"Se7en" includes an unconventional opening opening to a film in it's time (1995) which would re establish the pre title sequences in future cinema. The dark eerie tone helps to set plot of the film.
The opening begins with page being turned and an out of focus hand in the background. As we are unable to see the hand or the writing, the identity of whom this belongs to is not known which creates immediate suspicion. A short lasting explosive sound begins the sequence which is followed with syllables played to a beat. Extreme close ups show the skin of a fingertip carefully being removed by a sharp knife/file which conveys secrecy as this is most likely to avoid detection through fingerprints; It also distracts us from who the antagonist is. In between the brief shots the cast names appear momentarily in bold white but the font is distorted and exits as the next cut takes place. These jump cuts create uneasy viewing. Meanwhile the routine syllables continue to play amongst a white noise, (there are layers of sound which do not have a pattern) similar to the erratic jump cuts.
A drone sound begins and the music begins to increase in volume at which point the mystery of all the meticulous actions intensifies. Close ups on faces and words being crossed out could suggest the tracks are being covered or that the person strongly disagrees with the words and their meanings on the pages and who they belong to .Midway through at 1:14 the focus draws on words written in black ink. However the ink is bold and doesn't appear to be for professional purposes due to the jagged appearance It is therefore more personal and handwritten solely for the intent on the person writing it. The non digetic sound increases in tempo and when combined with sequences of paper being layered down with photos and the threading of needles in the paper, the unknown process is like a puzzle to be solved by he audience with time running out. This could also reflect the plot of the film as it is crime orientated. Transitions remain fast and non linear but slowly come to and end. A heavy focus on sharp objects such as tweasers (1:54) demonstrates intricacy but also emits fear as the purpose is deliberately masked by the camera angles which are so close, only part of the sentences or pages are shown. Part of a dollar bill is extracted, (the word God) which suggests a religious reasoning to the characters work. It is accompanied by a man saying "You get me closer to God" which is the only narration in this sequence which could show his only reason for all this was to be associated with God. At this point all the background music comes to an abrupt end and cuts to an establishing shot of buildings. The religious connotation of "Only god can judge" is employed through this phrase which could reflect the ending of the film as the man is or isn't brought to justice for his actions.
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