Seven ( 1995)
is a thriller about a cerial killer who kills people because the commit one of the " seven deadly sins"
It has a linear narrative structure ( so the events shown happen in time order). It starts off with the finding of a body of someone who has been tortured and forced to die.
This is where the two main characters are introduced both to the audience and to each other. They rae " detective Mills" (Brad Pitt) and " detective Somerset" ( Morgan Freeman).
Because the audience are introduced to them both at the same time they feel as if they too are detectives that are going to be working with them to catch and convict the killer which is good for a thriller as it makes the audience feel involved which means they will become more thrilled by events in the film.
Seven Notes.
Detective David Mills - Brad Pitt
Detective William Somerset - Morgan Freeman.
Tracy Mills - Brad Pitts wife/girlfriend.
John Doe/Killer - Kevin Spacey.
Sloth, Lust, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Greed, Gluttony.
Mis-en-scene - all of the settings and locations are always in bad weather, like raining or cloudy.theres not much light. always dark. which makes it have an eerie theme. CHM - Somerset always looks smart and he dresses nicely and takes pride in his aperiance this reflects his character. Mills looks scruffier, he is careless. Props - old books are used by each main character. Doe uses notebooks, thousands of them. Somerset spends time in the library with all the old books, which some of them he gives to Mills. Ironic in the way that the killer and the detectives have something so small in common. The torches that Mills and Somerset both carry around with them add an eerie effect to all the scenes/locations that they visit, as the torches bring such little light into such dark places. The gun Mills carries is another way to devide him from Somerset, as Mills acts on impulse and follows his feelings where as Somerset doesnt see the need ( he's only ever aimed his gun once but never fired even though he's been working in a toucher city for a long time).
Sound - the non diagetic sound is mainly tense music. often tempo of music increases/speeds up as it reaches the climax which emphasises the scene. diagetic sounds used are the more natural ones, city noises - police sirens - rain - cars/traffic. these things show that it is always a busy city with bad things appening because of dogs barking, trains, police sirens. Somerset also uses a metronome to drown out the noises of the city around him - used for stress relief/relaxation, blocks out screaming, sirens, traffic etc. Sychronons - sound in sync. Music that comes on when Somerset is in the library is classical, calm music - contrast with the tense music, traquil calm, safe place to be, the audience knows nothing bad is going to happen here. and this music is diagetic in the scene with Somerset but it shows Mills reading too in a diffrent place but has the same music, it is not niagetic for Mills as he cant hear it, this shows the connection with the two detectives.
Editing - at the beginning the introduction to the film makes no sense, as to us it is just images placed on top of each other, this gives the audience the sense that something odd/eerie is happening, gives a sense of what is to come or be expected. Montage - small clips of different things put together - builds on mood - builds on character - builds on story. The speed of the shots changes depending on how fast the audience is allowed to look at the images, some shots fade in and out, always hiding something from the audience.
Codes and Conventions - the film fits most of the thriller codes and conventions. John Cawelti talks about introducing the "exotic" into modern normal life, the old books and pictures that are looked at or read in the film are not what you'd usually be looking at, and the seven deadly sins are also the exotic. GK Chesterton said thrillers are best done in urban areas, which this one definatly was. WH Matthews said that there should be some sort of puzzle/journey on which the audience should be taken on, or try to find out. Something like a maze, which Seven had, as the audience never knew what was going to happen next or who it was going to happen to. Pascal Bontizer says that the audience should only have partial vision of whats going on in the film, to add suspense. Seven incorporates this as in some scenes we don't see everything, eg. the murdered prostitute, the box with Mills' wife's head in at the end, the audience isn't shown who the murderer is until the end, his face is always covered. Partial vision to the actual narrative story. Lars says that thrillers should hide things on purpose, eg, the entire plan - or in this case, the killers face is hiden right up until he wants to be seen. Noel Carroll came up with the question and answer model, where the film is constantly making the audience ask questions, eg, will the hero survive? when Mills puts the gun to John Doe's head, will he shoot him? Moral factor - hero in a moral situation where hes not supposed to kill the killer, makes him an anti-hero. If you have the moral factor in a hero, is he still a hero?
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