Seven

In class i watched the film seven and under headlines i made notes about the films: narrative structure, editing, sound, Mise en scene, cinematography and codes and conventions.

Narrative structure:
The thriller seven is in chronological order; this is shown by a white text to headline each day. In comparison each death was headlined by one of the seven deadly sins. To echo the tittle of the film seven the film uses a seven day linear each day included one of the seven deadly sins. Seven picks up on many narrative themes such as religious literature based killings, each death and victim were chosen for committing one the sins.

Editing:
The opening of the film is extremely haunting, the camera is very dark, blurred, scratched and slightly shadowed creating a scary atmosphere. The opening titles are in white text which connotes hope and religious symbols of angels however the text is surrounded by black which has connotations of evil. The black over powers the white meaning evil will always conquer hope, the white text is seen again when the film headlines each day. The text is foreshadowing the possible outcome of the film.

Sound:
To match the creepy editing used for the opening titles, the music is very well selected and goes well with the haunting images. The music is very unnatural and cold which sets the eerie tone of the film. As the titles continue the music gets faster, the faster music reflects heart beats or maybe just the audience's anticipation to see the film. When the film begins its natural sounds of sirens, alarms, barking, trains and car horns all this busy background noises implies the lifestyle on New York. sound is used again when there is a new discovery of a dead body, the cold music adds tension to the scene which is emphasized by the dramatic tension from the characters. Despite all the haunting music there is a point in the film where the music becomes softer and peaceful. Detective somerset plays the music in the library so to him the music is diagetic however the scene cuts to mills apartment and the music becomes non diagetic, this is the first time the tow detectives are linked together.

Mise en scene:
To create the atmosphere films use props, clothing, lighting and make up. Both detectives mills and somerset wear suits however somersets comes across a lot smarter and better presented, this reflects how long he has worked there for and how seriously he takes his job. The lighting is extremely limited, its always quite dark to set an eerie scene, the only places where light is bright is the police station and mortuary this could connect to the text, there are some bright white areas in the film yet it is over powered by the dark areas. The stetting is New York city creating a busy atmosphere which is quite miserable the constant rain in the film adds to the depressing setting. The props used in the film are the typical detective tools you would expect to see, such as guns, torches and books, this make the scene look believable and convincing.

Cinematography:
cinematography is basically the art or science of motion-picture photography. To show power camera angles can really help, throughout the film the two detectives are always on the same level to show there both good detectives. The only time there ever higher than someone is when John Doe hands himself in, hes lying on the floor yet the camera is looking up to mills who's looking down on doe aiming a gun at him, this foreshadows the ending. In the end of the film mills has the gun pointing at does head, again. However when the plot turns and mills is about to shoot Doe the camera looks up to Doe as a martyr, his head is blocking out the sun which creates a halo around his head, Doe has won and see's himself as a god like man. When mills shoots Doe, the camera goes straight up to the helicopter and looks down on mills this could be to involve the audience. As the camera gets the real movement of the helicopter this adds variety to all the other camera angles which have mostly been still shots, creating more dramatic tension because the audience is so use to the still shots. In comparison with the detectives usually being in control of the problems so when the camera looks down out of the helicopter, this an unusual angle which is reflected in his co workers unusual feeling of disappointment in him and from then on the camera looks down on him.

Codes and conventions:
Following on from my previous blog about the conventions of a thriller, seven uses some of the ideas mentioned. Chesterton's idea of the hero being a normal person is used, mills and somerset could be the hero of this film as they are both normal people however they dont do very hero like things, for Mills to be the hero of the film he should of not of killed Doe. Seven is also in a urban city like how Cheserton suggested. Seven also follows Noel carroll's idea of the question, there are many questions to ask throughout the film. The film also breaks tradition with the film being set out every day in chronological order, there is no confusion with flashbacks its not really like a maze its clearly set out the one thing that is not set out is obviously who the murderer is and if there going to catch them.