'Se7ens' title sequence

The first shot in ‘Se7ens’’ title sequence is an extreme close up of what appears to be a hand made note book. The sepia colour connotes an old fashioned and traditional tone to the sequence. ‘New line cinema are notorious for producing thrillers such as ‘Final Destination’ and ‘Freddy vs. Jason’. So for film fanatics, this is a clear hint at the films genre. Non diagetic audio is introduced here, and is current throughout the sequence. The distorted bangs and harsh electric crashes help to identify this chaotic genre.

The first in a long list of production, distribution, and exhibition names. The White writing on black background makes the text easily readable, and also looks vaguely like a chalk board. The electric ‘throbbing’ style  is used to further emphasise its genre. The childlike font has strong connotations of children, which are often used, in psychological horrors, as well as thrillers.

The next shot displays a pair of hands with arthritic fingers, drawn on a notebook. Under the laws if horror, this is a brief glance at the films story line, and so has hidden Barthes Enigmas codes to intrigue the audience. The key lighting highlights the swinging shadow above the notebook. This is matched with ‘creaking’ diegetic audio to demonstrate it’s swinging.

These three shots are played in consecutive order in quick consecution to demonstrate the characters ill mental health but also to cause chaos and confusion for the viewer. The props used include an old fashioned razor blade and other electronic equipment all shot in extreme close-ups. The images go quickly in and out of focus to emphasize the chaos. All these shots are matched with appropriate non diagetic sounds such as an electric motor, and the heavy creaking.

This is the next shot in the sequence. The disturbing image of a razor blade cutting through a finger tips dead skin, again, in an extreme close up. The non diagetic music builds up to a high pitch crescendo to match this shot to emphasise its gore and horror. 

This shot is matched with the previous one through a sound bridge overriding the two shots. This is another shot of the razor blades slicing the finger, just shot from a different angle.







This is another screen actor presented in the title sequence purely to boost the reputation of the fim, as famous actor Morgan Freeman stars in it, deeper analysation suggest Morgan Freeman usually stars in serious/thrillers. Again, the same WOB chalk board effect is used, and a reverse copy of his name are played together in order to create chaotic effect.

 This extreme close up displays a piece of material being dipped in a dark solution, conventions of the horror genre dictate this to be blood. This is also another Barthes Enigma code as it links to the films story line, as do ost of the other shots used.

 These two shots are then played in a split second. The left image shows a horrific image of unidentifiable gender, with sever facial disfigurements, also attached to his note books that was being built at the start of the title sequence. this quickly jumps to a shot of the characters 'D35'. These characters are insignificant and unnoticeable to the audience due to being played in such a fast edit, but if this image or numbers and letter were to appear in the actual film its-self, audience should think that they have seen the images before, and cause an emotional panic.

Looking closely at this image, is shows the blood that was on a piece of material in a previous shot, now dissolving into what appears to be water. This can be nothing other than another hidden Bathes Enigma.
The extreme close up make the prop hard to identify, but is interesting as it is shot in the left section of the shot.

Then sequence then continues on to show the progression of the notebook binding. The first shot shows fingers (note with bandages on) opening the notebook. This shot has elements ofkey lighting and shadow to highlight the fingers and the detailed book cover.

 The second shot shows the opening of the notebook. this is shot in a different angle to the previous shot, and fades into the next shot of the book being opened.

The final shot in this three shot sequence is in monocrome. The blurry effect, dipping in and out of focus suggets a chaotic genre, and a mystery to the books entail.

All these shots are matched with the non diagetic audio throughout the other shots in the title sequence.