Opening Sequence Of “Panic Room” and ‘SE7EN’ comparison
Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
‘Panic Room’ uses a range of long shots and high angles t show where we are from above. It also uses wide angles to show our surroundings. Average day in the city shown with the high buildings does not show us the whole story as all it shows us is where it is set. It uses slow panning shots to show where the location is so we get a full understanding.
Where as ‘seven’ uses Close-ups helps to focus attention and stimulate the imagination to come into play,quick
movements and a variety of erratic close-ups to create this. The angle of some shots are from above, as a sense that the viewer is overlooking someone
Sound
Low mysterious music which leads us to wonder what's going to happen and what the main story it is going to be.
also it makes us anxious in wanting to know what is going to happen. The sound also moves with the names and s
hots on screen so it keeps a beat to the shots and editing. It also sets the scene even though we know little about the film or themes of it. It sets a Mysterious atmosphere and how things may not always be as they seem.
In the same way the sound is both Non-diegetic and diegetic sound in ‘SEVEN’. However the use of non-diegetic sound dominates. Most of the non-diegetic sound, has been generated by computers to generate scraping, alien and distorted sounds.
Editing
Editing is key to the opening scene of the film because it makes the opening flow with the music but also the shots flow one after the other. Also the names of people who are in it and producers of the film are edited over the shots of the film.
Editing is also key to seven there are a variety of cuts in the opening seque
nce which change rapidly the use of different cuts constantly challenges the audiences perspective. Unlike panic room where the cuts are slow and panning.
Mise en Scene
We do not see a lot in the opening of ‘Panic room’ but we do see the buildings and city it is set in. we are not told this but we are able to recognize the city with the buildings and also recognizable features of new york like the yellow taxis and the chrysler building which is clearly recognizable from the clip.
The opening of seven uses low key lighting which generates shadows and adds to the audiences anticipation. And unlike panic room the images are not clear to us.
Characters
There are no clear characters shown to us in the opening of ‘Panic room’ and in the same way,The opening of ‘Seven’ doesn’t clearly establish any main character, however because the focus is on the actions of the antagonist, he is quite clearly an important character.
Locations
The location of the opening is New york this is made clear to us through the buildings which are recognizable features of new york like the taxis and streets.
However in ‘Seven’ we are Inside, hidden, unknown, Basement or cellar
Narrative/Plot
There is no clear plot as all you see is the skyline of new york and the city itself. All you can assume is that the main focus is in the city of new york itself.
in the same way in ‘Seven’ there is No clear evidence of narrative or plot is introduced into the opening, however because of the actions of the antagonist one can assume that he is a serial killer.
Themes
There is no clear theme only the city itself where as in ‘SEVEN’ the themes of
Murder, serial killer, pain, knifes and destruction are clearly shown to us.
Visual Style
The visual style is clear in the way it wants you to get a clear image and setting of the film. Where as in ‘Seven’ Unique, original, uses combination of credits and fast cuts to destabilize the viewer so it is the complete opposite to ‘panic room’
Genre
We cant work out the genre at all from what we see. However with the music and panning shots we can get the idea that it is a thriller as it gives us that uncertainty that we would expect from a thriller. ‘Seven’ is clearly a Thriller, psychological horror, as much as it is de-stabilized we know clearly what the aim of the film is.
