Research Task - Se7en, Title Analysis 1/3 by Maria Beardall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k2gsEI34CE

When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.

1.The name of the film (the film title):  How does it suggest the Thriller genre, connect with the audience, create interest or anticipation for the target audience?

The name of the film, 'Seven', creates a lot of mystery and interest as the audience don't understand exactly what the seven means. It's also seen in the titles as spelt out as 'Se7en', and due to the '7' replacing the 'v' it looks like a code or complicated and meaningful word as it mixes letters and numbers, which links to the thriller genre as it seems enigma is created as it seems there is much more going on then first presumed. This creates anticipation to what the title could potentially mean and what its significance is. I believe the target audience would be 18-30 year olds as it's thrilling yet seems to require general education and also interest into a more knowledgable and fast paced film, which has possible jump scares.

2. Consider how the film title design might further communicate meaning to the audience about genre, meaning or story. (Colour, font, animation, size, background etc).

The film title design is rather complex, it appears about three times in the titles yet is biggest and most 'in the viewers face' the first time, and has a font that looks scratched on, and it moves around very quickly and abruptly - making the title seem erratic and unpredictable. It also, whilst jumping around in short and fast bursts, changes size so it fills almost the whole screen, then goes back to being much smaller once again. The animation of the actual title causes it to connote thoughts of crime and illegal ideas as the font looks rough and destructive. It suggests that there will be weaponry as when thinking of scratched out words, the audience will also then think of knives; giving an ultimate sense of danger and being on edge.

The titles are super imposed onto moving image at the back, all which is dark and grim and seems unpleasant. It has mostly close ups and is of actions such as turning pages of books, cutting out letters, using needles and scraping dirt off of extremely unclean and unkempt hands. Near the end it can be guessed that someone is cutting up words for a possible letter - and it can be presumed by a viewer that it may be a ransom note of some sort that is being made, and is being issued with in the way that could scream 'criminal' as much as it could.

3. What institutional info is included?

The institutional information included is the film company first, called 'New Line Cinema', and then names who the production is by, followed by the actors names, who sandwich the main title, and furthers with more actors and actresses names, to then proceed with naming other members who helped the film eg. casting organisers and the music team. It then shows who the film was produced by and cuts to the beginning of the film, cued by the word 'Monday', in the same font and style as the words which were titled.

All of the font, which I found very difficult to screen capture as it moves so fast, seems to hover on its spot, jolt around to different sides and embolden itself momentarily and change size momentarily also. This creates a continuousy throughout the whole of the opening titles and also sets a tone for the audience - unpredictable, unsettling and volatile. It also create a sense of danger as the writing and moving image work hand in hand to emphasise each other and the unsafe 'conditions' this film is set in.

4. Is additional story info included - eg date or location of story? If so, why?

To show the audience that the film is actually beginning and seperate it from the titles, there is a cut to a shot of street, which seems to have a filter over it to make it look bleak and almost quite run down, and the writing super imposed on the front says 'Monday'. This is to show that there is a need for detail - yet not too much detailing that requires precise dates, just quite simple yet obvious to show that the company are signalling that this is a film about a detective and even though the dates won't be remembered by the audience once wrapped up in the action and drama, that they give a connotation of importance and suggest the film is very structured, which creates assumptions for the audience along those lines.

5. Are actors included? How are they introduced in the title sequence?

The actors are mentioned in the titles, and their names sandwich the title 'Se7en'. I believe this is to create tension and shock the audience when they finally see the title and it seems unstable and changes size, almost to shock the viewer and give them a small sense of false security, yet also to keep their interest as big names such as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are in this film.

Their names stand out as they are either against a black background at the beginning to show importance and a very powerful sense of dramatised title sequencing, and to also really grab the audiences attention to adjust to the hard to grasp style of titles (as it continues to jump and can seem unsettling but also a little difficult to focus on at times). Later the names are super imposed to moving image as the audiences are warming up for the start of the film, yet the same principle of the font emboldening and changing size to confuse and unnerve the audience continues.

6. For the sequence as a whole - consider the relationship between title and credit information and the background for that frame (onto black, a still image or moving image of the actual film). Suggest reasons for it being effective as part of the Thriller opening.

The whole sequence is completely effective as the relationship between the titles and credits work amazingly well with the moving image of the film, it 'warms the audience up' for what they are about to watch. They both correlate in the sense that they give the same impression and work together to achieve the same purpose - to cause this sense of enigma and also how the title sequence will mimic the film, therefore the audience can get a sense of the erratic values the film holds and how unsettling and unnerving it is - the company wants the audience's skin to crawl as they realise what they are about to watch and how dangerous the film's plot is - they should feel vulnerable.

7. Is the sound diegetic or non diegetic - how is the title and credit sequence edited to the music? Are sound bridges used?

The sound is non diegetic soundtrack to force an intensity of the film on the audience, it may be slow paced with the drum cymbal yet again adds to the unnerving atmosphere with the unexpected screeches and the rough electric guitar. The music connotes that something extremely important and also illegal and very bad is happening as the titles and rolling, drawing the focus of the audience as there is a lot going on to keep attentive for. The words themselves and the moving image work together with the soundtrack to create an (to the audience) unpredictable yet extremely composed title sequence. It seems slow and irregular - two factors that create a disturbing mix to connote that what is happening isn't good.

The sequence begins with a literal bang to shock and make the audience pay attention right from the start, and the music seems to become crescendo  when the moving image become more important or gruesome that it needs to be seen to convey the thoughts wanted to introduce the film.

8. Study carefully the relationship between moving image segments of the film (the start of the plot) and the introduction of titles. What is the order in which they are introduced? Why do you think this is?

I believe they are deliberately in the certain order they are in to infer some factors and points to the viewers, the film company introduces the film to show that it is of the upmost professionalism and is from a rather large film company - therefore the audience knows that the film is made to the highest standard it is. It ensures a safety net of good quality and can boast large production factors included.

The titles start in black and cut in time with the music (parallel) to make it much more effectively seen as it is more dramatic. It then cuts to and from other actions such as scraping skin off of an unknown person's fingers to create mystery and tension, and as that happens the scratchy, impulsive writing appears. It carries on this theme of cutting, to appear more brash, from one action to another, and also to black to make the title sequence seem the most intense it can.

I think the title sequence is intense and gives the impression of being erratic to really instal the sense of what is to come in the film through the title sequence, throughout the film the ideas created within those few minutes is what will shape and change how they see things furthermore - that's why so much effort is spent to create such an effective piece. It is deliberately supposed to impact the audience in a massive way to achieve feelings of being uncomfortable and know right from the start that something isn't right - it's not supposed to be hidden and feeds the audience what they want them to feel, with them guessing how bad the crime is.

I highly enjoyed this opening, it works very well. It may not be the type of opening we are looking for but I think elements we can focus on and try to achieve just as well in our opening is attention to detail and making everything link.