Both sequences include bird eye view at the beginning. Panic room starts with an establishing/ bird’s eye view shot with the institution’s name, then various shots of places and buildings are shown as texts stands in the air. Majority of the shots used are long shots of New York City. A lot of bird’s eye view and tracking shot is done as it shows names of actors, producers, editors are shown and the significance of this is to familiarize the audience with the cast, while in SE7EN, a birds eye view shot is used to show a picture of two disfigured hands and very quickly fades away by showing another image of sharp objects but a close up on a razor then various shots are used but close ups are used mostly as it gives a closer look of objects and action.
Both sequences don’t give the story away, as they keep the audiences in suspense because the main characters aren’t revealed. In SE7EN, in between various shots shown on the screen, names of the actors, producers and directors are shown in black, however the text doesn’t stand still, it is constantly moving, almost like a light bulb with inconsistent energy to produce the light.
The significance of showing the actors name is to catch the audiences’ attention because majority of the actors are famous and well known such as Brad Pitt. The black background, inconsistent light and disturbing images shows that the film is full of mysteries, for example, the opening of a book filled with information as the character highlights and takes notes suggesting that it is thriller, while in PANIC ROOM, the opening credit is being edited into the buildings so cuts don’t need to be made between shots of landscape and opening credits. The titles are very grand and easy to read as it stays on the screen for quite a while.
The sound in SE7EN is non diegetic, however creaking, splashing, and whooshing sounds are heard making the object shown on the screen even more disturbing. The music is slow and steady as matches the action on screen, but towards the end of the sequence, the music paces up as it reaches a climax but at the end, the audience can hear ‘we’re getting closer to God’ in the lyrics suggesting death, and ends with a black screen with the inconsistent light, again adding to the iconographies of thriller/horror. In PANIC ROOM, the sound is non diegetic as orchestra music plays in the background. It starts quietly as the camera tracks through the building, then it gets louder and the pace picks up a little suggesting adventure and action, then it goes back to being quiet and fades into the dialogue that takes place.
The narrative technique used in SE7EN thriller is appropriate as it teases the audience by not showing the character, the story line, or location, however, different shots of actions done by the mysterious character (as the audience do not know if it is a female or a male or even someone they know) gives a clue that the film is going to be about answered questions as this character is busy gathering information and doing research as the pictures convey this. In PANIC ROOM, there is no narrative plot in the opening sequence as no action is shown making the film ambiguous, it’s hard to categorize the film into a certain genre, however the location is in the city and the music is eerie which could imply thriller or danger. The audience don’t get a chance to meet the main characters, but towards the end of the opening sequence, two characters are seen and heard talking about an accommodation, however this is done to create suspense because the audience are left guessing who the antagonists and protagonists are.
The lighting in SE7EN is dark and it is hard for us to see everything that is being shown. This lighting gives us the effect of it being more scary and mysterious. We also only see one character and that character is also mysterious to us too. Also, because the setting is surrounded in violence it makes it more scary and eerie for us because we cannot identify the character doing all of these weird, strange things. While in PANIC ROOM,
the lighting is naturalistic and normal as it shows a normal day in New York City, which also gives an eerie atmosphere because danger could be near without being aware, just because it is daylight, it doesn’t mean there is safety.
No comments:
Post a Comment