Psychological and crime thriller, 'Se7en' stars Morgan Freeman as William Somerset a retiring police detective who tackles a final case with the help of the newly transferred David Mills played by Brad Pitt. Together they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders, soon to realise a serial killer is on their hands (Kevin Spacey)- whom targets people he believes represent one of the seven deadly sins. The narrative of the thriller (and like most thrillers) conform to Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium stages. For example, in 'Se7en' the equilibrium is clear and represented as a normal life as an retiring detective taking on his last case, however the disruption is the ideology that it isn't a simple case and Detective Somerset has a much larger deeper, serial killer on his hands. Lastly the resolution and new equilibrium will be solving the murder case and carrying on his his retired life. It is vital within the opening sequence/ credits the producers don't give too much information away, however is interesting enough to keep the target audience engaged for the rest of the movie.
Se7en has done this effectively through the power of props, all the shots filmed in the opening scene is of props. This restricts the narrative leaving the demographic with enigma. The shots are all focused around a journal, this connotes the great significance and impact it has on the narrative, this causes the audience to be left with enigma as shots are never giving the information within the journal away. Other shots used include a montage of shots, this is used in the opening credits of se7en to condense information in a brief space of time. However the information is subliminal as the shots are edited together using flash cutting, causing shots to move to quickly. Flash cutting editing is throughout the production causing the target audience to be on edge, and signifies the heart beat quicken from beginning- in the equilibrium, to the end in the disequilibrium stages.
A incredibly important convention for a effective and powerful thriller is low key or de-saturated lighting. This opening sequence uses both types of lighting, this is effective on the audience as it creates an overall sense of feel and emotion for the rest of the production, exposing the genre straight away, however leaving information (such as fragment of the narrative) in the shadows to draw the audience in closer keeping them on edge. The lighting in se7en is used to highlight key elements, for example in the close up shot of the antagonist, cutting a negative with a pair of scissors, the scene is shot in low-key lighting casting a shadow over the hands of the killer, restricting information the demographic might be able to connote from his/her hands. However the scissors have light reflecting of them causes them to glare in the darkness, this signifies the danger and sharpness of the object causing the audience to became fearful of the person controlling them.
Power is given to the antagonist in the opening scene as we only see the same person signifying he or she drives the narrative. However the antagonist is also given power within knowledge, as the producers have made a restricted narrative, causing the audience to know less then the antagonist, which leaves the demographic vulnerable to the narrative to come. The antagonist is lastly given tyranny (cruel, unreasonable uses of power or control) from the montage shots of scenes in the opening sequence, connoting the his or her's drive and ambition is to make others fearful, which is successfully carried out on the target audience.
Last but not least, soundtrack is a vital and if used correctly a powerful convention of thriller.
The production uses parallel and synchronous music connoting that the audience should make an link or connection between the two. The been harsh pounding tones in the non-diegetic soundtrack connotes the heart beat of the audience, fastening synchronous to the images. The crime thriller genre can also be represented in the soundtrack as the non-diegetic sound gets louder in certain scenes where a person is present this connotes a sense of cover up where the non-diegetic soundtrack is trying to hide and restrict information from the target audience leading to the belief of cover up for a crime or murder.
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