be talking about the city around him, which Summerset has grown tired of in his years.

 

At Summerset’s house we see him in bed, again there are absolutely no non-diegetic sounds and the only sounds provided are diegetic, coming from the city around him just like at the start, still audible despite being inside. Summerset’s expression seems to squirm as he attempts to sleep, and he turns to the window which appears to be the source of the urban noise. This connotes that Summerset is disturbed by the sounds of the environment around him, supporting the idea that he despises the state of the world around him. Afterwards there is a shot of a metronome at Summerset’s bedside, which he pushes to start a steady beat from the Metronome. The camera focuses on the metronome as the beats slowly start to add emphasis and drown out the urban city noise. This is when Summerset can eventually get to sleep and the scene cuts to the opening credits after a slow zoom on the metronome to emphasise that it seems to have saved Summerset from the dreadful city chaos.

 

Opening Credits

Throughout the entirety of the opening credits there are no long shots of the setting, because of this there is quite a lot of focus on Mise En Scene, which leaves the scene surrounding in mystery and only up to the assumption of the viewer. The scene majoritively relies on props and close ups of paperwork, pictures and the works of hands. Many of the props would be expected to be seen at a person’s house or perhaps in an office since everything seems quite homemade and organised; however the setting is still completely put in mystery and only connotes assumptions to the audience. The close ups of the objects connote intensity and suspense as the audience have no idea who is acting upon the props and so are kept wondering. Many of the props connote to detective works or investigations, reflecting the genre of the movie, it is also evident that throughout the credits a person in question seems to be organising some sort of file. Throughout the credits the scenes are reasonably dark, this connotes danger and that the film will be shrouded in a very serious tone. All of the shots are of indoor locations and there is very little lighting, which sets a dull and suspicious atmosphere.

 

There are a lot of cuts throughout the opening credits, almost displayed in a sort of slideshow, because of this there is not a lot of camera movement when the camera focuses on one scene at a time. The camera is mostly still and there is no panning or any other kind of movement since each shot is over just as fast as it has begun so in the minimal time it is on screen it does well to focus on whatever it is focusing on. The credits themselves are written in a font that strongly connotes to handwriting, this fits with the idea of somebody having hand drawn these credits as if they were in some sort of investigation file, which is evidently being crafted throughout the opening credits. Additionally the textual credits appear a bright white, contrasting greatly against the dark lighting in the shots behind it, making them stand out.

 

Many of the cuts in the opening credits vary; either being straight quick cuts of eerie fades which smoothly transition into another scene. These effects can either keep the viewer on edge as the cuts quickly switch between each other or make them feel uneasy as the scenes eerily bleed into one another, connoting the idea that they are happening back to back in real time.