Case study of Se7en (1995) by David Fincher

In this case study I shall be looking at the American 1995 film; se7en directed by David Fincher. It was nominated for 17 awards and was a winner of 19 others. The film, which could be considered of the thriller, crime or even mystery genre, is a story about two detectives seeking a serial killer who bases his murders on the seven deadly sins. 



This is a BBC film review of the film Almar Haflidason 
"Originality in movies today is a rarity, with many central themes having been plundered to the point of audience exhaustion. What the viewer can occasionally hope for is a fresh new slant or re-interpretation. "Se7en" is such an example of classic horror thrills, up-ended and twisted into a bewildering and claustrophobic web of tension.
   Despite the references to the 'seven deadly sins' and other machinations of literary origin, this is a 'chase' movie. Fincher previously murdered this sub-genre with the brutally dull "Alien 3". His techniques in "Se7en" are confidently different. In the place of the obvious is subtlety. Rather than lingering gore shots, we get a diffused layering of the visual and verbal, to nauseating effect.
   The pace is fast and the shocks build beautifully. The actors within it all reel with convincing horror, as the chase veers towards a growing realisation that the answer to this mystery will not soothe the frazzled viewer."

What makes se7en a thriller?
-use of low lighting
-use of muted colours
-use of generic charatcers (ie. Detectives)
-use of generic clothing
-use of diegetic sound
-use of metaphor
-use of chiaroscuro lighting
-use of close up

Analysis of se7en and how David Fincher uses aspects of the thriller genre
David Fincher uses many aspects of the thriller genre within the film Se7en of which I shall be exploring in this case study analysis. One way Fincher presents Se7en as a thriller is through sound conventions. The film begins which the Diegetic sounds of metal objects clanging and the sound of washing up, there is no dialogue which allows the audience to assume the Detective is alone making him seem vulnerable and creating a tense feeling often found in thrillers. The camera then transits into a medium close up of the Detective, which is commonly used in the thriller as it allows us to see emotion; however in this specific close up we see no obvious emotion. We then see that he is dressed in a shirt, braces, generic thriller style suit and a trilby hat. This tells the audience that he looks after himself, the audience is made aware that is patient, the audience also consider that it maybe be a symbol of respect towards his colleges and hierarchy, which is perhaps a reference to old thriller costume.The audience then sees a close up of neatly arranged selection of everyday objects and uncommon objects including; a police badge which instantly tells the audience that he is a Detective (which is a generic character in the thriller genre), a knife, a pen, a tissue and an unidentified object in a black leather case. The use of unknown objects is common in thrillers as it adds to the suspense as the audience are desperate to know what it is. The camera then cuts to the Detectives lower body and follows his hand until it switches off a bed side light. The turning off the bedside light is perhaps a metaphor for death, as when we relate dark black colours to death and misery. Also the light almost foreshadows the following scene where we see a dead man lying on the floor.
      Fincher then cuts to another scene in which he has made strong use of chiaroscuro lighting with muted colours which draws the audience’s eyes to the pool of blood belonging to the dead man, this lighting is used to suggest nightmares and surrealism and refers to the Film Noir genre. The camera then changes to low key lighting of the Detective and a slight blue filter has used which again estabilishes the genre. The camera then moves into the Detectives, low key lighting has been used to add to the mystery and tension within the scene as parts of the Detective are shadowed and less visible. The setting of this scene is grimy, dirty and grungey which could be a reflection of the murderer or could be an implication that somebody in the police is crooked. Fincher has a setting like this to perhaps show strong contrast with the Detectives delicately organised flat, this could be a comparision of the Detectives neat moral gestures and with the obsessive, almost nauseating mayhem caused by the psychopath.
    The camera then cuts to the Detective in bed- again Fincher has played on the vunerablity of the character as he his once more alone. This is when Fincher again makes obvious use of sound to relate to the thriller genre as the style he uses often creates a tense atmosphere. The Detective then switches on a metronome, which almosts acts as a repetitive diegetic rythme, as the film continues the noise becomes louder creating an ever increasing tense, tormenting atmosphere until it stops with a swooping noise. The metronome also has been utilised in reference to the dectectives meticulous and steady nature. Fincher then chose to use a steady beat with particular objects which almost becomes a song. We are able to hear groaning, screams, scraping and clicking noises which don't necessarily match the images which flash on the screen which creates a feeling of confusion and disorientationfor the audience.
     In this scene Fincher also makes use of editing and images to create specific moods. The audience sees flashes of images which have been edited with flashes and sharp shot changes, each image interspersed with a black screen again creating a feel of disorientation. We are never able to see the entire image, where it is and who is handling the object, which creates a highly intense atmosphere as the audience are desperate to know what the objects are and essentially symbolise. As the scene progresses the images are interspersed with occasional red blank screens connating blood, danger and perhaps evil. We see images of book pages, disturbing images and newspaper clipping of alarming subject. Although nobody in the mise-en-scene, we see close ups of somebodies unclean hands, writing, cutting and sewing creating a very daunting and uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience. We are forced to come to the conclusion that the unkown person is creating a book of some form, of which contains evidence or simply disturbed ideas, we are unsure whether it is an act of good or evil and whether the person is a detective or a disturbed person. All the images shown within the Mise-en-scene have been used to create an uncomfortable, disturbing yet gripping effect on the audience.