Se7en Analysis

This Analysis is up to the timing of the film 6:04

Mise-En-Scene

Colour: Morgan Freeman's character, shows to have a kitchen which is pure white and tidy. This shows his kitchen is used only for one purpose and nothing else.
Throughout his bedroom and living room, his furniture is beige and brown, which puts across to us that he is quite old fashioned and and it reminds of ‘office style’ furniture which is quite plain and boring. Implying he is a functional man and he works around his furniture. The title sequence being shown in black and white may show that the murderer leads a sheltered life, with the flashes of red, can represent blood, showing his murders can put him on the map. It also shows the man cutting out the word GOD, implying that the film will have some sort of religious views, or the murdere will.

Costume: Morgan Freeman is a well dressed, old fashioned detective, who takes his job very seriously. He treats his job with the upmost respect like a professional. As Brad Pitt joins him we are shown the ‘modern day detective’ which is a scruffy man, who doesn’t show the same amount of respect for the job as Morgan Freeman portrays.

Relationships: When Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, are shown together for the first time on camera, we are shown the comparison straight away between the two men. As said before, Morgan Freeman is a well dressed man, and Brad Pitt is the complete opposite. From this we see that Morgan Freeman is the man to impress, and Brad Pitt should be looking up to him, if he wants to be the ‘main man’. To be looking up to Morgan Freeman, this shows Brad Pitt, is desperate for the same authority that his co-worker has.
The man in the background who is another detective, also shows to have a strained relationship with Morgan Freeman, he doesn’t care about there being a child involved, and also shows to be unprofessional alongside him. This also causes tension between the two men, as they have different viewpoints.

Lighting: The lighting can be involved in showing quite a powerful aspect in the film. Showing that the bed side lamps were switched on when Morgan Freeman slept, implies he is scared of the dark from seeing so many hideous crimes in his career, this may make him feel safe. Making it rain outside, creates quite a dark atmosphere, this may be reflecting the extent of the murder and create a sense of doom.

Props: At the beginning of the film, Morgan Freeman is shown to have his weapons laid out on his table, and hides them away in a certain place in his jacket. This shows he is professional and doesn’t have his life on show. Again Brad Pitt is the opposite and has all his weapons on show, making him very unprofessional.