What filmmaking techniques does Se7en use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Se7en (1995): Urban Gothic Cinematography, Withheld Murder Scene, Central Metaphor Structure, Title Sequence as Manifesto and Expectation Collapse.

David Fincher directed Se7en, released in 1995. CineCode also covers Alien³ (1992), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

What films are similar to Se7en?

Films that share techniques with Se7en include Psycho (1960), No Country for Old Men (2007), The Hunt (2012), Prisoners (2013).

Crime · Thriller

Se7en

David Fincher, 1995

2 detectives (the first cynical and days from retirement, the second young and idealistic) hunt a serial killer who uses the 7 deadly sins as a blueprint. Their city is a place of constant rain and moral rot. It's a film about how futile justice is in a world that has already lost.

1 Cinematography 3 Narrative 1 Editing

At a glance

Se7en is a 1995 crime and thriller film directed by David Fincher. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (1 cinematography, 3 narrative and 1 editing), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Psycho uses several of the same techniques.

Cinematography

Urban Gothic Cinematography

Shooting a city with washed-out color, heavy shadow, rain-slick streets and decaying buildings, often at night. The city looks corrupt and threatening, and it dwarfs the people in it.

How this film uses it

Cinematographer Darius Khondji used a bleach bypass process, which drained the colors and raised the contrast. It gives the city a permanently grimy, overcast look, and it never stops raining. The look is the film's argument. This is what a world that has already failed looks like.

Where to see it

Every exterior sequence. The city is filmed as a place beyond saving.

Narrative

Withheld Murder Scene

Never showing the act of violence itself. You only see the aftermath or hear characters describe it, and your imagination fills in what happened.

How this film uses it

Fincher never shows any of John Doe's murders as they happen. You arrive with the detectives, after the fact. The Gluttony victim, the Sloth victim and the Greed crime scene are each staged like an archaeological find. The horror comes from what your imagination fills in.

Where to see it

The Sloth victim's apartment. The body turns out to have been alive for a year.

Narrative

Central Metaphor Structure

Organizing the whole film around one extended metaphor, such as a hunt, a list of sins or a body as machine, so the plot becomes the figure's illustration.

How this film uses it

The 7 deadly sins work as a countdown you know is running. After Gluttony and Greed, you know 5 more are coming. What the film holds back is which sin will be staged when and how. That is, the dread comes from knowing it can't be stopped.

Where to see it

The shift from crime scene investigation to Mills and Somerset mapping the remaining sins. Your dread is tied to the countdown.

Editing

Title Sequence as Manifesto

Using the opening titles to set up the film's look, tone and psychological feel before the story starts. The sequence is a short preview of the whole style.

How this film uses it

Kyle Cooper's title sequence (razor blades, handwritten journals, scratched film, disturbing imagery) set a new template for thriller titles. It told the audience exactly what kind of film they were in before the first scene began. It is John Doe's point of view and Fincher's statement of intent at the same time.

Where to see it

The opening credit sequence over Nine Inch Nails's 'Closer'. Those 2 minutes defined the look of an era.

Narrative

Expectation Collapse

Building up the usual genre expectations, like the villain getting caught and the climax approaching, then refusing to deliver them. Your own anticipation is what makes the letdown hit so hard.

How this film uses it

John Doe turns himself in. The film has been a chase, and suddenly there is nothing to chase. The third act then takes place entirely in a car and an open field, with no action and no spectacle. The real climax is an argument about whether Mills will do what Doe has planned for him.

Where to see it

John Doe's voluntary surrender at the police station. The chase movie ends 40 minutes early.

Questions

Se7en: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Se7en use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Se7en (1995): Urban Gothic Cinematography, Withheld Murder Scene, Central Metaphor Structure, Title Sequence as Manifesto and Expectation Collapse.
Who directed Se7en?: David Fincher directed Se7en, released in 1995. CineCode also covers Alien³ (1992), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
What films are similar to Se7en?: Films that share techniques with Se7en include Psycho (1960), No Country for Old Men (2007), The Hunt (2012), Prisoners (2013).

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