{Se7en (1995)

Trailer analysis

General facts

• Genre: Neo Noir Crime Psychological Thriller

• Director: David Fincher• Star actors: Brad Pitt (Mills), Morgan

Freeman (Somerset), Gwyneth Paltrow (Tracy) and Kevin Spacey (Doe)– this is an example of how Dyer’s star vehicle can make a blockbuster film.

• Budget: $33m• Box Office: $327.3m – 7th highest grossing

film in 1995.• Distribution: New Line Cinema

Micro elements: Camera

• There is a mid shot of Mills at the very start of the film, which quick character introduction and development. The same is done for Somerset – they are clearly pointing out that they’re partners in their job. However, Mills is portrayed very differently to Somerset through the mise-en-scene that I mention later in the PowerPoint.

• Another camera shot used is a low/tilt angle of the bottom of a victim’s legs, where the feet are tied and bleeding. This signifies pain as well as crime, showing the audience what they are in for if they were to watch the film. Also, the way the camera tilts up slightly but not to the head makes it a mysterious shot, archetypal of Neo Noir film trailers.

• A close-up shot of Somerset, we see a reflection in his glasses of newspapers. Not only do the glasses suggest intelligence (or potentially old age) but the fact he is reading late into the night presumably about the case implies he’s very dedicated – which his one of the two ‘Inspector/Cop’ character stereotypes. His job is everything to him, he has nothing else to do but try and solve the case; in contrast to Mills who has a wife, although she is unhappy because of how his job has led them to move to deprived areas instead of a nicer, rural area.

• Her disappointment is shown through a mid-shot of her saying “I hate this place” with a grumpy facial expression, which could be a sub-narrative of the film.

• A classic Neo Noir distortion shot is also used within this sequence, as the camera is place within a car, looking out through the condensed window as rain drops flow down the glass. A police car is shown driving past, but you can only see the famous red and blue lights because of the window being condensed.

• Mills is empowered by a low angle as he kicks a door down. This aggressive nature adds to previous character development that he is more of the rogue inspector/cop that results to violence most of the time, the binary opposite of Somerset. This combination either works well, or goes horribly wrong – something that is obviously not included in the trailer so people go to watch the film

• Later on, a wide shot is used to show a dead body lying on a chair, with no face again to add the mysterious factor to the trailer again, however it is still explicit and isn’t for the faint hearted. This represents the horror aspect of the film, so by adding in this clip will conform to the needs of the horror lovers that are watching. It is also an example of reaction shot editing because in the scene before Somerset mentions “Gluttony” through the diegetic dialogue

• There is an over the shoulder shot of Somerset shows a flood of journalists and photographers – two archetypal characters of the Neo Noir genre. Also implies something big has happened – e.g. many deaths.

Micro-elements: Mise en Scene

• The colour scheme for the trailer is a very prominent combination of black and red.

• In the very first shot of Mills, we see him with two plasters on his face projecting cuts. This creates initial character development of him being violent. Also, his facial expression suggests he’s annoyed about the fight, implying he lost and that he may be an unreliable character; an archetype of the Neo Noir genre.

• Contrasting that image, his partner Somerset is dressed smartly in a trench coat and hat; straight away making him look a more sophisticated character, purposely juxtaposing him to Mills; suggesting a good cop vs. bad cop scenario or a rookie vs. expert, a common character battle in Crime films.

• A repeated prop throughout this trailer is a torch. In this particular scene, it’s the sole light source in a dark room – another archetypal technique of this genre of film trailer. To add to this, the camera switches quickly to an evidence bottle, again a common prop in a Neo Noir/Crime film.

• The weather appears to constantly be rain and clouds, adds to the gloomy representation of a City tarnished with crimes. It also adds a sense of verisimilitude

• Blue infrared lights reveals the words ‘Help me’ written in blood. This is an intriguing, unusual shot which is a typical technique of Neo Noir, that attracts the attention of the audience if it was ever lost by this point.

• Mills is seen punching his car dashboard and subsequently putting his head in his hands, shows he’s finding the case tough, again portraying his as a unreliable character that has a flaw of being short-tempered sand results to punching stuff to release his high levels of stress

• The ‘7 sins’ screen is reinforced three different times throughout the trailer, as it’s clearly the key narrative point. This screen of text also conforms to the colour scheme of the rest trailer, as the font colour is red on a black background; which is the same with the title screen at the end of the trailer.

• There are multiple close-up shots of the props, for example the weapons shed including knifes and guns. Against represents the violence of the film.

Micro-elements: Editing

• There is a repetition of one particular shot; a ticking timer. It is shown at an earlier point of the trailer, and then reappears, implying that time is running out and that they’re under pressure to solve the crime.

• A tracking shot edited with a over the shoulder shot shows Mills walking through the crime scene, the first actual key convention of a crime film. The nature of this shot also proposes that is is fairly graphic film.

• Once the scene of a dead body is shown, the editing immediately speeds up, with 4 clips revealed within 2 seconds, as an even faster montage. The pace of the editing increasing builds up more of an intense atmosphere, and is a very typical trait of thriller film trailers, as well as Neo Noir films.

• As the body killed due to ‘gluttony’ is found, a reaction shot is used to show the disgust and horror on Mills’ face, as he turns away. Although we don’t see the actual body in full, this reaction shot allows the audience to understand the true extent of the murder – which is another trait of Neo Noir film (trailers)

• Whenever Mills is in the shot, the editing seems to be faster paced, either when he’s working or he’s at home, which implies he’s short tempered, and struggling to handle the pressure of his job; which is his flaw. A detective with a flaw is a key archetype of Neo Noir films.

Micro-elements: Sound• The non-diegetic voiceover sums up the juxtaposition of Somerset and Mills as characters. It states

that Somerset is trying to “get out of the game” where as Mills is “looking for a way in”. Shows that one is at the end of the career, hence why they portray Somerset as more wise, but clearly has more past troubles – where as Mills is more of a hotheaded rookie, who doesn’t have any problems… yet.

• There are multiple onomatopoeic sound transitions between clips, in order to make the audience jump or scare them; generally making the trailer more excited.

• The diegetic dialogue then plays a part in character development between the two main characters as Mills asks “Do you like your job, the things you see?” Implies that the films narrative will be gruesome because of ‘the things he sees’, but also that Mills may be having doubts about becoming a detective in the big city. Maybe he’s not as confident as he was first portrayed at the start of the trailer. Incidentally, Somerset replies with “you have to where a blindfold sometimes.” Again, this reinforces the idea of the film being gruesome at times, which will please and excited a lot of the audience.

• Yet it doesn’t stop there. The diegetic dialogue again implies how much they all dislike the place. Mills’ wife asks Somerset “So how long have you lived here?” of which he replies “Too long” in a depressed tone. This is why he was about to retire before this new case, which implies that the narrative will be extremely intriguing for the audience, as it has persuaded him to stay in a job he hates for longer.

• The voiceover also states that the detectives are “caught in a game” – which suggests that the serial killer John Doe (Played by Kevin Spacey) is always one step ahead of them, another proposal that the narrative is complex, an archetype of Neo Noir.

• The non-diegetic incidental music gradually