This is where our storyline takes place in, Maricas Avenue, Harrow.
Siobhan Devine plays the psychotic middle aged woman who finds out about her cheating husband.
Our actress, Stephanie Devine plays the young dead mistress. In this picture she is putting vaseline on her face, before laying on a pool of blood, erm, fake blood.
Stephanie and the actual pool of blood.
Diana, our director and camera woman filming the 'creepy smile' scene.
This is our Preliminary Exercise, we done this in order to practise our filming and editing skills.
Fight Club (1999) – Directed by David Fincher.
Use of Camera:
As soon as the scene begins, the director uses a extreme close up to introduce us to a important prop on the action, but as it is a XCU, it is not clear for the audience to understand straight away what the prop is, so depth of field is used therefore the image of the gun in the foreground goes out of focus, it becomes blurred and the image of the man with the gun inside his mouth is suddenly sharp. So the audience’s focus is on the man, and by this one shot the viewer immediately knows that his life is at risk.
The protagonist is sitting down, whereas the antagonist is standing up, so the camera is filming the protagonist from a high angle, which makes him look more vulnerable, smaller.The little of the villain which is being filmed, is filmed from a low angle which makes him look taller, stronger, more threatening to the protagonist.
Special Effects:
The graphics at beginning of this film are meant to be impulses purely based on fear, it is the fear center in the nameless narrator’s brain. This was beautifully used in order to entertain and engage the audience, since it gives the feeling of what kind of film they will be watching, it shows that there will be action and that it will be thrilling.
Editing:
The very beginning of this opening sequence it is indeed very interesting to look at, it’s in a way abstract and surreal, the viewer can’t comprehend what is being shown straight away, particularly because of the fast pace which was used in this, which creates tension and therefore helps to build to the climax, also creates an enigma which makes the audience curious, consequently grabbing their attention, engaging them to carry on watching the film.
Mise-en-scene:
The protagonist tied up on the chair is sweating, this can connote that he is nervous, scared and this helps to build up the tension in the audience. The narrator is not wearing trousers, he is only wearing a shirt and a underwear, this connotes that he is even more vulnerable. He also has under eye bags which implies that he hasn’t been sleeping properly as he has probably being held in hostage for days or that he simply has insomnia, which we find out later it is indeed his case. There is a contrast between the mise-en-scene of the protagonist and the antagonist, the narrator looks restless, skinny, weak, tied up on a chair, he is helpless and vulnerable whereas the antagonist is tall, strong, he looks like a body builder as he is wearing a vest which makes his muscles stand out, he is a free man as he is not tied up on a chair, he has a gun therefore he is under control.
Sound:
Non-diegetic sound: Up beat song playing at the very beginning, the genre of the song is rock, the song matches the image, it is not contrapuntal at all, it fascinates the audience and sets an atmosphere for the film, the upbeat song can imply that the film will definetly be thrilling, and that there will be a lot of things going on, and it will be interesting. Diegetic sound : “(...)And I wondered how clean that gun was.” The narrator is disgusted about the dirtiness of the gun inside his mouth, which ain’t a stereotypical reaction at all, this suggests that he is not normal, that he is not sane, for he is worrying about the wrong things, that’s what makes him a unique and amusing character.
Conclusion:
Lastly, David Fincher uses a brilliant technique in Fight Club, also used by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs, he edited the sequence of the film so it would begin with it’s last scene. The film opens with the climax, confusing the audience but at the same time engaging them, creating mistery and enigma, making them curious, therefore grabbing their attention and keeping them watching so then, they can understand what is going on. An example of enigma, which was used in this opening sequence, was the fact that the antagonist’s face was hidden, and so was his identity as he doesn’t mention his name. This evokes curiosity and interest in the viewer.
This opening scene also introduces themes, such as Violence and Crime, props such as fake blood and guns are used as they are iconic symbols of Crime and Violence in thriller films.
This opening title establishes characters through the use of dialogue.When the nameless narrator says: “(...)And I wondered how clean that gun was.” This suggests that he is not normal, he is not an average guy, otherwise he wouldn’t be wondering about how clean the gun was, but about his life. His reaction to the situation is not stereotypical, that helps to make him the intriguing and interesting character that he is.
Somerset’s apartment is very neat and tidy, showing that he’s organised to the point of borderline obsessive compulsive. He picks the fluff off of his jacket before putting it on, showing that everything has to be exactly how he wants it, as a way of rooting himself back to reality since he doesn’t know what kinds of horrific murders he will have to deal with every day.
Blood is used at the crime scene to show the audience what has happened there, since we don’t see the dead body in great detail. We can imagine what has happened due to the blood being splattered on the windows and therefore we can sympathise with Somerset as he’s a fairly normal person that has to cope with the horrors of murder and he seems to be coping quite well.
He’s dressed neatly, unlike Detective Mills who is wearing a black leather jacket and is unshaven, which connotes a rebellious lifestyle. The city itself is dark and dingy, rain is falling and it looks quite seedy and stereotypically somewhere where a lot of crime would take place.
The title sequence starts of with a book and the shadow of hand turning pages, which feels ominous and sinister. The grungy letters for the credits add atmosphere and a feeling of disorder. Disturbing images are used to create an idea of the genre and the topics that will be covered in the audience’s mind. We see masculine hands, showing that this enigmatic and slightly disturbed person is a man. Bandaged fingers make the viewer question what caused the injuries and then a few seconds later, it is answered, which leads to the question of why he’s shaving his fingertips off.
Clearly he does not want to be identified, so the audience assumes these are the hands of an antagonist, a criminal who is perhaps the person behind the horrible images seen in the opening sequence. Also, we see his hands preparing tea, which is an everyday occurrence and nothing out of the ordinary, suggesting he is not disturbed by the images he is looking at and that it’s part of his every day routine.
During the title sequence, creepy, disconcerting music is playing which provides the audience with a sense of foreboding. The music has a heavy pulse through it making it dramatic and building up suspense. At the end of the title sequence the singer sings about being ‘closer to God’, suggesting religion will be an important aspect of the film. Also, it sounds like a radio is being tuned, which is a sound that sets the viewer on edge, as it is quite disconcerting and unappealing to the ear. Without the soundtrack, the title sequence doesn’t have quite the same effect. It is still intriguing and slightly confusing but not as creepy and scary as when the music is playing over the top.
The unnamed officer’s dialogue shows that Somerset is not respected in the workplace and that they see him as a nuisance, as he says that he can’t wait for him to retire, when all he did was ask whether the murder victims child saw the murder. There is no music in the scene, so we can hear the sounds of the city, where he lives. Somerset tries to block out the sounds with a metronome, the steady rhythm something that keeps him in touch with reality, but we can still hear the sirens over the top so we know there’s no getting away from the terrors outside for Detective Somerset.
The film starts off slowly, as we watch Somerset get ready for the day ahead of him, shot with elliptical editing, showing he is in no rush to get to work but also focusing on every little detail of what he does, just like he would do. Then, we cut to him being at the crime scene, showing there’s not much else to his life other than work and it also keeps him mysterious, as we’re not introduced to every aspect of his life right away.
The title sequence uses jumpcuts to add a jerky, unsettling feel to the movie, as the short shots of the dissecting of books and pictures jump from one part to the other, such as when the camera focuses on the pen drawing a black line across the eyes of a boy in a picture. It then cuts to the shot of the whole face with lines all over it, suggesting this person had been eradicated.
The camera focuses solely on the objects the antagonist is looking at and not on anything around it, which makes the audience really look and take in what is being shown in the title sequence.
Scratches and scratchy letters are placed over the title sequence in random places to give it a grungy, grimy feel, reflecting urban society. But the letters are quite difficult to really spot when watching the clip all the way through and the audience doesn’t quite realise they’re seeing it, even though they still register it in their minds, like subliminal messaging.
As we are introduced to Detective Somerset, we learn that he has a routine and is very organized. We also learn that he is an outsider, as another Detective mentions how he is looking forward to when he leaves the force. He seems sensitive as he asks whether or not the child witnessed the murder, obviously caring about the child’s state of mind. This question angers the other detective and shows that they don’t fit well together. We feel sympathy for Somerset as he is a seemingly sensitive and well-mannered person, but is also an underdog in the workplace and has to deal with seeing death every day.
Then, we meet Detective Mills, who is the binary opposite of Somerset, as he is cocky and short-tempered and a little bit naïve as he’s come from a small town and hasn’t really experienced life in the big city.
Themes are introduced in the opening sequence, such as murder and villainy, but also how relationships between people that wouldn’t chose to work together work out and religion since there is a focus on the word ‘God’ being removed from a dollar note.
Enigma is established in different ways in the opening sequence. The audience doesn’t know where this is taking place, the city they live in is undefined and we only know that it is an urban area in America. We see blood in the murder scene but we don’t know what exactly has happened. For the duration of the title sequence, we just see a man’s bandaged hands cutting bits out of books, scribbling over the faces and sticking highly macabre and disturbing photos down while doing something as mundane as making himself a cup of tea, which somehow makes it slightly more disturbing because it seems that this is what he does everyday. So it makes the audience intrigued as to what this person does with their life and who they are.
Directed by David Fincher, the movie Se7en was a Hollywood hit in 1995, many Hollywood stars, including Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Even the movie star’s names were enough to attract a wide range audience, without knowing fully what the film is about.
The actual title sequence begins at 04:04 minutes into the film and ends at 06:25, where the film’s genre is fully established through mainly eerie lighting, distorted soundtrack and mise en scene.
Within the title sequence, the audience never see precisely what is going on in the screen, however, all we can see is cuts of [what we automatically assume is] the killer and what he is doing. Which is called montage editing, a reel of short cuts merged together to make a sequence such as slicing of finger tips, diaries and even a tea bag, it lacks coherence, much like the killer’s mind as we come to realised later in the film.
Although the killer seems incoherent, we can also see elements of precision in his work, for example, the diary that we see him writing is rather neat, and we see him place tread through the needle with complete ease, therefore the director has used mise en scene to establish his killer as a random character, although smart and a perfectionist, cutting neatly, writing long sentences without lines etc.
Even though David Fincher never shows his killer’s face or body build, but just their hands, we can identify the type of character it is. First off, by the killer’s hands alone, we can tell by the size, roughness and the dirt under the nails, that this character in fact is male. Judging by his actions and his handwriting, that this man is also well educated due to all the books that are shown in the clip and slicing off his finger tips so that there is a less chance of him being caught. By watching the title sequence, we realise that the killer is obsessed with obscure deaths and torture seeing as he likes to cut photos of the victims and put them in his scrap book. Religion is also questioned here as we see the killer cutting out the word ‘GOD’ from a piece of paper.
As I previously wrote, mise en scene is used to set the genre of the film, for example, props such as blood, medical tools and photos of disjointed deaths link into elements of a thriller movie, it also foreshadows what will later come in the movie.
Lighting is another factor of mise en scene which we have to look closely at in this title sequence, unlike other movie genres, in a thriller, lighting is almost always dark and uncanny, however in this clip, the lighting is rather bright in comparison to the rest of the movie, yet it still as an eerie touch to it, as the screen constantly flickers, like a faulty light bulb [which is also an effect].
Again, there is lack of colour in this title sequence, like most thriller films, the only colours that are really shown is brown, white and black, this sets the mood/genre and also connotes as something old and/or plain, so when colours like the red blood comes on screen, we pay more attention to it, and it has more of a significance in comparison to the boring, plain colours.
Mostly throughout the clip, David Fincher uses only close-up camera shots in his title sequence, telling the audience that what he is showing you is important, it also adds to the enigma of the killer and the story line, as you are restricted from seeing the whole picture, no other camera shots are really used here, however, all the close-up shots are in fact taken at a high angle, so it may also be a POV shot, as if we are looking through the eyes of the killer.
Effects include non diegetic sounds of blades scraping against another metal and the flashing light, seeming as if there is a faulty light bulb, and also the text in the title sequence has an effect to it, as the background in pure black and the text is white whilst the font is as if it’s been scratched in, again linking into the genre of thriller. Throughout the clip, we can also hear non diegetic sounds of a saw, pages turning and other machines being used, which creates the illusion that the killer is working on something, again enigma is played, as we are uncertain as to what the killer’s motive is, and what exactly he is doing.
Another effect that is used frequently, is the look of a damaged film reel that are used in cinemas, which gives off the effect that it is homemade and old, just like how the killer is making a scrap book and everything is in either bad condition or homemade.
The soundtrack gives off a peculiar vibe, as it is distorted and has no clear rhythm, which could be argued as a reflection of the killer once more. Unfortunately, there is no diegetic sound within the title sequence, so we also do not know what the killer sounds like, which can be important as voice can establish status.
