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| Figure 1 |
In the opening scene to Se7en, Morgan Freeman’s character is
shown to be trapped in his everyday life. Camera work is used cleverly to do
this. As Freeman is walking away from the kitchen his head is cut out of the
shot. Usually we would expect the camera to zoom out and pan with his head, as
cutting out headroom is often an amateur mistake in film making. However, this
decision to cut out how head from figure 1 was a very deliberate one. By doing
this we get the impression that Freemans character has no escape route out of
his routine life. Furthermore, the placement of a chessboard is used to show us
that Freeman's character is intelligent, however this also connotes ideas of
clinging onto what he once had. We know that Freeman's character lives alone
and perhaps keeping the chessboard he used to play with his loved one allows
him to still keep some of feelings of her alive. By having a very plain living
space, which through a mid-shot seems to be very constricting, it gives the
impression that Freeman is trapped even in his own home and wherever he is he
can't get away from his hectic life. Throughout the opening of Se7en there is
always a wild track playing in the background and at this point in the film it
is other tenants shouting and having an argument, this connotes the idea that
Freeman is never at peace and never will be. The lighting in this shot is very gloomy and gives a whitewashed look to the room, this makes it look like it's not a very appealing place to live.
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| Figure 2 |
Figure 2 shows 5 items laid out in front of Freeman can be used to tell us a
lot about his character. The paper rose symbolises that he is still holding
onto memories of his wife and that he thinks about her every day, this is why
he puts it in his blazer pocket as she will always be close to his heart. The
police badge connotes the ideas that Freeman's character takes his work very
seriously and that it is now the most important thing in his life, by placing
it next to his wife’s rose it shows us that he puts a lot of effort into his
work and that, that too is a massive part of his life, if not the biggest part
of his life. The flip knife is a Chekhov's gun (Remove everything that
has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a
rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go
off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there. - Anton Chekhov)
because of this we know that the knife is going to be used later on in the film
at some point. The context that it is going to be used in, we do not know, but
we do know that it will be used in one way or another. Including a high quality
pen is done to further show us that Freeman's character is intelligent and
takes his work very seriously, along with the glasses case we get the
impression that Freeman's character is a very calculated man and pays attention
to even the smallest of details.
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| Figure 3 |
By keeping Freeman's character in focus whilst he is looking around the crime scene and keeping the other detective out of focus, the director further advances the idea that Freeman's character really does care about his work, unlike the other detectives in his preceint Freeman's character is looking into the case in more depth and context than the other detectives because he actually cares about the outcome, whilst we get the impression that the other detectives that Freeman work with really don't care about the cases and only collecting their paychecks. Just before this shot the other detective says "Yeah well this is a done deal. All but the paperwork", I've included Freeman's response as it connotes further the idea that Freeman cares about the cases he works on and put in a lot more effort than the other detectives.
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| Figure 4 |
Brad Pitt's character is introduced from the get go to be a contrast to
Freeman's character. In figure 4 there is a very small cue that tells us that
Pitt's character is a bit of maverick, here he is quickly checking out a woman
who is passing by, this connotes ideas of Pitt's character being a lot more
laid back and perhaps less professional than Freeman's character. Throughout
the next shot the camera is always below Freeman and Pitt's characters tilted
up towards them, not showing much detail of the background apart from the metal
bars which go across the windows of all the shops. Heavy rain is constantly in
the background whilst the street is considerably packed with many passer-by’s
bumping into our two characters. All of these factors go together to form ideas
of being trapped. Freeman's character is shown to be continuously trapped
throughout every moment of his life, whilst Pitt's character doesn’t realise
what he has signed up for with his upbeat slightly optimistic personality.
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| Figure 5 |
Finally, in figure 5 we are introduced to Freeman's metronome. Although we
see it earlier on in the intro we don’t see it in use until now. Freeman uses
the metronome to help him get to sleep at night. Connoting ideas that Freeman
finds it difficult to switch off from his everyday life as a detective and that
perhaps the metronome is his way of escaping from his reality for the next
seven days until he can retire. The wild-track off other tenants shouting and
the outside life is ever present and it almost gives the impression that
Freeman's character only method of coping with his life as a detective since
his wife has died is the metronome. The metronome is also a Chekhov’s gun as it
is shown at the start of the introduction to the film and is then used later
on.
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