Seven analysis.

Mysterym Horror - Directed by David Fincher. Police drama about two policemen, one just starting out and one about to retire, after a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution because of the world’s ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins; Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Greed, Wrath, Lust and Pride . At the beginning of the film we can already notice differences between the two main characters.

What information was I given as a viewer?

That he is a shady character has something to hide and doesn’t want to be caught out on something. There was a diary or Scrapbook of killings, as if the murderer was creating it showing past events or plans on what to do.

What techniques were used to give me this information?

Extreme close-ups are used to disguise identity of killer, only showing his hand and what he is doing. Low-key lighting used through clip to make look more dark and sinister.

In the opening sequence of this film, it begins with turning pages of a book; we can hear diagetic, the sound of the pages turning, and non-diagetic sound, a creepy sound in the background. It is a close up shot of the book and we can see the page-turners hand. A lot of images are shown, pictures of arms. Dark backgrounds are used a lot and the camera angles and position are constantly changing. Fast cute between the changing of some objects to maybe show them as flashing images. Close up on the characters hands as he cuts off his fingerprints, screeching noises as he does it, both the sound and the image can make the audience cringe.

We can then see the character pull out a book, always focusing on his hands with the camera. A diagetic sound of a pen to paper as he writes, still with weird, disturbing sound over the noises. For the cinematography mainly flashing images but long enough to see what is within the frame.

We realise an image for the character. Cutting off his fingerprints, so he won’t get caught, writing notes. Developing strange pictures, scribbling words and the eyes of a person out in black marker, alongside the sounds in the background we can imagine that the character is a criminal, we can assume that he is clever and thinks ahead. The mise-en-scene is used well as it can show planning out of something, maybe a murder, but the props are thought out and used appropriately. The needle and thread when he sews his book together, strange but effective, the audience is left in suspense to want to know more about this character and what he is actually doing. The cutting out of words of a newspaper, maybe to create a ransom note defiantly suggests he is a criminal.