Deconstruction and inspiration from Se7en opening credits

The first thing to appear in the opening credits to Se7en is the production companies name. This is pretty much always the case with every film as it identifies by whom the film was produced by.

The opening credits quickly move on to include creepily detailed drawings/photographs of human body parts that have been manipulated/mauled to immediately give the audience the idea that this certainly won't be a product aimed at young children looking for a funny film to watch.

The use of close up shots is already becoming apparent in the first 20 seconds of the opening credits. this is to indicate that the film takes place in a close and personal setting such as a house. This close up in particular shows the "killer" as we can only assume is featuring in this clip, is removing their finger prints by using a razor blade to slice them off which not only suggests that they want to hide evidence of them killing someone, but also indicates that there might not be something right with a person that would rather slice their own fingerprints off instead of just wearing gloves. This is a key point to take note of for our production to decide whether our killer will wear gloves or if they'll just remove their fingerprints altogether and how we'll show this.

The killer/protagonist we focus on in the opening credits seems to be keeping a diary of their killings/sick and twisted surgeries they carry out on their victims. We can see this very easily as the protagonist is writing pages of words and then sticks newspaper clippings or photos from medical journals on brain surgery which indicates that they know what they're doing which adds to the fear factor, that the killer knows that what they're doing is done in hospital yet they're wanting to do it for themselves at home and make diary entries about it.

Something else we can take away from the opening credits, is that the soundtrack is very parallel to the sequence as it is slow paced and has a dark eery feel to it which is very common amongst psychological horror films as they want to have the audience constantly on edge so the effects of certain scenes is amplified.

practical task - Location scouting

So I chose to look at outside locations during my scout and came across a few excellent locations for use in a potential chase scene or to be used in establishing shots followed by a cut to the protagonist(s) in their current location(s).

My favourite, and first, of the locations, was in part of a woodland near to where I live in Yalding.

I really like this as a woodland location as you can see in the distance that it has plenty of ground space, but the trees still obscure direct view in most directions and so can be used as an effective chase location.

I can explain the use of the smoke. It was purely as a way of seeing the potential usage of smoke to create "fog" when it becomes dark enough to appear as night. The fact it was red is just as a way of seeing the effect as a more exaggeration since at night, we'd have lighting set up to shine through the white smoke which would be time consuming to replicate, however if this location is chosen alongside the mise-en-scene of the artificial smoke, we may revisit smoke grenades and their use.

With the help of some wind, I was able to get the effect I was after. As you see towards the left, the smoke is still thick, however, if a figure were to be stood within the smoke cloud with lighting behind them at night, we would be able to have an amazing effect of this ominous figure appearing from the mist which will be effective at building tension and gaining audience anticipation. Again, the smoke will be white if it were to be used in the actual sequence. However to make it easier to detect the effect created by the smoke, I have used red smoke during the daytime.

In my opinion, this is another great location for both an establishing shot of the area, and as a location where the killer can make a creepy first appearance where the protagonist walks across the entire frame and as they walk past, the killer is then perhaps stood beside one of the trees or a body is suddenly hanging from a tree, foreshadowing the protagonists inevitable outcome.

I really like this location for the sheer purpose that it is exceedingly creepy in the correct lighting. You're unable to see far in the distance and the space is claustrophobic as the trees line the path on both sides and also arch overhead to give the feeling that you're almost trapped which is a genuine feeling I get every time I walk along this path.

I don't know what it is about this part of the woodland location that I find eery, but I get the feeling that it's due to the hard foreground lighting and soft background lighting that make the space feel enclosed when actually it is the same clearing that the person is stood in holding the smoke grenades (photo 2). Again, to have a sudden jump cut to this exact location with the same lighting with a figure either stood here or dead here would increase the intensity of the sequence, especially if the protagonist(s) passes this location before they come across the killer.

Deconstruction of Saw VII opening sequence

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.

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.

Psychological Horror - Codes and Conventions - The Purge

Psychological Horror - Codes and Conventions