Thriller title sequence analysis
Se7en
Who is being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is it positive or negative? In the opening scene both main protagonists are being represented, and also the first victim of the  film. Morgan Freeman's character is almost seen to be as very independent and official. In his house he wakes up alone and during the investigation you see him walk down the corridor alone, thus indicating he doesn't work well with partner's or other people. This is when Brad Pitt's character arrives and you can immediately tell he is less official and somewhat inferior to the other protagonist. He doesn't follow by the book and is slightly less mature. The two character's then exchange their first brief encounter before we are shown that Freeman's character is going to bed alone, again connoting his independence but also loneliness. The titles then give the audience a brief idea of what goes through the antagonists mind and what sort of person we're dealing with.

What do the titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?
The titles for Se7en definitely portray the opening as being a thriller as we get brief flickerings, quick transitions and close up shots of what the antagonist is doing. The opening is very sinister and eerie, again symbolising the genre of a thriller. The text font flickers on and off with each credit in an odd font, almost child-like and unofficial, which again gives off this strange and unpleasant vibe, already putting you on edge.

Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
Camera is used in a particular manner to make you aware of the genre. For instance; during the opening credits, most of the shots are extreme close ups. This is extremely disorientating for the audience as we try to understand what sort of character this antagonist is. Furthermore, the close ups of his hands are also extremely frustrating as we already want to know who this person is, why they're acting so oddly, and what they presumably want from our protagonists.

Sound is used in a similar manner as camera to make the audience aware that this film is classified as a thriller as it puts you on edge. The music playing during the titles are very uncomfortable to listen to to, rather than having a song playing during the opening 'Se7en' uses almost robotic sounding noises. Sharp metallic bangs and squeaks, making the audience already curious as to what is going on and what whoever is making these noises is doing. Furthermore, the further along we get into the credits the louder and less subtle the music gets. It turns more into a song, very detective and crime like as the flickers we see get less ominous and more obvious that this is all to do with some sort of crime.

The editing of the opening credits make us aware of the genre as they're very creepy and ominous, giving off a bad vibe from the get go. The editing is also very fast and jumpy, each shot changing to the next at an abnormal pace. The whole opening is very ambiguous, the shots showing that the antagonist is clearly creating or editing something at his own accord, but the audience do not know what this is, and at the current time neither do the main characters. However, the opening credits aren't shown in the first two minutes, this is a clever example of editing as the director clearly chose to give an establishing scene at the beginning of the two character's being detectives. To show the title of the film in the before or in the middle of their investigation would not have made sense, therefore the title's only get shown after both the character's and the audience get an understanding of this new investigation.

Mise-en-scene is also used deliberately to show the genre of a thriller as the costume's of the man we can see during the opening is very typical of what you'd expect of the antagonist. His hands are grimey and dirty, already insinuating what type of character he is. Furthermore the props used also show it's a thriller for example the old books and highlighted sections already lets the audience infer this is a thriller.

Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?
The narrative does follow the conventions of a thriller film as after the production company and director's name, the credits go in order of the main characters in the film. The opening also creates tension and an air of mystery that leaves the audience wanting more; a typical convention of a thriller. Therefore the opening does correspond to the conventions of a thriller. However it defies the convention as halfway through the title sequence the title 'Se7en' flickers on screen for less than a second, this is unconventional of a thriller opening sequence as the title is never usually displayed in the middle of the opening.

Which production company was the film made by? How might this affect film content?
New Line Cinema produced the film. This might affect film content as the production company have a particular interest in independent films, however since merging with Warner Bros this has altered film content drastically.

What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give a brief suggestion of the narrative
I think that the investigation will continue to unfold and get more complex. The two main protagonists may have to deal with many issues and i think it's fair to say that things may happen that may question them as people and affect the decisions they make. Furthermore, obviously the title of the film comes into play. 'Seven' clearly stands for something, so what it does stand for will become clear as the film goes on and the two detectives unravel the case.

Title timeline
00:03 - 00:05 - New Line Cinema presents
00:06 - 00:08 - An Arnold Kopelson production
00:10 - 00:12 - A film by David Fincher
00:14 - 00:16 - Brad Pitt
00:17 - 00:19 - Morgan Freeman
00:23 - 00:28 - Se7en
00:29 - 00:32 - Gwyneth Paltrow
00:33 - 00:35 - Richard Roundtree
00:38 - 00:40 - R. Lee Ermey
00:42 - 00:43 - John C McGinley
00:46 - 00:49 - Julie Araskog
                         Mark Boone Junior
00:53 - 00:56 - John Cassini
                         Reginald E Cathey
                         Peter Crombie
00:57 - 01:00 - Hawthorne James
                         Michael Massee
                         Leland Orser
01:04 - 01:06 - Richard Partnow
                         Richard Schiff
                         Pamola Tyson
01:09 - 01:13 - Casting by Billy Hopkins
                         Suzanne Smith
                         Kerry Borden
01:15 - 01:18 - Music by Howard Shore
01:20 - 01:23 - Costumes designed by Michael Kaplan
01:24 - 01:25 - Edited by Richard Francis Bruce
01:26 - 01:28 - Production designed by Arthur Max
01:34 - 01:36 - Director of photography Darius Khondji
01:39 - 01:41 - Co-producers Stephen Brown
                         Nona Greenwald
                         Sanford Panitch
01:43 - 01:46 - Co-executive producers Lynn Harris
                         Richard Staperstain
01:49 - 01:52 - Executive producers Gianni Nunnari
                         Dan Kolsrud
                         Anne Kopleson
01:53 - 01:55 - Written by Andrew Kevin Walker
01:57 - 01:57 - Se7en
01:58 - 02:01 - Produced by Arnold Kopelson
                         Phyllis Carlyle
02:04 - 02:08 - Directed by David Fincher