In every movie, one of the most important parts of the films would not only be the contents of the film, but also the opening sequence as the opening sequence’s main job is to capture the audience’s interests as well as trying to give an idea and enhances the storyline and genre.

One of the opening sequences that I chose to analyze is the Se7en’s opening sequence.

First, we must read the synopsis of the film:

As from the synopsis, we can tell it is a crime thriller movie. It also provides dark themes such as murders and serial killings. The movie is also classified as neo-noir type of film.

Visuals:

From the start of the opening sequence it is noticeable there are a lot of quick cuts and extreme close-ups of certain objects and actions such as razors, photos of people (some looked tortured), the subject making some sort of journal with cut out pieces of newspaper clippings, films, photos and etc, a lot of writing which can symbolize a person trying to record or document. There is also a lot of blacking out certain words (most probably very important to the story such as Pregnant, Intercourse, Transsexual, Heterosexual) and blacking out a drawing of a kid's face.

Typically, these images portray a serial killer, documenting and recording their killings as well as their reason for the killings. The way it portrays the subject as almost psychotic and clearly out for blood as some frames of the opening sequence has a red overlay for a few seconds.

The cuts and transitions are very quick, and it gives the audience a few seconds to digest before switching to a new clip. It feels like a montage of what the subject is doing, and it feels even more mysterious as a lot of close shots don’t show the full picture. There are also some clips overlaying other clips, also possible to indicate the amount of time the subject has been doing the action.

The effects on the title sequence also feature scratchy graphics. Very quick, almost only for a couple frames. And there were a lot of the scratchy graphics. It also has a feel of the film with the subtle films sounds and the graphics. It also makes sense that it is a neo-noir film that the film effect can also reference the old films.

Another effect commonly used throughout the title sequence is this sort of distorted effect on the texts. That can portray that something is wrong or broken. Or even give a sense of something unsettling.

Even the font they used can also contain meaning. It is not “clean” and looks a lot rugged. This sort of style is often seen as not the prettiest thing to look at but that just shows something that is going to happen might not be pretty.

Audio:

What also stands out of the opening sequence is the audio…

First, it is apparent there is also some sort of scratchiness in the audio, similarly to the scratchy graphics shown in the visuals. It is a very uncomfortable sound which is why it fits well to enhance the vibe and feel of the movie.

The sounds that play for most of the opening sequence actually helps make the feeling of mystery. An unnerving mystery. This also enhanced by the random sudden high pitches, choir-like singing and etc. As the opening sequence goes on, the sounds (and the visuals) starts getting faster and faster, more intense. This way it helps build a build up that keeps the audience on edge thinking “What’s going to happen”.

Another key point of the video, at the near end. Which is also quite a big link to the story of the movie. Is when the song in the background starts singing “You’ve got me closer to god” accompanied with a visual of the word “God” being cut out of an American dollar. This is very closely related to the main plot of the movie contains the Seven Deadly Sins which is religious concept especially for Christians.