Product Research

In a resent lesson we looked at the opening title sequence of a film called Se7en. This is a 1995 American thriller. It features Bratt Pitt and Morgan Freeman, two very know actors, who play two detectives that are trying to catch a serial killer who plans murders due to the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride, Lust and Envy.

Here is its opening title sequence:

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/

In class we noticed what was very clear and distinctive in this opening sequence:

• There was edgy noises (non-diagetic sound), this created a scary atmosphere.
• There was an obvious character who seemed to be crazy.
• A great deal of quick shots were used in the sequence which showed small cluess to the character and also the plot.
• The titles shown were in an odd type of font, almost as if someone had written them - shows the way the character has an odd way of doing things and shows the unbalace of his mental state.
• Nearly all the camera shots are extreme close ups - this is done so that nothing is given away in great detail and we, the viewers, only see a small detail of what the characters life consists of but it is still enough for us to have a good idea of him.

From this I can see that a use of clever camera work can easily create questions, with the close-ups of things creating questions about who is the character? What are they planning? What is there significance?
- From this I hope to use some clever close up shots within my main task to create questions about who the character is and what is going on in their life, but not in a scary/creepy way which is shown in 'Se7en'

As usual I would love to hear what other people thought of this opening sequence and peoples opiniouns on it, so watch the clip then tell me what you though!