To start off with we gathered our
group together and began mindmapping ideas we wrote down any little ideas we
had to try and get an idea as to what we wanted to do our clip on. In the end
we came to the conclusion that it would be best to do an interrogation scene,
because of the resources we had.
After this we had to set the scene by
choosing where we would be filming so we just used an empty classroom and
hallway and made it look more sinister by dimming the lights. We also borrowed
some outfits and props from the drama department to make our scene look more
realistic by borrowing the police hats and handcuffs. Another prop we used was
the pictures that were laid out on the table as a use of evidence against the
criminal. We also used a spotlight in the interrogation scene as the only
source of light and had to plan where abouts that would be placed for the best
effect.
Something else we used was a
storyboard to help map out and summarise our ideas to what we we're actually
going to use. This helped when we came to decide what dialogue to use,because
you can see who is going to say what at the specific time frame. The storyboard
also helped with deciding what bits we were going to use from our mindmap and
pick out the best bits and string them together. Also whilst we were filming we
had this handy so we could refer back to it and make sure everything was going
as planned.
In the opening sequence of Se7en we begin by going through what appears to
be a daily routine of Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) whereby he starts off
reading an old tattered book. Throughout the whole film there is not much light
and most scenes are dark and eerie. The opening scene is no different the dark
and suspicious nature of the room is from the low key lighting. Throughout this
scene we can hear voices, dogs barking in the background from outside
mainly shouting these are all examples of diegetic sounds and allow the
audience to guess that he is probably in the city. There is another noise
coming from this scene, the screech or a high pitch static noise a similar
sound ti that of someone screaming so immediately it adds a dangerous feel to
the scene.
The title credits add a tone of suspense and uses loads of close ups to help
add the suspense. The first close up is of some flicking through a book however
the focus is primarily on the book and the background is blurred out so we
cannot see who is reading the book Adding an element of mystery. Switching from
one scene to the next very quickly keeping the audience of the edge of their
seats, next we see the end of someones fingers as they scrape away the skin
from their fingertips adding a gruesome edge to the title scene making the
audience wonder who it was and why they were doing it, everyone wants to find
out what is going to happen next and continue watching. We then see the same
person picking up another book. The whole scene uses dull colours like black,
white, grey and brown and then towards the end there is red, everybody
associates red with the colour of blood and danger, and idea that is dominant
in thrillers and this specific film.
The camera work in the opening titles are amazing, the constant, quick
movement from one clip to the next keeping it at a high pace adds suspense and
thrill. All the shots are either high angle shots looking down giving us a
point of view of someone,they are blurred out or even just shows small glimpses
of hands. Throughout the title scene the viewer is almost begging to know who
is doing all this and what exactly are they are doing. A great thriller always
keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and asking questions this does
exactly that. You get the idea that most of these aren't that important,
because you never get a long time to look at them and they are always very
confusing.
The editing in
this sequence is very fast paced to add suspense, transitioning from
one clip to the next. Often fading out from one clip into the next. The editing
does a great job in adding to the mood and feel of the film and genre. The
scene involving a black highlighter pen is slowed down and spent are lot more
focus on this highlighting it's importance. The actual credits follow the
thriller genre as they are messy and use a basic colour like white. The font
used looks like it is hand written and they appear to flicker on the screen
similar to an interrogation scene light bulb that flicker on and off to add
suspense. Things my group should take from this film Fast
paced and constantly flicking from one scene to another.
Always adding mystery and thrilling the audience by making them curious and
asking questions about props used throughout.
No focus on who the characters are at this point and leaves them quite open to
wonder about who they are, or what they will become.
In the very opening scene we see huge
waves crashing against a rock, whislt dramatic music is playing in the
background. This is used to create tension, almost all thriller begin like this
to get the viewer hooked and on the edge of their seats. You can also hear the
crashing of the waves in the background, this is also to create tension.
We then get a close
up of Cob ( Leanardo Di Caprio), this is an intial introduction of the main
character and you can get a good look at his face and the emotions on his face.
After this it goes from his face to two chidlren playing on the beach.Which
leaves the audience thinking who is this guy and they are really intrigued now.
At this point the music changes to something more soft and less dramatic a kind
of calming effect and the waves aren't crashing as much and are more like calm
natural waves.
After the intial
scene, we are then introduced a new character who pokes him with a gun who is
clearly a part of an organisation. You can tell this by the all black uniform
he is wearing and their is a small symbol in the middle of his cap. This makes
the audience even more facinated and he then shouts to someone dressed in a
similar uniform in Chinese. This reinforces the idea that he is a part of somekind
of organisation and then the use the gun as a prop makes you believe that it
isn't a nice organisation.
The next scene is
inside a room, there looks very ancient and authentic chinese with a lot of
ancient artifacts and the ceiling is covered in chinese lanterns. We then go
from this scene to a new scene in the same room just at a different time with
the same people.
At the start of
the scene there is an establishing shot to show everyone involved in the scene,
setting the scene. Throughout the scene they do not break the 180 degree rule,
they do this to try and avoid confusion. In this clip they use a lot of shot
reverse shots to show who is talking at a certain point and then it moves on to
a different person when they reply. The close ups in the clip show the emotions
clearly of the characters in the clip. They do this to show the three important
characters in the clip. Whilst doing this it constantly keeps the tension
rising within the scene, because they are trying to sell him the idea of
Inception.
The shots are very slow pace as the
majority of the scene as the characters are having a conversation.
Switching from one character to the other, this effect doesn't build up much
tension at all. The editing in the first scene is very basic and slow, not
building up much pace.
Ideas to take from this opening
scene
The very first scene is a great
tension builder with the crashing waves and dramatic movie which work very well
with the thriller genre and is very important in setting the scene ready for
the rest of the film.
The shot reverse shot in the long
converstaion is a great additon along side the close ups of who is speaking
makes it very clear who is speaking when and who is involved in thew
conversation.
It also uses a lot of close ups to
really show the emotion of each character, which is essential in a thriller so
it is easy to tell what each character is thinking/feeling.
