Mollie Knapp's Se7en analysis

In order to futher develop and establish an effective opening for our film, we needed to look at existing successful openings in our chosen genre, horror. I have decided to look at Se7en, which may  be described as a thriller, however features many aspects of a horror and in particular the opening, which displays the features of an effective horror opening.

Se7en.

0-10 seconds:
Music: The beginning of the opening the first thing you hear is a hard beat/clang with a mechanical sound to it with a metronome ticking and beat which sounds like a heartbeat. This shows the film is about life or death and also very violence. Also the music sounds very edgy and grime like. There is also a creaking noise which sounds very mysterious and can make the audience feel like they are being watched and this gives an impact of making the audience feel uncomfortable but intrigued about the storyline. This noise can also symbolise a stalker and makes you feel also uncomfortable and that you want to stop watching but you don't because it makes the audience ask who this noise belongs to. The scratchy sounds an explosive sounds can also symbolise the persons character, indicating that they have lack of stability.

Sight: Opening on a close up of a book which makes the audience wonder what the book contains, what is this person reading and who is it reading the book? Also the colours are browns and beiges, this can create the effect of grime and a dirty and unsightly look to it. The images are very textured and layered therefor implying a more gritty and grime backstreet effect. You are also shown two hand prints which also makes the audience ask who's are they, why does this person need them. By the look of the hands you can defiantly tell they are masculine rather than feminine because of the size and un-feminine look. Close ups of someone peeling off their fingerprints gives you the impression the owner of the fingers intends to do some malicious and indeed illegal things as the lack of his fingerprints will make it  difficult for him to be traced back and hard for forensics to find evidence of their presence. Also the close up used on the persons grim, dirty fingers implies that the person isn't worried about their physical appearance or how others see them, indicating a life of solitary or social insecurities, this could also be the reason why he seems so abandoned and shut himself away.

Lighting: The lighting is very low key which creates a very dark an sinister feel, this makes the meaning of the film enhanced and highlights the genre and the mystery of the first 10 seconds creating an intense atmosphere. The Mise-En-Scene in the opening is predomitly dark showing the person has locked themselves up away from the social part of life. 
Shots: All shots are extreme close ups or close ups this magnifies the audiences attention to certain objects that could be significant later on in the movie. Also being close up makes the audience feel as if they are with the person watching what they're doing making the audience feel uncomfortable and as if they shouldn't be there but want to know more about who and what the man is doing. It also highlights his actions focusing on that they are not typical everyday doings. For example removing his fingerprints. 
Typography: The credits are and scratched into the film roll which makes the audiences instantly connected to the man in the opening, it makes it very personal to the man who the hands belong to. It is also effective as they come out x-rayed and that is associated with broken bones and pain which shows them movie will be thrilling. Also there is a red haze around it showing a symbol of blood therefor making the audience expect death. The typography has an edgy insecure look to it, indicating back to the persons personality. Also the hand written titles look very scribbles and childlike which could imply the person has a bad unsteady childhood.