SE7EN SPOILER

SE7EN- SPOILER



Somerset in the library

The film is set in a New-York style location, this is typical of a thriller film as they usually are set in the 'adult' world. The film features Detective William Somerset, a homicide specialist a week from retirement (how convienient?) But Detective Williams’ retirement will have to be post-poned for one final case, where he is partnered with young David Mills, the ardent detective replacing him at the end of the week. Mills has talked his un-willing wife, Tracy, into moving to the city so that he can engage in more important cases, but his first and Somerset's last are more than either man expected.



Victim of Gluttony evidence photo

A serial killer is staging horrific murders, choosing victims relating to the seven deadly sins. First, a fat man is forced to eat until his stomach ruptures to resemble gluttony, then a wealthy lawyer is made to slice a pound of his own body as reparation for greed. Somerset firstly refuses to take the case, coming to the conclusion there will be five more murders, Each victim is forced to suffer whatever sin they chose in life, lust, sloth, pride, wrath, and envy, We don't see any on-screen violence, but it is presented cleverly in order for the audience to imagine the horrific details, Personally I think this is what makes this film so effective it separates it form he genre of horror as we only see the aftermath where in a James Wan film we would get the ‘pleasure’ of seeing the victims gut splattering across the walls.



Mills arriving to sloth scene



As each victim is discovered, the killer leaves more clues, daring the detectives to find him. Detective Somerset uses the library system to view who has been reading books on the seven deadly sins and discovers a list of potential suspects, the first named John Doe. When the two detectives find John Does location and go to ask him a few questions, guns fire and both detectives realize they have found the killer, although John Doe escapes and strangely his apartment hold no finger prints.



Victim of Sloth



As the detectives try to unravel the mystery, the sins reach number 5 out of 7, when John Doe turns up to the police station ready to turn himself in the audience get to know his real name, Kevin Spacey, who doesn’t seem the serial killer type apart form the sliced fingertips and blood on his fingers and shirt, someone else’s blood.



After questioning about the two remaining victims, envy and wrath, Spacey tells the detective to go to a deserted field, the only scene which is shot in bright, sunny daylight, an obvious contrast to the rest of the film, possible to create and shot the optimism of the two detectives that this horrific case might be coming to a close, when the detectives and Spacey arrives they are the only ones in this deserted place when a FEDEX van pulls up carrying a packing for the detectives.





The box containing Mills' wife's decapitated head.



Somerset opens the package away form the view of the audience, How convenient, when spacey tells the detective that inside the package is the head of Mills beloved wife Tracy, Spacey reveals the sixth victim, that in fact Spacey was envious of Mills life, his career and his family that he then made himself to be the victim of envy.

Spacey then tells Mills that the sin of anger will destroy his own life, therefore ending the cycle. Mills shoots Spacey and in the end we see a police car taking Detective Mills away and inevitably the last victim, the victim of wrath.

Se7en trailer



PERSONAL CONCLUSION...

This film is shot cleverly and has underlining meanings, the film is dark throughout to resemble the dark lives and all the misery that the two detectives face in their everyday life, then the bright sunny outdoors final scene which resembles the optimistic view that this case is finally over, for it to be stripped and taken away from them in a devastating scene. Personally i really enjoyed watching this film, it was easy to follow and crafted perfectly, i liked the way that David Fincher (Director), didnt let the audience see the masacres but only what become of the victims after, as previously said this is what separates this film from horror genres.There also wasnt a big Enigma Code apart from the obvious who was killing these people and why?. Really, i thought the ending was a bit dull, there wasnt really a twist, more of a shocking revalation, yeah, okay Mills' wife was murdered and the last two remaining victims was Mills himself and Spacey, but there wasnt that moment where i thought "Woah! i didnt see that coming", this doesnt take away that the rest of the film was brilliantly shot and was executed perfectly as a thriller.

FILM RATING: 4/5 STARS

Thriller Expectations Mind-Map

This is my Thriller Film Expectations mind map, I told a friend all the aspects of a thriller film and what should be in the title sequence. I showed her three title sequences, one form psychological thriller, one from a political thriller and one from a crime thriller. After she had watched the three thriller film title sequences i asked her what her expectations where, plot, characters, setting etc. This is what she came up with.

From completing this task i have learnt exactly how directors and producers give away themes and aspects of the film without revealing the story-line and exactly how easily people can recognise these themes and aspects.

Genre Iconography Moodboard

Above is my Genre Iconography Mood board for a thriller film. You will be able to see the variety of images i have placed for what i think sums up a thriller film. Above there are scenes, characters, settings, and colours, typical scenes and props, that i think are in a thriller film. In the bottom right-and corner you will be able to see the image if a lady in a straight jacket, i used this image to create the theme of a physcological thriller, next to this image is a photograph of police using force against rioters, i used this image to show that in every thriller film, the law in someway is always connected, above these images is the Houses of Parliament and the Department of Justice in America badge, these both link into the law side of thriller films but also can go into the character box as in some political thrillers you will find, government officials, usually committing the crime themselves, or they will feature in one way or another. In the bottom left-hand corner, you will see Liam Neeson raising his gun from a still from the film Taken, Neeson is a prime actor for this mood board as he is in some of the best thrillers out there and plays his part excellently. Above these photos, at the top, is a photo of Hitler, i used this photo to resemble the dictatorship featured in many political thriller films, next to Hitler is a lady from the thriller, Shutter Island, she resembles the physcological thriller films. Further along the mood board is letter from John. F. Kennedy which is clearly blacked out hiding top secret information, i used this image to resemble the mystery and suspense that a thriller film creates.Thriller films are usually set in big cities this is to introduce to us that these films are in an 'Adult World', also costume plays a big part in any genre of film, but with a thriller if the directors doesn't hit the nail on the head, it could be fatal, directors need to distinguish between horror and thriller, so really there shouldn't be any clown suits or 'SCREAM' masks, instead we should expect to see business suits, police uniforms, general clothes but nothing with an obvious label. Overall i feel i have used relevent images to produce a thriller genre inspired moodboard.

Below is another mood board of four thriller film title sequence slates featuring slates from, SE7EN, Panic Room, The girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Insomnia. I chose these four as they give a wide variety to the type of thriller, whether its physcological, political or crime. Below these slates are some very good thriller films that also from the wide variety of the type of thriller film.

What makes a good thriller film- mindmap

This is the class mind-map on what is a thriller film. From doing this task i learnt to categorize all the aspects of what makes a thriller film. I also had a broader mind on thriller plots, characters, costumes and settings.

Panic Room- Title Sequence Time Line

Panic Room- Title Sequence Time Line

00:22

00:27

00:30

00:34

00:40

00:42

00:46

00:50

00:57

1:00

1:04

1:08

1:14

1:17

1:21

1:25

1:29

1:33

1:38

1:42

 Above is my Timeline Map of this thriller film, Panic Room (2002)


From doing this activity i have learn t the significance of the order that the names appear and also the amount of slates i will need to include when creating my own title sequence.  I heave learn t the significance of the professional qualification presented after some of the names in the slates and also what each qualification means e.g. .A.C.E, .A.S.C, .A.F.C. I have also learn t the average amount of time during a title sequence that each slate is shown and averagely how long each slate appears for. This project has taught me the reasons behind title sequences, and that they do not appear simply to advertise who was involved in the creation of the film but also for copyright reasons, i have also learnt the importance of the production company being first, this is sso the world know that production company 'owns' that film, also as they put a large sums of money into the film, this is a great way to show the importance of that production company.

Art Of The Title- Nine Frame Analysis

Art Of The Title- Nine Frame Analysis of the movie; SPLICE

The predominant colours in the title sequence are dark murky greens, this is put into the title sequence to foreshadow the dark nature of the film. It creates a dark mood, which creates suspense.

The title sequence gives away the theme of the film, that straight away it is shown too be underwater and too have a scientific theme.

X-Rays feature predominantly throughout the title sequence, this continues the biological, scientific aspect of the film .

The title sequence is clearly supposed to be underwater. The bubbles featured are put their either to show that something is breathing,or to foreshadow to the audience that the film features a creature in the water.

The fonts used continue the dark theme of the title sequence, they fade in and out to show an aspect of horror or ghostliness, the words are sharp and distinguished but the colours are dull and go with the dark themes of the title sequence . 

The Actors names are shown as scales or mutations, this give the audience the idea that the film may feature a creature of some sort.

An actresses name is written in veins, this gives a clear definition of the genre of the film, it immediately shows that the film is a horror.  

The Films name, Splice, is written in veins on some kind of body part, this gives the aspect of horror and again gives the impression that there may be a creature of some sort in the film.

During the beginning of the title sequence many x-rays are shown, this x-ray features a creature who looks like it may be mutated, giving the idea that the film will contain scientific experiments of some sort.

Napoleon Dynamite Title Sequence Project

This is my Napoleon Dynamite Title sequence, the project was set to do in the summer holidays, i watched the original a good few times to get the mood of the title sequence then thought creatively to come up with my ways to present each slate. I created this without having a AS Media lesson so although i feel each slate is creatively and inevitably presented, i do feel that now after being in a few Media lessons and i have learnt the importance of the order each slate appears, I could have done that better. i really enjoyed doing this project and really learnt that it was more harder than it looks to think of ways to present each slate and also to keep the viewer and audience interested.

What Makes A Good Thriller Film?

What Makes a Good Thriller Film?

by Danny Whitebread

This question is regularly asked across film database websites worldwide and the answer is usually the same, it is difficult to specify what makes a good thriller film because I think the majority lies with the viewer, what their preferences are? What atmosphere they like? But there are components I think that are needed, maybe not to create a good thriller, but at least make a watchable one.

Firstly a pace needs to be distinguished in the first few minutes of the movie, the protagonist needs to be in some sense of danger at a fast pace to kick start the events later to happen this fast pace needs to be kept throughout the movie, if this is done correctly will draw the audience in and hopefully keep them watching.

All thriller films should have a villain or villainous type character, the antagonist, which should have the balance of power turned in their favour for the majority of the film; this is brilliant at building tension throughout a movie, as the audience have no idea whether the protagonist will survive.

However in order for tension to be built, the audience need to view character growth, they need to view the protagonists strengths, weaknesses, thoughts and feelings, this is to ensure the audience feel empathetic and sympathetic towards the main character in the variety of life or death situations that feature during the film, for example in ‘Taken’ the audience see Liam Neeson’s characters heartbreak when his only child is kidnapped which reveals one of his emotional weaknesses, and gives a sense of vulnerability .

This brings me onto my next point, in order to create a decent Thriller film, there needs to be the risk of death throughout the film, the protagonist needs to be in life or death situations, where survival in only scraped by the skin of their teeth, this is to keep the audience on ‘the edge of their seats’ and what critics call, ‘the white knuckle’ theory, where the audience are so captivated by the film that they feel the anticipation, anxiety and nervousness that the protagonist will feel when he or she’s life is in danger, In the thriller, ‘Panic Room’ featuring Jodie Foster and a young Kristen Stewart, Kristen Stewarts characters life is threatened not only by the men who have broken into her house but also by the fact that her character is asthmatic and during the majority of the film, her asthma pump is not with her causing her to have regular panic attacks and close to death situations.

A great way to captivate an audience during a thriller film is to give them a false sense of security, if the audience are taken on a journey where they don’t know the outcome or when a scene falsely builds up to where the audience think they know the outcome but then the scene dramatically changes, for example in ‘Shutter Island’ featuring Leonardo DiCaprio the twist at the end which shows that Leo’s character is actually not who the audience think he is during the film gives a great finish to this thriller as the audience feel they have been fooled and that they never would have guessed it but then when thinking about it post movie they are able to see how they where misguided.

To finish, all thriller films need a climax after the tension building, this is where sometimes I think many writers, producers and directors go wrong as and the climax is many thriller films almost do not seem worth the amount of tension that was built, for example in ‘Taken’ the audience see Liam Neeson’s character travel across continents for 70 minutes to find his daughter all for a 12 minute climax aboard a boat where everyone dies but Liam Neeson’s character and his daughter, although the rest of the film was high intensity the climax leaves the audience slightly disappointed.