Deconstruction of Saw VII opening sequence
The opening sequence of saw VII takes place in a busy town centre. The three supporting characters in the sequence are chained to a table and a woman chained to the roof of the glass room. The room starts off with curtains hiding the contents of the glass room from the public.
As the the curtains fall, the characters start to wake up and realise the situation they're in and crowds start to gather round and look on as the situation unfolds.
After brief dialogue and failed attempts from the increasingly large crowd to break the glass and to free the three characters on the inside, the Jigsaw toy comes onto the scene from behind the display and talks of a "game" he'd like to play.
As the two characters in the sequence start trying to fight over who gets to live and who dies, One of them has the saw blade nearly forced into his chest but it "only" slices his chest a little. The camera angles used for this are quite cleverly done to allow for the special effects team to have a rig set up that basically squirts ketchup in the way that we see in the image below. The diegetic sound of a disc blade slicing through wood is also used so in case the screaming and evident pain the character is in wasn't enough, the diegetic soundtrack of a saw cutting is used to make sure you know what's going on.
Again, following more diegetic dialogue between the two male characters, They decide to agree that they aren't going to kill one another and move the trap rig into a neutral position which saves both Brad and Ryan from dying and so sacrifice Tina's life as she was the one that cheated on the two of them with one another. Ryan's phrase has an odd sense of humour about it when Tina screams "What are you doing?!" and so Ryan replies "I think we're breaking up with you Tina!". Although the statement is true, The context and way in which he says it is humorous and subverts the generic idea that Horror films all have to be serious and can't have an occasional joke thrown in.
As the rigging is levelled out, the camera angle changes to a birds eye view of the central blade as if it were a POV shot from Tina. This causes the audience to essentially be put into Tina's position and get a slight feel of what it would be like to have a disc blade inches away from slicing you in half. Furthermore, the Saws engine revs itself as the timer count down further which builds the anticipation of what will happen next and whether one of the male characters will kill the other and save Tina at the last minute or not.
One thing that is certainly common in the Saw films but is also very common in most other horror genres is the police showing up just that little bit too late to do anything of great affect and as a result puts the killer in a position of being better than the police which only makes the eventual downfall of the killer to be that bit more of a climax.
Once the police arrive, Tina's fate has already been decided and she just comes into contact with the saw blade when the police get to the window to witness it all unfold. There is the use of a saw cutting sound which you'd hear on a construction site which is used to indicate the power of the saws and how easily they're cutting through human flesh. The low camera angle, boarder lining on worms eye view is used so the audience have a clear view of the saw blade cutting her stomach. There is also a 3D version of the film and so this shot proves extra effective when the effect of blood falling at the audiences faces is added in.
There are a large number of reaction shots towards the end of this sequence. This is so the trauma that all characters are going through is emphasised compared to their already traumatic experience of trying to kill one another. The reaction shots of Tina, I find, are particularly effective as her pain is evident and you almost start to feel sorry for her character.
Tina's dismal end is finally met before the blade has even fully gone through her. However, she eventually dies after she has coughed up a large amount of blood and has painted the room in an equal amount of her blood. There is a slight feeling of calm within the sequence after she has died and hangs there limp from the ceiling as the screaming is all over and Brad and Ryan are both still alive which is shown through another series of close-up reaction shots of the pair before cutting to the opening titles.
after jigsaw has stated the rules of the "game" a timer then starts which is counting down from 60 seconds. after the 60 seconds, someone will have a disc blade in their chest/stomach. looking at the Jigsaw doll, he fills the stereotypes of a psychological/slasher hybrid character (or prop if you prefer). with the fact he is a doll being put aside, the pale face and odd facial features are common in slasher films. For example, Bubba in texas chainsaw (the main killer) actually wears the faces of the people he's killed by stitching them to his own face. another example is the man from "A Nightmare On Elm Street" and his exceedingly long arms.
As the two characters in the sequence start trying to fight over who gets to live and who dies, One of them has the saw blade nearly forced into his chest but it "only" slices his chest a little. The camera angles used for this are quite cleverly done to allow for the special effects team to have a rig set up that basically squirts ketchup in the way that we see in the image below. The diegetic sound of a disc blade slicing through wood is also used so in case the screaming and evident pain the character is in wasn't enough, the diegetic soundtrack of a saw cutting is used to make sure you know what's going on.
Again, following more diegetic dialogue between the two male characters, They decide to agree that they aren't going to kill one another and move the trap rig into a neutral position which saves both Brad and Ryan from dying and so sacrifice Tina's life as she was the one that cheated on the two of them with one another. Ryan's phrase has an odd sense of humour about it when Tina screams "What are you doing?!" and so Ryan replies "I think we're breaking up with you Tina!". Although the statement is true, The context and way in which he says it is humorous and subverts the generic idea that Horror films all have to be serious and can't have an occasional joke thrown in.
As the rigging is levelled out, the camera angle changes to a birds eye view of the central blade as if it were a POV shot from Tina. This causes the audience to essentially be put into Tina's position and get a slight feel of what it would be like to have a disc blade inches away from slicing you in half. Furthermore, the Saws engine revs itself as the timer count down further which builds the anticipation of what will happen next and whether one of the male characters will kill the other and save Tina at the last minute or not.
One thing that is certainly common in the Saw films but is also very common in most other horror genres is the police showing up just that little bit too late to do anything of great affect and as a result puts the killer in a position of being better than the police which only makes the eventual downfall of the killer to be that bit more of a climax.
Once the police arrive, Tina's fate has already been decided and she just comes into contact with the saw blade when the police get to the window to witness it all unfold. There is the use of a saw cutting sound which you'd hear on a construction site which is used to indicate the power of the saws and how easily they're cutting through human flesh. The low camera angle, boarder lining on worms eye view is used so the audience have a clear view of the saw blade cutting her stomach. There is also a 3D version of the film and so this shot proves extra effective when the effect of blood falling at the audiences faces is added in.
There are a large number of reaction shots towards the end of this sequence. This is so the trauma that all characters are going through is emphasised compared to their already traumatic experience of trying to kill one another. The reaction shots of Tina, I find, are particularly effective as her pain is evident and you almost start to feel sorry for her character.
Tina's dismal end is finally met before the blade has even fully gone through her. However, she eventually dies after she has coughed up a large amount of blood and has painted the room in an equal amount of her blood. There is a slight feeling of calm within the sequence after she has died and hangs there limp from the ceiling as the screaming is all over and Brad and Ryan are both still alive which is shown through another series of close-up reaction shots of the pair before cutting to the opening titles.
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