Se7en Trailer Analysis

The Se7en trailer demonstrates through mise-en-scene and a range of iconography that it’s a police-thriller. For example, Morgan Freeman is in the costume of a detective and his apprentice (Brad Pitt) is the person who will take over his role when he retires. There are also location scenes of them at the police station and having access to the crime scene which only police authorities are allowed. This trailer can also come underneath the genre of mystery since there are shots of dead bodies and a wardrobe of weapons that signify that they’re on a case to find a murderer who is clearly hidden and there are no signs as to who the murderer could be. The audience will be following the unveiling of who the murderer is with detectives so it gives them the sense that they’re also part of the team. The use of religious iconography gives a hint for the audience that the murderer is killing in relation to religion hence, why two of the victims in the trailer are already dead due to two of the seven deadly sins; greed and gluttony.

The sound at the beginning starts off with bass drums that introduce the production logo and the characters in the first couple of shots (which change at each beat). The pace of the drum beats picks up a bit as a ticking sound from a pacer is brought in to signify the increase of the speed for the rhythm. There is a voiceover that narrates during the trailer and mentions the main actors featured in the film at the end. The music at one point softens to the sound of violins and sounds of distortion by having screeching sounds. The music continues with drum beats that continue to escalate and become faster, thus creating a crescendo as it goes through the montage and ends with a drum beat which silences as they say; “Have you seen anything like this?” “No.” The trailer ends with a ‘shh-ing’ sound (like a sword/knife slicing the air fast).

The cinematography used at the beginning were mainly solo shots of each of the main male characters with different cutaways involved (suggesting to the audience that it’s a crime scene they’re looking at). As the voiceover introduces the main character, it’s linked with front-shots, American shots, and low-angle close-up shots of the guy. There’s also a two-shot for the couple and the detectives. Other shots used throughout the trailer; shot-reverse-shot, tracking back-shot, establishing shots and a quick pan.

The editing at the beginning of the trailer is shots matching up with the rhythm of the drums (so the shot changes at each beat). The trailer overall includes; flashes of white, shot-reverse-shot, dip to black and inter-titling. For the inter-titles, it was changing at quite a fast pace with the wording of the seven deadly sins and as it got closer to the end of the montage; it kept speeding up until it was cut off.

This trailer can be applied to our trailer through the genre. Since our trailer’s plot includes the use of detectives (police authorities), this trailer shows the crime-thriller side for our own work. The detectives are working together to solve a case as well as it being a unique case that they have to solve. It applies to our trailer since the detectives are also working together to solve a mass-murder case but ours involves the use of trust being toyed with while in the ‘Se7en’ trailer; they’re working together and seem to be cooperating.

Alternative Film Poster

This is an alternative to the final film poster I uploaded. The idea of having this alternative is that there is more tension shown in this poster. 

Film Poster Final Draft

My task was to design and construct the main poster for our film. In order to show this, I have included the three main characters on the poster, as well as the exact release date in addition to standard information such as actors' names and title/strapline. 

Research - Trailer Inspiration

Inspiration No. 1: The Lazarus Effect

The inspiration we plan to gain from this trailer is the use of the inter titles. The effects used are very dramatic and help bring the trailer to the climax with the flutter cutting that was in sync with the sound used. It helps bring the horrific ambiance to the trailer especially for a climax, which will draw in the audience more.

Inspiration No. 2: The Devil Inside

This trailer involves religious iconography, so can we take inspiration from this trailer to gain ideas on how to portray the religious elements of our own trailer. The basement scene at the end has inspired the thought that such a scene should be included in our trailer, bringing a dark end to the trailer to reinforce the stalker/slasher genre in our work.

Production Logo

This is our group's production logo. The idea behind calling it "Hyde Productions" was that in the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we are shown that someone can be both a man and a monster, that there is good and bad within everything. This is something that is portayed in our plot quite strongly. This idea of good and bad is also reflected in the font of the production logo itself- "HY" is in clean, modern looking font whereas the "DE" is in a rougher, almost more carnal font. 

Sketches

This is the sketch I did of the film magazine front cover. The masthead, "SCRIPT" is at the top, accompanied by the issue number vertically along the side of the "s", with the barcode and price in the bottom corners. There is a cross in the background, covering the entire page in the background to represent the religious aspect of the film, The main characters of the film are shown behind the title "Penance" to establish a link between the title and the people. There are also sell lines to add more appeal to readers. 

This is the initial sketch of the film poster. Three key aspects of the plot are shown here. Firstly the characters- seen in the foreground and in the doorway of the church. Secondly, the church itself is important, in that it is in the middle of the poster too symbolise it being central in the dystopian future the trailer is set in. Finally, the skyline seen towards the top of the poster shows the dystopian genre of the trailer.

Title Font Analysis