Essay on opening of Se7en

In this essay I am going to talk about the opening sequence of Se7en.
The opening sequence of Se7en allows the audience to be introduced into the setting of the location surrounded by the film.

The 1st shot shows us the back of Detective Somerset. From this shot, we see that he’s in his natural habitat of his home. The curtains seem to only be letting sections of light inside the house, just like prison bars. This shows that his sanctuary-if you could call it that-is dull and dismal as not much light passes through. This connotation shows the audience that Somerset may be confined in his house and that he’s lonesome and forlorn in that spacious, capacious house that is not a home. When the main light shines into the room from the outside world, it seems as if the world is intruding and invading on his privacy.

The kitchen is far to spacious and untouched for it to be ‘lived in’, hence saying that the house is not a home. As the sequence goes on, Somerset and Mills step out of the flat into the outside world of a crime scene on a busy bustling street. As the audience, our perception of the street would be that it’s quite hectic and industrious in the sense that the city never sleeps; everyone is hard working. We see people frantically rushing and racing to get to their destinations, shoving and scurrying, not caring or having simple mannerisms or courtesy for other people. This gives the audience the impression that they are in somewhat of a ‘ghetto’/urban underground.

The next shot demonstrates the use of Mise-en-scene. The chessboard shows the connotation of challenges for Somerset as he is always being risky and taking chances, whether it is in his job or in his private life.

The 3rd shot shows how structured, controlled, prearranged and ordered Somerset is because he has laid out his things in a specific particular order. His way of doing this particular thing is done by a precise routine. The items tell the audience straight away what his profession is just by what is on the table; no introduction is necessarily needed because it goes without saying. Somerset seems to have an autistic nature or autistic approach to thing because the slightest thing such as fluff on his jacket makes him take it off. The reason being that I say it’s an autistic nature is that only someone who notices such fine and insignificant details show autistic traits.

The next shot is a mid-shot of Detective Mills. He isn’t wearing the typical ‘detective’ type clothing; he doesn’t even look bothered or phased about his appearance, this shows the audience that this is his usual dress sense. In the following shot, Somerset appears and they advance down the pathway. Somerset, unlike Mills is standing tall and is the typical archetype of a ‘detective’. We can hear police sirens in the background’ again, they aren’t fazed because it’s nothing out of the ordinary. The next shot shows Mills as being the bigger and taller while Somerset is behind, however, the next two shots shows Somerset to be back in focus making him once again bigger than Mills. The audience see that they seem to be having some kind of conversation until Somerset walks away leaving Mills. This shows us the authority that Somerset has as he’s able to take control of a situation and then dismiss it without so much as a fuss or explanation. Somerset leaving the frame indicated that they conversation between him and Mills is over.

The next shot is back in Somerset’s flat, bedroom. His bedroom is dark while light struggles to get in through what little it can. As he has a couple of boxes with things, it either conveys that he doesn’t stay one place for too long if his things are still boxed up or that he is always on the move which is why his things must be boxed up. We see that he has a room is stacked with books, this shows us that he is intelligent and sharp, which he’d have to be with a job like his. The metronome shows us that it’s hard for him to fall asleep. There is digetic sound of the city imposing on him once again; just like the light at the beginning.