Se7en and Silence of the lambs opening sequence

Se7en and Silence of the lambs opening sequence

Se7en:

Mise en scene
The distributing company logo appears and then the production logo. After that we see the titles of well known actor; “Brad Pitt” and “Morgan Freeman”. These are the more established actors and are more than likely going to have the main parts in the film. The Font in which these are written is not conventional as such; the titles seem to be scraped into the wall or the screen which we are shown. This put a scary thought in our mind on what this film is going to be about, perhaps someone that is in prison or is out of their mind.
We are also shown someone scarping the skin off of their fingers, this backs up the thought about him losing his mind. This character might also be taking his finger prints off so that he can’t be recognised, as he may be planning something.
The low key lighting in these shots may have been used to show the dark side of this character and the place he stays in, a dark, untrustworthy and scary place; these could be showing the audience the personality of the man. This is also done like this to hind the identity of the man so that the audience must keep guessing who the man is throughout the film. While these are being shown the rest of the titles are appearing.

Sound
The non-diegetic music in this opening sequence is fast paced, there are also creaking sounds mixing into the music which builds tension and suspense. After, at the end there is a loud beat and the music cuts out. The audience is now shocked and unaware of what is happening; this scares the audience into thinking that something awful and terrible will happen all of a sudden.

Cinematography
All of the shots used are close ups, normally they aren’t very interesting, but they have been used to hide the setting and the identity of the character. This is to disorientate the audience and make them unaware of where they are. The director has used these very well, as the audience keeps guessing where they are. As well as the hidden identity the close ups make the audience focus on the props the man is using and ask questions about what he could be building and why.

Editing
The cuts are extremely fast, this add to the effect of this film and doesn’t allow the audience to pick up of props in great detail, this will keep them guessing. As well as this, it will give the effect that everything is being done at a fast pace, this gets the anxiety of the audience.

Silence of the lambs

Mise en scene

This opening sequence is very long to start and appears with the main character on a run, this is while all of the titles (Actors names and etc.) appear. From the font and colour/dullness of the titles we are told that this is a very serious, murderous film and the audience can now acknowledge that and now know what the film is going to be about.

At the beginning of the opening sequence we are shown with a strong and determined young woman. This is very refreshing to see this and to be shown in this way because this film is not sticking to the stereotypical thought of a young woman.

Sound
They have used slow paced non-diegetic music in the opening sequence, as well as even hearing a diegetic sound of a bird singing. This along with the editing is trying to calm and relax the audience into a more focused state for the rest of the film.

Cinematography
Due to the amount of cuts there are not many different camera angles and shots types, the main one used would be the tracking, the camera follows her where ever she goes.

Editing
It is very slow paced without many cuts at all. The reason for this may be to give the audience a false impression, as well as to calm them down and to focus on what is being shown.