Se7en is a psychological, crime, thriller directed by David Fincher in 1995. It stars Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow. The movie follows two detectives and their investigation of a serial killer, who uses the seven deadly sins as the basis for each of his murders.
The title sequence music is a remix of Trent Reznor's "Closer" by Angus Wall and Coil/Danny Hide, through out it has a pulsing beat, as well as static, creating an eerie tense atmosphere which builds through out the sequence. This tension is increased as more sound effects are added, for example the clicking of a type writer, and the screech of strings most likely on a violin, as well as the added thumping of drums as the music reaches a peak, drawing towards the end of the sequence. At the end of the sequence as the film title pops up the lyrics "you got me closer to God" are sung, before a loud drum signifies the end of the music and title sequence. There is no dietetic sound throughout the sequence.
All shots are extreme close ups, normally shallow focus not allowing the audience a clear view of whats really happening. The angles are continuously changing, and some shots are overlapped so that two objects can be seen at the same time, this creates a sense of confusion and may even represent the state of mind of the character who is featured in the sequence. The shots are also still though appear to be shaking, however it is the objects on screen that are moving. In the editing the have also made the shots short, quickly cutting of fading into the next shot, however they are longer on the shots with black backgrounds and the names of the cast and crew. The text in the sequence also shakes, and changes into different fonts this gives the audience an uneasy feeling.
The sequence is filmed in a place with low key lighting, and the areas of the building we see suggest that it is abandoned. Through out the scene we see many different objects, the main being a note book filled with pages of writing, as well as lots of pictures. Some of the things that stand out the most are a razor blade, which is used to remove the skin of the unknown characters fingers, and a needle which is used to bind pages together. The order of these objects appear chronologically, as if showing the making of the book. This helps to give the audience an idea of what is going to happen, as well as an insight in to what the character is like.
The purpose of this sequence is to get the audience to question the imagery they are being shown and what is going to happen in the movie, as well as prepare them for what they are going to see. It is also used to tell the audience what genre the film is, the cutting out of words, and the imagery of sharp objects suggest crime and murder, the thumping music, and the tension it creates insinuates thriller, and the pictures of psychiatric procedures as well as the removal of skin from fingers suggest psychological.