Analysis of 'Se7en' title sequence

'Se7en' is a 1995 American psychological crime horror/thriller that stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow and was directed by David Fincher. It was distributed by New Line Cinema and grossed over $300 million worldwide at the box office.]

 The sequence starts with a very close up shot of an unknown person turning the blank pages of a book. Books generally connote intelligence and those associated with books are often seen as academics however since the pages are blank, it could suggest that the character turning the pages of the book may appear intelligent or academic but in reality there is nothing of substance there. The ominously dark lighting suggests that the character is the antagonist in the film and since he is pouring over this book full of empty pages, it signifies a possible obsession. The blank pages could also signify the beginning of something; we later find out that the book is the diary of John Doe that he used to plan his murders however the audience does not know this at this point. It's the use of the pulsing foreboding music and the dim lighting however that suggests that this character is certainly dangerous or dark-minded. The rest of the title sequence backs up this idea.
The next shot shows the beginning of the title sequence and the contrasting use of font is a key feature in this title sequence. The names of the cast and crew are written in a scruffy hand-written style font which matches the images of the unknown character writing and creating his book; it could almost be used to suggest that it's the unknown character that is writing these names or that the font is in the style of his handwriting. This style of font also establishes a horror atmosphere. Furthermore throughout the title sequence, the text glitches and moves in a jumpy fashion; this could suggest a sense of mental instability, possibly that of the unknown character.
    The next shot is of a pair of disfigured hands stuck neatly on a page. There is a definite juxtaposition between the contorted hands and the meticulously neat presentation of them in the book (this is seen throughout the entire title sequence) and this connotes how meticulous and specific John Doe was with his planning and with carrying out his murders, even to the last detail.
The next shots are extremely quick extreme close ups of different metal utensils such as a razor being taken out of its case. A razor can be iconographic of pain and could possibly be linked as a murder weapon however if it was as simple as that, there could've just been shots of guns and knives. The use of the razor is emphasizing how Doe uses very specific elements and focuses on the littlest of details and pieces them together.
We then see Brad Pitt's name flash up in the hand-written font up against a blank screen; this establishes that he is one of the main actors in the film.
The next shot is of John Doe slicing skin off the ends of his fingertips which quickly solidifies the fact that the film is a horror/thriller. It also suggests that Doe is not mentally stable and possibly psychotic; furthermore it reiterates the idea that Doe is meticulous to the last detail as well as being very obsessive (especially if he's willing to slice the skin off his fingers!).
The next shots are very mundane in comparison to the graphic images shown elsewhere in the sequence - it shows Doe slowly dunking a teabag into some water. This could connote how even psychopaths and those with mental instabilities do things that 'normal' people do and they can blend in so easily with the mundane routine of everyday life; this almost makes the idea of this particularly antagonist even more sinister as he could be anybody.
The next shot is of the title against a black background; this once again (like within the main actors) commands the audience's attention and emphasises that this piece of information is important.
We then see John Doe writing in another notebook, neatly and meticulously, and there is a ghosting-like effect used on his hand. This reiterates the idea of mental illness and somebody being jumpy or flighty; we then see several images of words and pages full of writing flash up on the screen. This symbolises just how much work Doe has put into these notebooks, emphasising to what degree his obsession is at.
Next, Doe is cutting up pieces of films and photographs to stick them into his notebooks, placing them neatly and in a very exact fashion into them. The fact that within another context, these are all perfectly normal activities, but when paired with the scratchy, pulsing music and the gloomy and foreboding lighting it can become extremely ominous makes the antagonist even more sinister. Like with the teabags, the antagonist isn't a knife-wielding maniac or a monster or anything like that, he appears to be as mundanely normal as you or I. However his mind and thoughts are extremely dark, which is represented in the music and lighting as well as some of the other images.
We then see a shot of a shadow of his hand turning the page of his notebook and the pages are covered in writing, emphasising how much time he has spent doing this, further suggestive the extent of his obsession.
The 'obsessive' nature of this character is also shown when he draws one single black line over the eyes of a picture of what appears to be a boy and then in the next shot, he has covered the entire picture with thick black lines. This connotes that this character's obsession drives him so much that he cannot be content with just doing something once; he feels he has to do things 100% or make a huge statement, like he does with his murders. Simplicity isn't common with him and this is evident in the meticulous research and presentation of his notebooks as well as the deeply complicated and strategically planned murders he commits.
More and more pages get filled and we see more shots of him writing in his notebook, possibly representing time passing. Then we are shown several gruesome images which represents the darkness of his thoughts and ideas amongst the polished and planned appearance of his schemes.
The title sequence is ended with the close up shot of him cutting out the word 'God' from an article and pulling it out with a pair of tweezers; we learn later that John Doe has based his murders off the seven deadly sins and the fact that he removed it - probably to stick into his notebooks - hints at this and hints that there are religious undertones to what he's doing. This could be seen as a clever use of encoded signifying.



I believe that this film is aimed at 18-25 year olds due to the graphic nature of some of the images and also because horror/thriller movies are extremely popular to this age group. I don't think there is a particular social group that the film aims to cater to but there is the stereotypical idea that the film could be trying to cater more to the male population as crime and thriller films are, stereotypically, more popular with that gender.