The film Se7en was directed by David Fincher, and released on September 22nd, 1995. David Fincher is also known for directing other films such as 'Fight Club' and 'The curious case of Benjamin Button.' This means he is well known which helps promote the success of the film because of his previous experiences. This film was distributed by New Line Cinema, which is an independent institution that has made other films such as 'Final Destination 3' and 'The Notebook.' This movie has a budget of $33,000,000 and produced a gross of $316,400,000 worldwide. Se7en has a use of many well known actors such as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, this would have an effect as they would have brought in a wider audience.
Seeing as Se7en is a thriller, the primarily target of the audience would be the fans of the thriller genre. This would make the target market mainstream. The target market would also be fans of Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and David Fincher, furthermore, the audience could be people who can relate to David Mills and William Somerset as their jobs are to be detectives. However, the primary target audience is more likely to be men as the male gender is significant in this media text. Detective Mills has a wife who he loves very much and would do anything for, some of the male audience could relate to this, although the secondary target audience would be females who are attracted to Brad Pitt. Primarily the target age for this audience is middle ages, partly because the film is rated 18 but also because of most the actors played in the movie are played by adults who has a job and a family. There wouldn't be a specific ethnic target as the protagonist, Detective Mills and Somerset are both of different race.
Se7en follows a linear narrative, there are only four stages of this film, although some can argue that there are really only two as there isn't really an equilibrium at the beginning or the end of the movie as nothing is ever stable or calm, however they did solve the case of finding out who the murderer was. This film links to the thriller genre because of the mise-en-scene and the narrative devices that are being used. For example: The props used in the title sequence gives away the genre of the movie. At the very beginning of the title sequence, we get shown an extreme close up of an open hand book which the pages are being turned, this could connote that this is the opening of the story. It then cuts to a black and white picture of two crooked hands with a red line going between them, this red line could represent the danger and death in the theme of this film. Later on in the title sequence, we then see the character cutting out the word 'God', which could be another theme of the film as it has to do with something religious. All of these small glimpses of what the character is doing creates enigma as it leaves the audience wondering what they are doing, and why. The director also uses different techniques of editing, one of which, where it jumps from shot to shot, this is used so that the audience can get a rough idea about what the movie is without revealing everything leaving the audience wanting to know what all the props such as the blades are used for, as it resembles death or pain. A non diagetic sound is then heard, which is of creaking to create an uncomfortable atmosphere. The sounds also sound sharp and dangerous like it was done by the instruments used by the character (the blade). This once again, relates to the theme of death or pain.
During the 'chase scene', the director uses mise-en-scene to build up mystery. The antagonist's identity is kept hidde, this is an enigma code of a thriller. As the identity is hidden, it creates a sense of the theatre of mind for the audience. The audience doesn't know who the antagonist is or what they look like, the costume of the character is evident, dressed in black which connotes death, evil and mystery. The director uses cinematography, a steadi-cam shot in this scene which makes the audience feel like they're part of the movie. As the scene is fast paced and tense, the audience can feel the suspense David Fincher is trying to create. During this scene, incidental music is played and diegetic sounds of a woman screaming, this increases more tension. This is then followed by a surprised gun shot, the prop being the gun itself is a convention of a thriller. The scene contains low key lighting which strengthens the mystery of who the antagonist is. In this particular scene, Detective Somerset is represented a calm and sensible character as he doesn't go straight into the chase. Whereas Detective Mills is represented as aggressive determined and impatient as he chases the antagonist straight away. An example of mise-en-scene is Mills's performance, he presents himself as confident and strong, however in reality he's weak and vulnerable. The fact that the chase is set in a busy everyday location adds to the idea of realism. Also, the weather reflects on the mood of the movie, as it constantly rains which makes it seem sad and depressing.
In the 'ending scene' cinematography shows that all three main characters are involved in this scene. The weather has changed to a much positive and brighter vibe, as there is no more rain and only sunshine. Whilst they are in the car, different sides of each characters are shown which creates confusing for the audience. For example: Mills aggressively picks on Doe, this could suggest that Mills could be a mix between protagonist and antagonist in this movie. It is another convention of a thriller when the protagonist is used as a red herring, Mills gets annoyed by this though Doe carries on manipulating him. This represents that Doe has control over Mills. When Doe says to Detective Mills that he has a souvenir, a low angle shot is used, this enhances that in this scene Doe is superior to Mills. Mills as this point is at rage, and continuously questions Detective Somerset "Whats in the box?" which is an example of verbal codes as well as theater of the mind. During Mills questioning, he raises the gun to the antagonist's head, this is an example of visual codes, and it's shown through his body language. When Mills has the gun against Doe's head, it's shot in a low angle which now shows that Mills is superior to Doe.
To conclude, thrillers maintain surprising evens and se7en abides by this. However, there are some unconventional aspects of a thriller, for example the 'Chase Scene' is a convention of an action movie which goes against the typical conventions of a thriller. Typical conventions of a thriller would include: Red herring, theater of the mind, cheap surprises and sounds that gives tension. The use of mise-en-scene creates a mysterious mood which gives away to the genre, the use of cinematography develops the narrative device and the use of sound effects boosts the audience's emotions. It is clear from my analysis that the aspects combines in this movie is to make this film a genre a thriller. David Fincher's message about this film is to show how dangerous and unexpected society can be with all the crimes commited by many unexpected people, it tells us that we live in a dangerous society and Fincher is trying to make the audience think about the 'Seven deadly sins' that they have commited.
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