The first shot in the opening is an extreme close up of a book with the camera set at a low angle to show is has a sense of importance. The pages then start to move with a glimpse of the hand moving them which makes the viewer wonder who it is that is creating this movement.
This grabs the attention of the viewer already within the first few seconds of the opening sequence.
Extreme close up shots are used continuously throughout the opening credits to allow the audience to recognise the detail in the shot; however a variety of other shots have been used in addition including high angled shots to create vulnerability on whatever is being filmed, for example every time a picture of a past victim is filmed high angled shot are used to represent their weakness. In comparison, when the hands are filmed a low angled shot is mostly used to show dominance, which lets the audience see a clear contrast in importance between the two. The editing used in the opening sequence is all extremely fast pace leaving the viewer enough time to see the shot but not too much of what is happening; which builds up suspension and allows the films to still feel mysterious. Fade to black editing and red, black and white and dull filters are also used to represent death, danger and mystery.The opening sequence provides information about the production of the film including the production company 'New Line Cinema' (which has produced other thriller/crime thriller/horror films such as the Final Destination series, the Rush hour series and Friday the 13th suggesting to the audience this film will be successful because of other hits they have created) as well as the director David Fincher and actors such Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow; all highly famous, skillful actors/director reinforcing the suggestion of the film being successful. Each set of text is the same size and style of font and is only shown once, however the title of the film flashes several times in a variety of different font sizes to ensure no viewers miss the name of the film. In between each of the shots the screen fades to black to create a sense of mystery, on each black out shot this is where the text with the information regarding the actors, producers and directors is shown, this is practical because it allows the viewer to read the text with ease. The text used has been edited so it has a scratched and distorted appearance which creates a mysterious demeanor and also links to the dark shade of colours used throughout.
The mise-en-scene is not clearly shown in the opening sequence as most of the shots are filmed too close up to the action to show what is set around it, this creates a sense of mystery, a theme repeated throughout the credits. However the props being used in the credits suggest a stalker or killer with the dirty razors, pictures of previous deaths being repetitively shown, books of endless texts being wrote and read and items being cut up and stuck down in different places or forms to which they were before. The intense amount of research being done by the killer that is being presented in the opening shows he's not a menace killing for selfish reasons but is planning and plotting who to kill carefully and has reasons for doing so, making the audience wonder why he is doing this.
The music in the opening sequence features both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds; the main diegetic music chosen compliments the scratchy, distorted images and text used as it sounds rough and edgy and as if one or more songs are being played over each other to create a mixture of sounds. The non-diegetic music consists of noises that sounds as if they are being created by the movements of metal chains or manual items like machinery. There is no continuous vocal speech used throughout the opening sequence apart from one line; towards the very end of the credits when the word 'God' is being sliced out of a book the words "you've got me closer to God" are used, this suggests that the film may contain biblical references which links to the seven deadly sins represented in the film title and someone being 'closer to God' also suggests death, which gives us an insight to what the story line is about.
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