Thursday, 12 February 2009
Filming Location
Pitching the Location
In order to make sure we know where out setting and location will be, we decided to go up to the woods that we plan on filming in to take some shots that will be included in the film sequence. This makes sure that when we go up on the day, we will know where to set up our shots. It also gives us ideas to work though and show where we are so far in ideas for pitching out movie. Unfortunately due to the weather, we only have shots of the settings in the snow.
Consideration
We plan on filming our movie in the woods near where we live. This will provide us with easy access, and a powerful convention used in horror and thriller movie. The woods are perfect for our move, due to the gnarled aged trees and giant landscape. There is also the isolation of it. The woods near some open fields. We will need to consider the weather when filming in this location. Due to the muddy ground, we cannot film on a wet or rainy day as this will make filming and acting extremely difficult.
The entering the woods scene
We will need to find an opening in the woods, with a tree outside giving us cover to film the teens as they venture into the woods. There will also be a juxtaposition of the open field and the cramped woods.
The camping scene
We will need to find a small open clearance in the trees when in the woods to film and build the camping scenes. The opening must be big enough to fit a tent but small enough for trees to hang over and surround it. We must also make sure there is safe ground to build on, such as a hard surface, no hills.
(Pictures to still be uploaded)
Gnarled Tree-
We are using a picture of a gnarled tree which is a typical semiotic for bad things. This tree will set the genre of the movie when it is seen in the shot while the camera shows multiple shots of the teenagers walking up the path.
Camping location-
This will be the area that we will have the tent and camp set up. It is close to a path for easy access, and it is also flat enough for room for setting up a camp. It is also near a few trees that will be perfect for framing the camp sight in for one of our ideas.
Another shot of the camping location used to show the trees in the background.
Opening in trees/Enterance-
This is another easier to see shot of the enterance.
Here is a picture from behind a bush. This shot may be used unless we find a better way of hiding the camera from the teens as they enter the woods.
Framing of trees-
Here is a shot we will use from behind a tree watching the teens as they have entered the woods. The camera will pand as they walk from one enf othe tree, through so the camera cant see them, to the other end of the tree, back into view. This will give the idea of the teens being watched, and the audience being of an advantage to the teens.
This is a shot of the other side of the panning from behind a tree, after the teens have passed.
This is another of the multiple shots from behind a tree while the camera follows the teens up the path to their camp.
This is a shot we will use the style of for shoting the teens in the camp. It will symbolise how the teens will be trapped in the middle of the action.
Here is another shot showing trees either side of the camera composition. This shot could be used at the end when the teens realised they have been followed.
Here are some shots of the location we will be filming at. These will not be used, but give us an idea of the area we will be working in.
In order to make sure we know where out setting and location will be, we decided to go up to the woods that we plan on filming in to take some shots that will be included in the film sequence. This makes sure that when we go up on the day, we will know where to set up our shots. It also gives us ideas to work though and show where we are so far in ideas for pitching out movie. Unfortunately due to the weather, we only have shots of the settings in the snow.
Consideration
We plan on filming our movie in the woods near where we live. This will provide us with easy access, and a powerful convention used in horror and thriller movie. The woods are perfect for our move, due to the gnarled aged trees and giant landscape. There is also the isolation of it. The woods near some open fields. We will need to consider the weather when filming in this location. Due to the muddy ground, we cannot film on a wet or rainy day as this will make filming and acting extremely difficult.
The entering the woods scene
We will need to find an opening in the woods, with a tree outside giving us cover to film the teens as they venture into the woods. There will also be a juxtaposition of the open field and the cramped woods.
The camping scene
We will need to find a small open clearance in the trees when in the woods to film and build the camping scenes. The opening must be big enough to fit a tent but small enough for trees to hang over and surround it. We must also make sure there is safe ground to build on, such as a hard surface, no hills.
(Pictures to still be uploaded)
Gnarled Tree-
We are using a picture of a gnarled tree which is a typical semiotic for bad things. This tree will set the genre of the movie when it is seen in the shot while the camera shows multiple shots of the teenagers walking up the path.
Camping location-
This will be the area that we will have the tent and camp set up. It is close to a path for easy access, and it is also flat enough for room for setting up a camp. It is also near a few trees that will be perfect for framing the camp sight in for one of our ideas.
Another shot of the camping location used to show the trees in the background.
Opening in trees/Enterance-
Here is a shot that we probably will not use due to the obviousness of the camera shooting location of the entarence to the woods.
This is another easier to see shot of the enterance.
Here is a picture from behind a bush. This shot may be used unless we find a better way of hiding the camera from the teens as they enter the woods.
Framing of trees-
Here is a shot we will use from behind a tree watching the teens as they have entered the woods. The camera will pand as they walk from one enf othe tree, through so the camera cant see them, to the other end of the tree, back into view. This will give the idea of the teens being watched, and the audience being of an advantage to the teens.
This is a shot of the other side of the panning from behind a tree, after the teens have passed.
This is another of the multiple shots from behind a tree while the camera follows the teens up the path to their camp.
This is a shot we will use the style of for shoting the teens in the camp. It will symbolise how the teens will be trapped in the middle of the action.
Here is another shot showing trees either side of the camera composition. This shot could be used at the end when the teens realised they have been followed.
Here are some shots of the location we will be filming at. These will not be used, but give us an idea of the area we will be working in.
28 Days Later opening + location analysis
Title: 28 Days Later
Year it was made: 2002
Director: Danny Boyle
28 days later is a Zombie Thriller/Horror. It starts with activists who try to release monkeys who were infected by a deadly disease called Rage. A monkey bites one of the people as they let it out, and within moments you turn from being sympathetic to the chimps to terrify of them by this act. During the arrival of the activists the chimps are all crazy banging the cage, then the camera follows the views of what a monkey is being forced to watch. We then see the activists see the monkey in this table strapped down with monitors above it. On the monitors we see violence. As one of the activists takes pictures, the camera flashes and we see what the picture was taken looks like. During the pictures, there are sound bridges of the monkeys screeching to keep the action moving. This keeps the audience tense and stops them loosing interest. At this point, the music is slow and quite eerie, but is slowly building speed and suspense. Once the cage is opened, the camera goes wild and shows a first person of the monkey charging at the woman where it ends up as a close up of the monkey biting this woman. Within moments, she pukes up blood, and acts like the monkeys were like, crazed and angry. You can tell the tension of the film by the yelling of the scientist. The editing is very powerful in the way the fast transitions are done and the shots of the camera angles. You would expect the camera to be distance and away as far as possible from the danger, but in this movie, it shows you the danger as close as possible. This is what makes 28 days later a horror type, rather than thriller, the fear is created in the physical viewings rather than mentally. The lighting that the special effects create is very powerful. There are very dark red ambient lights in it to show blood, rage and anger. There may also be a dark red filter put over the top. This whole sequence leaves you wanting to watch more and more of the movie, as you are kept in your seats with the powerful music and fast transitions, never showing you the finished result.
The camera is set as if it is a person standing idol in the scene, switching from first person to third. This is creating a very dizzy effect on the audience, as they don’t quite know where they are. Are they in the scene or are they a character in the scene? This is also related with the music. Due to the high strings sound, and distorted feelings we get from hearing this music, we feel uncomfortable watching this. The way the camera switches from one view to another, while the music still, slowly drones on with slight highs keeps us watching for more!
The location is very typical of a horror in this. They managed to get pictures very early in the morning of New York landmarks with nothing or no one there but destruction and wreckage. They use these locations as it scares us. Some people, usually the target audience, use this place daily, and know how busy it is, and seeing it in this state, scares them. The animal testing facility is also very strong in the way that you never know what horrors they will be doing to the animals. This is also a controversial issue at the time this movie was created, therefore it linked in well with the timescale It was created. The lighting is one of the things that make this movie and other horror movies powerful. There is lots of flashing lights showing close ups of the faces of the victims and the zombies, making it a very hectic situation, and instead of showing a slow whole shot with no transitions, it shows snap shots of the danger. The natural daylight is also very good in the way it creates an eerie atmosphere when the man is outside the hospital. There are dress codes used in these scenes that give us a clue to the genre as well. We first see the protagonist in a hospital, completely naked. The semiotics of being in a hospital enough shows how vulnerable this man is, yet he is completely naked, isolated, being the only one in the whole hospital. The scientists are first seen coming in drinking what we would think as coffee. We drink coffee when we are tired, and due to the lighting, it looks like night. This tells us that the scientist must work late nights, and is probably really stressed. His body language also shows this. He is very submissive, yet anxious about letting the monkeys out. During this, you would expect the camera to show lots of low angle shots at him, due to the other characters yelling and swearing at him, although the camera is always shot grouping him with the other characters. This is bringing all the characters together, showing that there is no pro or antagonist in this scene, that they will all be attacked by the chimps similarly.
(Unfortunately we could not get the opening sequence)
Chimp Scene:
Location + Music:
Year it was made: 2002
Director: Danny Boyle
28 days later is a Zombie Thriller/Horror. It starts with activists who try to release monkeys who were infected by a deadly disease called Rage. A monkey bites one of the people as they let it out, and within moments you turn from being sympathetic to the chimps to terrify of them by this act. During the arrival of the activists the chimps are all crazy banging the cage, then the camera follows the views of what a monkey is being forced to watch. We then see the activists see the monkey in this table strapped down with monitors above it. On the monitors we see violence. As one of the activists takes pictures, the camera flashes and we see what the picture was taken looks like. During the pictures, there are sound bridges of the monkeys screeching to keep the action moving. This keeps the audience tense and stops them loosing interest. At this point, the music is slow and quite eerie, but is slowly building speed and suspense. Once the cage is opened, the camera goes wild and shows a first person of the monkey charging at the woman where it ends up as a close up of the monkey biting this woman. Within moments, she pukes up blood, and acts like the monkeys were like, crazed and angry. You can tell the tension of the film by the yelling of the scientist. The editing is very powerful in the way the fast transitions are done and the shots of the camera angles. You would expect the camera to be distance and away as far as possible from the danger, but in this movie, it shows you the danger as close as possible. This is what makes 28 days later a horror type, rather than thriller, the fear is created in the physical viewings rather than mentally. The lighting that the special effects create is very powerful. There are very dark red ambient lights in it to show blood, rage and anger. There may also be a dark red filter put over the top. This whole sequence leaves you wanting to watch more and more of the movie, as you are kept in your seats with the powerful music and fast transitions, never showing you the finished result.
The camera is set as if it is a person standing idol in the scene, switching from first person to third. This is creating a very dizzy effect on the audience, as they don’t quite know where they are. Are they in the scene or are they a character in the scene? This is also related with the music. Due to the high strings sound, and distorted feelings we get from hearing this music, we feel uncomfortable watching this. The way the camera switches from one view to another, while the music still, slowly drones on with slight highs keeps us watching for more!
The location is very typical of a horror in this. They managed to get pictures very early in the morning of New York landmarks with nothing or no one there but destruction and wreckage. They use these locations as it scares us. Some people, usually the target audience, use this place daily, and know how busy it is, and seeing it in this state, scares them. The animal testing facility is also very strong in the way that you never know what horrors they will be doing to the animals. This is also a controversial issue at the time this movie was created, therefore it linked in well with the timescale It was created. The lighting is one of the things that make this movie and other horror movies powerful. There is lots of flashing lights showing close ups of the faces of the victims and the zombies, making it a very hectic situation, and instead of showing a slow whole shot with no transitions, it shows snap shots of the danger. The natural daylight is also very good in the way it creates an eerie atmosphere when the man is outside the hospital. There are dress codes used in these scenes that give us a clue to the genre as well. We first see the protagonist in a hospital, completely naked. The semiotics of being in a hospital enough shows how vulnerable this man is, yet he is completely naked, isolated, being the only one in the whole hospital. The scientists are first seen coming in drinking what we would think as coffee. We drink coffee when we are tired, and due to the lighting, it looks like night. This tells us that the scientist must work late nights, and is probably really stressed. His body language also shows this. He is very submissive, yet anxious about letting the monkeys out. During this, you would expect the camera to show lots of low angle shots at him, due to the other characters yelling and swearing at him, although the camera is always shot grouping him with the other characters. This is bringing all the characters together, showing that there is no pro or antagonist in this scene, that they will all be attacked by the chimps similarly.
(Unfortunately we could not get the opening sequence)
Chimp Scene:
Location + Music:
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Target Audience
Our target audience is 18-30 years old. We plan to keep a young adult age for our movie, due to the actors being a young age, and the audience is able to relate to some of the issues and events that will come. We will need to keep to 18 plus due to the violence we plan to have in our film, but due to our equipment, we will have only suggestions of it, rather than showing the graphical scenes. We will keep our audience hooked with our suspense that seems to last from the beginning. This is similar to some of Hitchcock’s greatest films. He was restricted to 10 minute filming scenes, due to the cameras, and he overcame this with a dark object passing by as he put a new camera reel in. This meant he could keep the audience in suspense for more than 10 minutes without making them bored. We plan to do it for 2 minutes. We will use editing such as fast transitions, but only before the suspense breaks, and we plan to keep a lot of the POV so the audience is kept as close to the danger as possible, and only know what the characters know.
The 3 actors will engage in typical conversation that people of that age would have, to keep to our target audience. We also plan to keep the idea of having them camping out with a camera to record their journeys, which links in with the target audience as well.
Quick analysis of Thriller/Horror conventions
Opening titles
The titles are typically worn away, and are fairly dark. The titles are bold, faded and quite distort. The font is very thick, and has a print effect to it, as if it’s been painted on a long while ago. The title sequence is dark and spooky, where the music is building suspense to the tune of the titles. The titles and music works together to create tension and fear for the viewers. This is because when we typically think of a zombie thriller/horror we think of a worn down civilisation close to its end, with a zombie outbreak destroying everything. The titles seem as if they have been there for a while and are worn down by the destruction of it all. The titles are often a prologue to the events that have jsut happened in the past, such as a disaster that mankind was almost wiped out by. This is to inform the viewers of what happened.
Music
The music is typically eerie and jumpy. Lots of drums and always needs to build suspense. The music comes on when the monsters near.
Mise-en-Scene
Location: Typically urban, either close to civilisation or completely isolated. This is to link in with the theme of the end of the world.
Lighting: Ambient lighting, dark, and never enough light when you need to see things. The monster is always near when something malfunctions. This is to keep suspense and only show enough to scare people. They fill in the rest of the ideas.
Props: Normally many props in an urban area, such as plastic bags and destruction, but if inside, quite minimal, due to the isolation theme.
Costumes: Casual clothing, to standardise the daily life that has gone wrong.
Narrative: The protagonist is exposed to a world on its edge, where the antagonist thrives. The protagonist stuggles to survive, usualy alone, against the overwhelming antagonist, and succeeds in the end. There is usualy an equilibrium in the end, unless the movie plans on a sequel, where some of the issues are unsolved.
The titles are typically worn away, and are fairly dark. The titles are bold, faded and quite distort. The font is very thick, and has a print effect to it, as if it’s been painted on a long while ago. The title sequence is dark and spooky, where the music is building suspense to the tune of the titles. The titles and music works together to create tension and fear for the viewers. This is because when we typically think of a zombie thriller/horror we think of a worn down civilisation close to its end, with a zombie outbreak destroying everything. The titles seem as if they have been there for a while and are worn down by the destruction of it all. The titles are often a prologue to the events that have jsut happened in the past, such as a disaster that mankind was almost wiped out by. This is to inform the viewers of what happened.
Music
The music is typically eerie and jumpy. Lots of drums and always needs to build suspense. The music comes on when the monsters near.
Mise-en-Scene
Location: Typically urban, either close to civilisation or completely isolated. This is to link in with the theme of the end of the world.
Lighting: Ambient lighting, dark, and never enough light when you need to see things. The monster is always near when something malfunctions. This is to keep suspense and only show enough to scare people. They fill in the rest of the ideas.
Props: Normally many props in an urban area, such as plastic bags and destruction, but if inside, quite minimal, due to the isolation theme.
Costumes: Casual clothing, to standardise the daily life that has gone wrong.
Narrative: The protagonist is exposed to a world on its edge, where the antagonist thrives. The protagonist stuggles to survive, usualy alone, against the overwhelming antagonist, and succeeds in the end. There is usualy an equilibrium in the end, unless the movie plans on a sequel, where some of the issues are unsolved.
Why do we watch thrillers?
Thrillers are made up of many different amounts of sub genres, making them viable to appeal to almost anyone. We also like the jumps and rushes we get from watching a character being chased or walking slowly to meet their demise. We know what will happen, but not how, or when, giving us suspense to look forward to. A thriller is also very common for showing the suggestion of something scary, but then we find out later, it was nothing, but we know there was something there and still is. A thriller can take part as the point of view of the main character(s) or it could be a sort of documentation of something that has already happened, showing the viewers more than what the characters know.
The characters are typically seen as very good at their job, very strong and quite heroic looking, but the villain is always better equipped, and seems to be cleverer than the hero, until they are inevitably caught. You can either get the ‘I don’t care’ thriller lead, or the ‘all I think about is my job’ lead, and the villain always sees the flaw in the hero and at one point or more in the movie, will exploit it, such as in the movie face off, his son was shot by the villain, and it is frequently brought up on the hero. The themes of thrillers are almost always exaggerated and only include crimes in a much larger scale, such as an alien invasion, mass murder, terrorists or assassinations, identity,
Main plot points include violent confrontations, saving the Femme Fatale, themes of mirroring past events, and recent, or the villain mocking or arguing against a flaw in the modern society that they do not like. More modern types of thrillers are psychological thrillers, where the villain could be less superior to the hero, but knows well of the heroes flaw, and is stronger only intellectually, making a whole new different way of scaring the audience. The monster in psychological thrillers could be anything; an inferior physical force made superior only by their intellect, a supernatural entity, aliens or serial killers.
Sub Genres
Action Thrillers consists of a race against the clock, lots of explosions and chases. The antagonist is exposed the whole time, and the protagonist is usually searching for something. The hero isn’t always a good guy in this; they could be someone who we just cheer for due to his characteristics.
A Crime Thriller is usually based around the crimes the villain creates, rather than the characters themselves, we are only given the characteristics of the villain by what crimes they create. The good guy is usually very good at his job, and it is his last job he has to solve, but always the worst.
A Disaster Thriller is based around natural events where the protagonist may be a group of people who are stranded and the antagonist is not a physical being, but the idea of the reason why the natural event came, such as in The day after Tomorrow, the antagonist is us, due to global warming.
A Drama Thriller is based wholly on character relationships and twisted plot lines. The crimes in these are usually quite controversial, and take a very long time to develop.
A Horror Thriller is a mix between physical, mentally and emotionally conflict between characters. The thrills are created through fear and gruesome images rather than a psychological wait created by suspense. The protagonists are usually up against an overwhelming force, and will soon become victims themselves, and the antagonist is a monster, of physically or mentally being.
A Psychological Thriller is based on an emotional and mental side of the heroine’s character. The antagonist exploits the flaw in the protagonist and eventually, they have a showdown where the flaw is overcome by the antagonist’s defeat.
A Spy Thriller is much like an action thriller, in the fact that the hero is often a government agent who has to take action against an overwhelming force against the government.
There is also Science-Fiction Thrillers where the villain is an alien or supernatural force. The hero in this is usually well equipped with powerful weapons, or completely exposed with only their intelligence and coincidental events that assists in the defeat of the villain, such as in Signs and Jurassic Park.
The characters are typically seen as very good at their job, very strong and quite heroic looking, but the villain is always better equipped, and seems to be cleverer than the hero, until they are inevitably caught. You can either get the ‘I don’t care’ thriller lead, or the ‘all I think about is my job’ lead, and the villain always sees the flaw in the hero and at one point or more in the movie, will exploit it, such as in the movie face off, his son was shot by the villain, and it is frequently brought up on the hero. The themes of thrillers are almost always exaggerated and only include crimes in a much larger scale, such as an alien invasion, mass murder, terrorists or assassinations, identity,
Main plot points include violent confrontations, saving the Femme Fatale, themes of mirroring past events, and recent, or the villain mocking or arguing against a flaw in the modern society that they do not like. More modern types of thrillers are psychological thrillers, where the villain could be less superior to the hero, but knows well of the heroes flaw, and is stronger only intellectually, making a whole new different way of scaring the audience. The monster in psychological thrillers could be anything; an inferior physical force made superior only by their intellect, a supernatural entity, aliens or serial killers.
Sub Genres
Action Thrillers consists of a race against the clock, lots of explosions and chases. The antagonist is exposed the whole time, and the protagonist is usually searching for something. The hero isn’t always a good guy in this; they could be someone who we just cheer for due to his characteristics.
A Crime Thriller is usually based around the crimes the villain creates, rather than the characters themselves, we are only given the characteristics of the villain by what crimes they create. The good guy is usually very good at his job, and it is his last job he has to solve, but always the worst.
A Disaster Thriller is based around natural events where the protagonist may be a group of people who are stranded and the antagonist is not a physical being, but the idea of the reason why the natural event came, such as in The day after Tomorrow, the antagonist is us, due to global warming.
A Drama Thriller is based wholly on character relationships and twisted plot lines. The crimes in these are usually quite controversial, and take a very long time to develop.
A Horror Thriller is a mix between physical, mentally and emotionally conflict between characters. The thrills are created through fear and gruesome images rather than a psychological wait created by suspense. The protagonists are usually up against an overwhelming force, and will soon become victims themselves, and the antagonist is a monster, of physically or mentally being.
A Psychological Thriller is based on an emotional and mental side of the heroine’s character. The antagonist exploits the flaw in the protagonist and eventually, they have a showdown where the flaw is overcome by the antagonist’s defeat.
A Spy Thriller is much like an action thriller, in the fact that the hero is often a government agent who has to take action against an overwhelming force against the government.
There is also Science-Fiction Thrillers where the villain is an alien or supernatural force. The hero in this is usually well equipped with powerful weapons, or completely exposed with only their intelligence and coincidental events that assists in the defeat of the villain, such as in Signs and Jurassic Park.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Se7en
Seven, also known as Se7en was directed by David Fincher in 1995. There are many conventions and semiotics that suggest to us the genre of the film in the opening of the film.
To start, we know it is a thriller by the soundtrack. The music is quite distorted. This gives us a sense of the films substance, where the narrative is shown to us through what we know as media students is a scary soundtrack. It starts off with a pendulum ticking. This reflects the personality of the character and makes the audience seem unsettled, due to this regularity of the ticking. The soundtrack is slow at first, with very eerie creaks and a low drum sound. The squeaky sounds give us the idea of dementia, as well as the things on screen showing this as well. The music slowly builds with drum beats and eerie sounds through out, and ends with the words “You get me closer to god!” in a distorted voice. This reflects the narrative of the film, where the murders are related to the seven deadly sins. Religion is used a lot in thrillers, as it gives the audience a sense of a higher being, far superior to them who are in control of the antagonist making them bend to the religions “rules”. The rules may not be the actual rules, but the antagonist bends them making them seem correct to them. There is a lot of digetic sound in the opening sequence, such as the yelling of people outside the window, the sirens of the police cars, the car alarms and the barking dogs. These sounds are all taken as conventions of a crime genre, and we know of them as a danger. These all contrast to the formality of the ticking of the pendulum.
The lighting in the whole title sequence is all through lamps or torches. It is very dark and is hard to see throughout the whole of it. The light always seems to focus on the important parts of the scene as well, and darkens out the rest of it. There is flashing lights throughout, which are very unsettling and makes the objects on screen seem threatening. We would think that the room the person is in is very dark, and all they have to see is a lamp, which barely works. This may work with the religion theme, of having only what you need, bare necessities.
The location of Seven is unknown from the title sequence, but it seems to be a run down town or city. We know this by the typical set of an apartment, and the yelling and sirens of a police car. You only see the sets of 2 apartments, both of the 2 main characters, where they both contrast, the messy, informal man with his wife, and the neat, formal man on his own. We do not see the setting of the antagonist, which gives us the sense of not knowing what it to come. It is also typical of a thriller to not give any valuable information on the antagonist at the beginning of it, or else it would ruin the plot. We are more scared of a thing which we don’t know much about.
There are a few props we see in this sequence, such as a bible, pen and sharpened piece of metal. These are powerful semiotics that tell us of religion and danger, which are themes in this film. It looks like a bible what the first book shaped figure that appears on screen, or it may be a diary, but either way, we do not know, and we cannot read what he writes, except the words “D 35” which appears on screen. This is unknown to us at this moment, but later on we find out is a record of one of the murder plots. The sharpened metal is used by the person to cut the skin off his fingers. This is to hide finger prints they may leave behind. It also tells us that they are sick and twisted as a person, to do it. The pendulum shows us the formality of one of the characters, which is part of his characters personality, which is a contrast to the other character. The pictures the person is cutting out are actually pictures of one of the victims of one of his murders.
The transitions are all very fast during the part with the unknown person. It starts off with a sort of establishing shot of the room. It then shows us a close up of the pendulum and then the characters glasses being placed on the bedside table beside him, then moves up following his hand, ending on the pendulum. The next shot is a slow zoom into the character who may be reflecting on the sound of the pendulum or the sound of the sounds outside. It then quickly changes to the pendulum again, then continues the zoom on the character, and then finishes zooming slowly on the pendulum. There is then lots of fast paced close ups of the unknown persons work place, with the book/diary, pen, pictures and fingers. The sequence closes on the other main character waking up next to his bed as a medium shot. There is lots of fast, almost subliminal shots of important props and signs through out the sequence, which is very chaotic.
The titles are all shown in black, contrasting to white. The text is worn down, and is very shaky. When the text Se7en is shown on screen, it is first shown really far away, and then is immediately forced closely to the screen, and shakes with distortion with rapid white lines flashing. The font is very worn down, and looks ruined.
The 2 main characters are very typical of a crime thriller, the cop who is very good at his job, and the one who is very “unsettled” where you can see that the antagonist will provoke this flaw, where as the cop which is calm, has no visible flaw. The antagonist, who is the person we are not told of in the sequence, is not shown in any way, but the music, lighting and other conventions and semiotics we see tell us he is a bad character, who is sick, and twisted.
Se7en is a thriller, but has signs and slight overlaps of the conventions of a horror. We get the sense of suspense, but we also get the visible gruesome graphics of a horror.
To start, we know it is a thriller by the soundtrack. The music is quite distorted. This gives us a sense of the films substance, where the narrative is shown to us through what we know as media students is a scary soundtrack. It starts off with a pendulum ticking. This reflects the personality of the character and makes the audience seem unsettled, due to this regularity of the ticking. The soundtrack is slow at first, with very eerie creaks and a low drum sound. The squeaky sounds give us the idea of dementia, as well as the things on screen showing this as well. The music slowly builds with drum beats and eerie sounds through out, and ends with the words “You get me closer to god!” in a distorted voice. This reflects the narrative of the film, where the murders are related to the seven deadly sins. Religion is used a lot in thrillers, as it gives the audience a sense of a higher being, far superior to them who are in control of the antagonist making them bend to the religions “rules”. The rules may not be the actual rules, but the antagonist bends them making them seem correct to them. There is a lot of digetic sound in the opening sequence, such as the yelling of people outside the window, the sirens of the police cars, the car alarms and the barking dogs. These sounds are all taken as conventions of a crime genre, and we know of them as a danger. These all contrast to the formality of the ticking of the pendulum.
The lighting in the whole title sequence is all through lamps or torches. It is very dark and is hard to see throughout the whole of it. The light always seems to focus on the important parts of the scene as well, and darkens out the rest of it. There is flashing lights throughout, which are very unsettling and makes the objects on screen seem threatening. We would think that the room the person is in is very dark, and all they have to see is a lamp, which barely works. This may work with the religion theme, of having only what you need, bare necessities.
The location of Seven is unknown from the title sequence, but it seems to be a run down town or city. We know this by the typical set of an apartment, and the yelling and sirens of a police car. You only see the sets of 2 apartments, both of the 2 main characters, where they both contrast, the messy, informal man with his wife, and the neat, formal man on his own. We do not see the setting of the antagonist, which gives us the sense of not knowing what it to come. It is also typical of a thriller to not give any valuable information on the antagonist at the beginning of it, or else it would ruin the plot. We are more scared of a thing which we don’t know much about.
There are a few props we see in this sequence, such as a bible, pen and sharpened piece of metal. These are powerful semiotics that tell us of religion and danger, which are themes in this film. It looks like a bible what the first book shaped figure that appears on screen, or it may be a diary, but either way, we do not know, and we cannot read what he writes, except the words “D 35” which appears on screen. This is unknown to us at this moment, but later on we find out is a record of one of the murder plots. The sharpened metal is used by the person to cut the skin off his fingers. This is to hide finger prints they may leave behind. It also tells us that they are sick and twisted as a person, to do it. The pendulum shows us the formality of one of the characters, which is part of his characters personality, which is a contrast to the other character. The pictures the person is cutting out are actually pictures of one of the victims of one of his murders.
The transitions are all very fast during the part with the unknown person. It starts off with a sort of establishing shot of the room. It then shows us a close up of the pendulum and then the characters glasses being placed on the bedside table beside him, then moves up following his hand, ending on the pendulum. The next shot is a slow zoom into the character who may be reflecting on the sound of the pendulum or the sound of the sounds outside. It then quickly changes to the pendulum again, then continues the zoom on the character, and then finishes zooming slowly on the pendulum. There is then lots of fast paced close ups of the unknown persons work place, with the book/diary, pen, pictures and fingers. The sequence closes on the other main character waking up next to his bed as a medium shot. There is lots of fast, almost subliminal shots of important props and signs through out the sequence, which is very chaotic.
The titles are all shown in black, contrasting to white. The text is worn down, and is very shaky. When the text Se7en is shown on screen, it is first shown really far away, and then is immediately forced closely to the screen, and shakes with distortion with rapid white lines flashing. The font is very worn down, and looks ruined.
The 2 main characters are very typical of a crime thriller, the cop who is very good at his job, and the one who is very “unsettled” where you can see that the antagonist will provoke this flaw, where as the cop which is calm, has no visible flaw. The antagonist, who is the person we are not told of in the sequence, is not shown in any way, but the music, lighting and other conventions and semiotics we see tell us he is a bad character, who is sick, and twisted.
Se7en is a thriller, but has signs and slight overlaps of the conventions of a horror. We get the sense of suspense, but we also get the visible gruesome graphics of a horror.
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