OH: Title Sequence Analysis - Se7en (Fincher, 1995)

Genre - 
The movie itself by David Fincher is a mystery thriller in which two detective track down a serial killer. However from the evidence given in the clip, it seems as if its a psychological horror to which a serial killer is documenting his/her killings in this diary as shown in the title sequence. The editing alone is very much of a psychological horror would depict, with the fast cutting rate suggests a panic or unease about the scene which could relate to the characters mental health. The diary is then used to document the deaths backed up with pictures, other films that are similar to this are The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) or Session 9 (Anderson, 2001). Not only the editing but the very scrappy and scratch like effect given off by the actor sewing his pages together and attaching celluloid photos and pieces of hair to documents of somewhat 'patients' is very similar to Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991).
Realistically, the audiences generic expectations of the genre are fulfilled by the title sequence. With the inclusion of many of the major effects expected from a psychological horror being present. The props used in the scene are those that you'd expect to find around the house which presents this serial killer to be the type that is quite old fashioned, with the use of the camera film instead of proper developed pictures. Also notice the fact that the hands are all bandaged up for some reason keeping a sense of unease with the audience almost wanting to learn more about the character as the editing is deliberately composed to reveal little about him, just what is expected in the title sequence of a psychological horror.
Generally the film is presented in a very ironic way for a psychological horror, with the minimal frame time and the main character being male as well as the black and white filter creating an eerie effect all help to support the dominant ideology of a psychological film.

Film Language - 
The camera is used effectively in the opening sequence to convey the appearance of a psychologic serial killer. A majority of the shots in the title sequence are close ups of the antagonist's hands on these documents and book pages. Ultimately to minimise the amount of time thats needed on the serial killer, there is little to no camera movement allowing the focus to be emphasised on the editing between the different shots.
Editing is very important in the scene in conveying the general meaning of the sequence, the action match between the killers hands gives him prevalence in the shot showing that the focus is on him. Not only this but the intercutting between him cutting himself and the shots of the celluloid pictures of his victims sets a very gruesome story line ahead for the film allowing the audience to access a visceral experience in the cringing of the skin being sliced off of his finger. Furthermore the pace of editing is very fast and creates a sense of unease to the sequence, which can be related to the mental health of the character given prevalence, this coupled with the scratch like sketches layered over the top of the shots presents the character as mentally uneasy.
Mise-en-scene is used throughout the scene to convey the unease in the scene and create a set that would be present in the room of a serial killer. The props are very unsafe and sharp, for example the needle to stitch the two pieces of paper together, as well as the blade of which he cuts his finger with and finally the piece of sharp iron he cuts he cello tape with. All of these contribute to the psychotic theme. Furthermore, the use of the low lit room as well as the fact there is no dialogue all help to create a real uncertainty as to whom the character really is, setting the scene for the rest of the film.
More over, the soundtrack is a heavily based around a repetitive beat which becomes progressively quicker as the cut time decreases between shots, this could be interpreted as showing the process of documenting the death as very repetitive, almost as if he'd/she'd done it before. Also there is the introduction of the sounds like the changing of frequency which sounds a lot like a scream, which, when coupled with the visuals, such as the pictures of the death almost puts the narrative together for the audience giving some sort of narrative pleasure, as the audience makes assumptions on the plot. Theres very little diagetic sound in the scene which isn't helped by the short cut times but some of the only diagetic sounds is rocking of a chair. This could be interpreted as the chair of an older person to which the audience is able to make further assumptions about the main character.
Other visual techniques in the post production are such as the over lay of the edited sketches over the top of the shots. This allowed Fincher to make sure that the audience knows that the antagonist is slightly mentally unstable. With the text on the overlays constructing of either combinations of numbers and letters or odd sketches it allows the audience to understand that this character is slightly unstable in the mind.
The typography used in the title sequence also contributes to the psychological effect that Fincher is looking for, with the companies that the film is associated with being labelled in white against a black background each time allowing them to stand out, not only this but they are also done in handwriting which is very similar to the one given in the scene on the paper. This makes it feel to the audience that its being written by the serial killer, which all helps to keep focus on the psychotic character. Not only this, but also the typography is very scruffy, not what you'd expect from a full grown man, allowing the audience to question the mental health of the antagonist further. The title 'se7en' isn't given any prevalence in the scene against the other names.

Narrative - 
Theres a clear plot arising from the text, one of which this serial killer is documenting his latest killing and putting it next to his old ones of which the audience is able to see old celluloid pictures of. Some of which seem to be very brutal killings where a mans head is seen to be caved in be a clamp, another of which a ladies lips have been taken off. Not only this but its clear that this psychotic character is interested in the human body and mind alike as he's seen to be reading up on how to tell if someone is pregnant and the mentally sexuality of people. All of these clamps and hooks are all stock weapons for a psychotic killer. Also the location seems to be in a low lit area and there light which does shine in has a sort of separation much like a window which could suggest its in a garage or a basement with a single window. Both of which locations are stock locations for this genre, not challenging any stereotypes about the genre.
The sequence its self is structured so that we are able to see the process of how this killer documents these deaths into a small two minute video through the use of the fast pace of editing and intercutting.
Throughout the narrative the audience is placed at the other side of the desk, allowing them to be almost like the third person to the process which is very similar to the first person due to the close distance of the shots, however there are no POV shots to present them as first person narrative. Some of the main themes present in the narrative are ones such as the setting of which its clear that its one that would be used a lot in the representation of a horror film. Also the plot is very typical of a psychological horror of which the serial killer will kill the victim in a very gruesome way, take pictures of them and document them in a diary for their own personal pleasure.
The tension is created through the contrast in colours, props such as knives, blood, sudden sounds and jump cuts. The sudden contrast in colours when the typeface appears confirms where the audiences attention is needed. Furthermore the props such as knives in the sequence makes the audience question if anything will actually happen in the opening sequence wanting them to watch on for more this also has the same effect with the blood. Finally the jump cuts are very effective as the audience has to focus hard on the pictures before they disappear into a different cut so it creates further tension and visceral pleasure when something suddenly appears after this making the audience jump, ultimately creating tension.

Representation and Ideology - 
Ultimately throughout the sequence, social groups aren't represented as there's only a small amount of shots of which faces are presented and there are faces in which they have been killed by a clamp etc. However the only ideology that is present is the one of how mentally ill people are incapable of normal human intelligence. Which isn't challenged and is represented through the poor writing, which wouldn't be expected from someone with normal brain capacity at middle age. However this mentally ill person must be relatively clever as he's managed to get away with all of these murders without being captured so you could argue that 'se7en' in presenting an emergent ideology.

Media Audiences - 
For the film itself as a psychological thriller would be the 15-34 age bracket as well as frequent cinema goers, this is because of the blockbuster cast such as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. However from the title sequence it would seem that it was more of a psychological horror of which the core audience would be 15-24. This would still attract the frequent cinema goers even though it has a different genre. 
The possible different readings from the text are that its either a man who is killing these people as an experiment or is killing them to fulfil an evil kick of his but what ever the different readings are, it doesn't matter, as its so early on that we're sure to find out the wider picture throughout the movie.
Me, personally, believe that this man is killing these different people to experiment on them for further information on the human body. The only reason i believe this is due to other films that i've seen where the people experiment on humans such as The Human Centipede (Six, 2009).

Institutional Context - 
The A-listers used in the film are Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey. All of which are very popular and its very unusual to have so many in one film. The main actors Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play the parts of the two detectives trying to track the serial killer down (Kevin Spacey). Seven, an industrial film, distributed by New Line Cinema was made on a budget of $33 million, however went on to box office $327.3 million worldwide to which it was deemed a commercial success and received some good reviews. 
From the title sequence its not clear that its an independent film or industrial film however its certainly evident that the director, Fincher, didn't hold back on any touches in order to make sure that the introduction had no flaws in any of the soundtrack, props or set all working out perfectly for setting the scene for the rest of the film.