se7en textual analysis

Art Of The Title
7even (1995)


The production company, New Line Cinema appeared for 5 seconds, this may be in order to promote previous and future productions they did and attract fans to their other works and vice versa.

The producer, Arnold Kopelson, appears for 2 seconds, this may be because he has produced many other films, such as outbreak and the fugitive, and will lend credibility to other films he has produced. In short, he makes his films popular and his films make him popular.

David Filcher is a relatively well known electronic media director and producer (film director, film producer, television director, television producer, and music video director) and, therefore, generally helps fund and direct in the films he works on (Think Steven Speilberg but not famous in the slightest outside of America).

 

 

 

 

 

Brad Pitt is a very well known actor and is seen in a significant number of major films such as fight club, troy and inglourious basterds to name a few and therefore has many fans who would watch se7en simply because he is in it and may also encourage people who watch se7en to see his other films.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan Freeman is, like Brad Pitt, a very famous actor and has also been in a fair few major films such as 'the shawshank redemption' and 'the dark knight' and is also likely in it as much for the prestige and attention he will bring the film than his actual acting skills.

 

 

 

 

 

The title itself appears for 5 seconds so you know what to search up for future merchandise i.e the DVD, and is made to look like this in order to fit into the macabre, sinister theme of the film.



 

 

 

 

In conclusion, I think that this is an effective opening because it shows the major talents for an effective amount of time in a font that grabs the audiences attention establishing both the major talent and the general themes and concepts of the movie, in this case a sinister murder/mystery







Conventions of the Thriller Film Genre

The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, gaming and television that often includes overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are often fast paced with frequent action and resourceful heroes and OP villains.
Various literary devices such as suspense, red herrings, cliff-hangers, cheap surprises and false endings. are used extensively.
(Red Herring: when the audience is convinced that the suspect is the perpetrator and it is later revealed that someone else is the killer/criminal etc. E.G saw, the killer was playing dead in a pool of his own blood and is acting through an intermediary who we think is the actual killer.
Cheap Surprises: An easily generated shock via a sudden movement or sound.
False Endings: the audience think it's over when it isn't.)


Thriller Types
Spy thrillers: a government agent vs. another government's agent or terrorist group/ every James Bond film ever made.

Political thrillers: Thrillers in which the hero must ensure the stability of their government. E.G Argo. They are often based on actual events.

Military thrillers: Uniformed + military + above stated literary devices along with explosions and gun fire etc. E.G Saving Private Ryan.

Conspiracy thrillers: corporation cover-ups such as inhumane criminal acts. E.G The insider involves a corrupt, large tobacco company.

Medical thriller: The hero fights against the use of unethical medical procedures eg a doctor stopping a corrupt medical practice. E.G coma

Forensic thriller: When the hero is, more often than not, a forensic scientist or a detective who solves an often horrific and long running crime spree. E.G Bones of the lost.

Psychological thriller: Mental and emotional thriller that often ends badly (as in, lucky if 1 in 5 survives the film.) for the protagonist/s. E.G Se7en and black swan.

Horror thriller: These thrillers often couple the emotional and mental terror with physical pain and gore. E.G saw and silence of the lambs.

Many thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots as thrillers often occur on a far grander scale such as jewel heists or killing terrorists.

Art Of The Title Textual Analysis

Art Of The Title
Back to the Future (1985)

The director, Steven Spielberg's name appeared for 5 seconds, this may be because he is an extremely prestigious director and will attract fans of the director as well as fans of the films genre and will reassure the audience that the film will be of a good quality.

The producer, Robert Zemeckis' name appeared for 4 seconds, this may be because he is a famous filmmaker and screenwriter who provided some of the funding for back to the future. The fact it says "A ROBERT ZEMECKIS Film" implies that his name appears for this long either because he is a famous filmmaker and screenwriter or because he provided a substantial amount of funding (the former in this particular case).

 

The title itself appears for 4 seconds, this is for the obvious reason of showing you what you are watching, however, it is presented in a way which emphasises the colours; drawing your eye towards it, the font makes the audience think of it as original and new.



 





 

Between this point and the next, we begin to hear dozens of clocks ticking in unison, reinforcing the theme of time travel present throughout the movie itself.

 

The lead actor's name, Michael J. Fox, appears for 5 seconds, this may be because he is a famous actor and producer and, like the director, may entice his fans, as well as fans of the genre, to watch the film. It is also at this point that the letters change in font to ensure that that the audience knows who are the actors and who are in charge.

 





 

 

 

 

In conclusion, I think that this is an effective opening because it shows the major talents for an effective amount of time in a font that grabs the audiences attention establishing both the major talent and the general themes and concepts of the movie (the clocks in the background).  

 

 

Storyboarding (preliminary task)

A storyboard  is a number of illustrations or images which gives us a general idea of how a scene should proceed/pre-visualising a motion picture, animation or interactive media sequence.
A film storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help the film directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients see the scenes and find any problems before they occur.


Improvements For My Preliminary Task Storyboard
Our original storyboard consisted of different camera angles we would use while 2 people walked down a hall while talking and then walking through different doors. As the storyboard didn't proceed any further, we had to wing it for the rest of the task with both the camera angles used and the storyline, and so, despite the good acting skills and good use of match on action, our storyboard was used as a rough guideline for the first half of the task.